LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1992, Page 63

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT : . 63

Synod with other church bodies, synods, or federa-
tions, and the discontinuance of such affiliation or
association. (Bylaw 3.01)

The primary role of floor committees, simply stated, is
to assist the convention in taking actions that help our
entire Synod, and every individual congregation, to tell
everyone what GOD has done, and to do so in the most

effective way possible. To do that, we need to use our con- .

vention time wisely and well.

A convention does that when it devotes the major por-
tion of its time to major issues and opportunities. As com-
mittees review the reports and overtures submitted them,
one important goal is to identify the priority items needing
convention attention or action. If previous conventions
have already dealt with items in a satisfactory manner, or
if various tasks can be handled more effectively by boards,
commissions, or other agencies of the Synod rather than
by the convention itself, committees should not hesitate to
recommend the usage of resolutions A or B, for by so doing
they can help the convention spend its time on more press-

ing issues. Please understand that referring overtures in-

this way is a responsible, representative, and democratic
way of helping the convention devote its time and energy
to those issues that the committees—who represent the
whole convention—feel are the most critical.

Although a major task of the convention is to respond ‘

to overtures, it is important to understand that the reports
of our elected and appointed boards, commissions, and of-
ficers also merit careful attention. There are 42 reports
and 570 overtures before the convention; 370 overtures
were submitted by 174, or 2.92 per cent, of our congre-
gations, and the remaining 200 overtures came from Dis-
tricts, boards, faculties, and Circuit forums. (Incidentally,
one congregation submitted 16 overtures, and 19 came
from one District.) Committees should treat every overture
seriously, whether it comes from a small congregation or
a large District. However, it is essential that floor com-
mittees be not merely reactors to overtures, but informed
and representative churchmen who address “big picture”

questions, whether they are in overtures or not. This is |

another way of saying that with the limited time available

to our convention, it must give primary attention and em- :

phasis to the major opportunities, problems, and ‘chal-
lenges facing the Synod as we seek to tell everyone what
GOD has done, and to do so with great boldness.

It should also be noted that a synodical convention is
not only our principal legislative assembly, but that it also
exists to provide “an opportunity for worship, nurture, ih-
spiration, fellowship, and the communication of vital in-
formation” (Bylaw. 3.01). In these words, our Bylaws
remind us that the passing of resolutions is not the only
way for a convention to exercise leadership.

For example, floor committees can assist the conven-
tion, and indeed the entire Synod, to learn more about the
wonderful things God is doing through our beloved Synod,
or about our relationship to other Christian ministries all
over the world, and to have a deepened sense of involve-
ment in and thanksgiving for such ministries. To that end,
the convention provides a number of informational and
inspirational opportunities.

Committees are therefore encouraged to use the con-
vention floor time allocated to them not only to present
resolutions, but also to assist the convention in achieving
all of its objectives. To that end, committee members
should know that we will again be utilizing a state-of-the-
art electronic response system in Pittsburgh for elections,
voting on resolutions, and gathering data to assist boards,
committees, and congregations. Not only will this system _
save several valuable hours of convention time, but it will
assist us to conduct convention business with maximum
fairness and impartiality. To the extent that time permits,
committees may choose to use this simple and efficient
system to gather data that will assist the Synod in various
ways; in such cases, committees should check with Pastor
Paul Devantier, who is coordinating such presentations for
the convention. Moreover, the random seating of conven-
tion delegates requested by a previous convention will
again enable us to utilize small-group discussions as part
of the convention process. Combined with the electronic
response system, we have the capability of involving every
delegate in the discussion of major issues or questions, and
of learning delegate preferences in ways other than voting
on resolutions. Used sparingly and effectively, this process
can also help the convention achieve its overall objectives
in a fair, participatory, and democratic way.

But what I’ve been describing about the convention pro-
cess, important as it is, does not begin to capture the sig-
nificance of this convention for the future direction of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In this last decade of
the 20th century, we are attempting to do everything we
can as a Synod to face the tremendous opportunity and
challenge that surrounds us on every side. For several
years, we have studied, interviewed, surveyed, met, dis-

- cussed, resolved, planned, motivated, encouraged (and the

list of verbs goes on) not only to help one another provide |
better, livelier, and stronger congregations, but to link our
congregations to each other in new ways as we reach out
to our communities and to all the world on the solid basis
of Holy Scripture in order to tell everyone what GOD has
done. How richly God has blessed those efforts! Today we
enjoy great unity of doctrine and great commitment to
reaching the lost for Christ—contrary to sonie voices in
cur midst. We have a very strong vision of what our church
could and ought to be as we carry out our Lord’s Great
Commission, and we have set ‘admirable goals in a number
of areas—and will be reviewing some of them in a moment.
But the time has come—and is here NOW—for us to act,
and to act boldly, on behalf of our Synod and its mission
in a number of key areas.

| Leadership

But before pointing to some of those key areas, I want
to emphasize how critical it is that this convention provide
the Synod with strong, evangelical leadership. It goes with-
out saying that we need leaders who are completely com-
mitted to the Synod’s conféssional doctrinal position
(including its nuances in such sensitive areas as inter-
Christian relationships, the role of women, and the min-
istry), who will honor our Constitution and polity, and who
are enthusiastically dedicated to our overarching mission

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