LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1989, Page 61

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resolve the issue was unsuccessful and further misunder-
standing developed over publicity questions. In subsequent
letters, as well as personal conversations with one of the
editors, I have endeavored to resume conversations or find
other ways to resolve the matter in a God-pleasing manner.
However, all such requests have been declined. I have
therefore requested the Council of Presidents to offer its
good offices to seek appropriate solutions and corrections.

Special Studies and Efforts Requested

1. Lay Worker Study Committee. Res. 5-07 of the 1986
synodical convention proposed a study of the office of dea-
con and related ministries. Although the convention did
not have time to act on that proposal, the sense of District
and national leaders was that the study needed to go for-
ward as soon as possible. A special Lay Worker Study Com-
mittee was appointed, consisting of representatives from
the various groups and entities most directly involved, in
order to study and recommend common understandings of
the functions, responsibilities, preparation, and nomencla-
ture for various lay ministries. The report and recommen-
dations of this committee are included in this Workbook.

2. Mission blueprint. The Board for Mission Services
and I have initiated an effort to develop a mission blueprint
for the 90s that will include an analysis of all current world
and North American mission activities, as well as a design
and strategy for our future efforts. The Board of Directors
has made available limited funds from a designated ac-
count in order to enable this effort to go forward during
the remainder of 1989 and early 1990.

This “Blueprint for the 90’s” is particularly important
in view of a number of staff changes taking place in the
Department of Missions, including the retirement of its
executive director, Dr. Edward Westcott. More impor-
tantly, the souls of men are dying without Christ! Nearly
three-fourths of the world’s population does not know Him.
With the tremendous resources of people and money in the
congregations of the LCMS, we can and must do much
more to bring Christ to the nations—and that means find-
ing newer and better ways to organize, fund, and coordi-
nate our efforts.

3. The LCMS identity. In 1988 I asked the Board for
Communications Services to undertake a careful study of
ways to clarify who we are and what we do as the LCMS.
This study is to include an analysis of our name. Although
longtime members of the Synod, as well as many nonsyn-
odical observers, have grown accustomed to our name, sev-
eral others report that both “Missouri” and “Synod” are
confusing and sometimes hinder evangelism efforts. The
results of this study can do much to help us and our pub-
licity efforts as we seek to carry out our mission.

4. Coordinating congregational ministries. The services
provided by synodical boards to congregations, especially
in programmatic areas, have achieved improved coordi-
nation through the staff associated with the Congrega-
tional Ministries Planning Unit. In the interest of
improving such coordination even more, I requested the
Commission on Structure to review the activities and ser-
vices provided by various departments and units, and to
offer a report and possible recommendations to this con-
vention on how that might be achieved. Included in this

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 61

request was the suggestion that we need to find a better
organizational expression of the fact that stewardship
deals with a far broader dimension of Christian life than
our responsibility to provide financial support for the work
of the Lord.

5. Resolving conflicts. Although our Commissions on Ad-
judication and Appeals provide invaluable services in the
resolution of conflicts, various complexities in our proce-
dures need clarification and adjustment. Moreover, many
synodical leaders believe that we need to identify more
informal ways of resolving conflicts, perhaps using third-
party arbiters and the like, in order to avoid the increasing
costs and legal involvements in many cases. The Commis-
sion on Structure has been asked to study these questions.

6. Selection procedures. The membership of our Com-
missions on Adjudication and Appeals, which have key
roles in the settlement of conflicts among us, as well as
the membership of the Commission on Constitutional Mat-
ters, which is the official interpreter of the Constitution,
Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod, require a high level
of expertise, impartiality, and objectivity. In our present
arrangement, Commissions on Adjudication and Appeal
are elected, while the CCM is appointed by the President
in consultation with the Vice-Presidents. Recognizing that
both elective and appointive processes can be abused, I
requested the Commission on Structure to study this ques-
tion (including ways by which members of the judiciary
are chosen in the civic realm) and make recommendations
to the convention that provide for adequate checks and
balances in the selection of competent and objective indi-
viduals for these commissions.

7. Support for pastors. Although the 1986 convention
declined to initiate a new office for professional growth and
support, the needs in the area of supporting pastors and
other professional church workers, as well as providing for
their continuing education, are readily apparent. For that
reason I have given strong encouragement to the Board of
Directors to include some such services in a reorganization
of the Department of Human Resources, and I have also
continued the existence of a synodical Committee on Con-
tinuing Education as authorized by the 1981 synodical
convention.

Although our limited financial resources at the synod-
ical level have made it impossible for us to provide the
financial or staff resources necessary for this important
area, considerable progress has been made in coordinating
the efforts of the various colleges and seminaries, and in
encouraging District leaders to develop more assistance
and support. The Vice-Presidents and I continue to believe
that this area merits considerably more attention and sup-
port than it has received to date.

8. Seminary relationships. In 1988 I requested the
Standing Committee for Pastoral Ministry, which is as-
sociated with the Board for Higher Education Services, to
develop efforts to improve relationships between the Synod
and its seminaries. The need is two-directional, in that
attitudes toward seminaries and their support on the part
of the Synod and its congregations need to be improved,
and at the same time attitudes of the seminaries toward
the Synod they serve can also be strengthened. Initial ef-