LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1962, Page 174

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174 UNPRINTED MEMORIALS

[215-A]

To Appoint an Urban Church Commission

WHEREAS, The removal of many of our city churches
to suburban areas has left a veritable spiritual waste-
land in the heart of many large metropolitan areas; and

Wuenreas, The Scriptural position of serving the com-
munity without regard to race or national origin,
steadily affirmed by the Synod, is not evident in the
practice of all congregations; and

Wuereas, God is sending to our doorstep many
people whom our churches are not reaching because
of racial, language, or culture barriers; and

Wuereas, The growing challenge to our Synod of
the inner American city makes it the frontier of Chris-
tianity in our time; and

Wuereas, The problems of the inner-city churches
are properly the responsibility and concern of the entire
church; therefore be it

Resolved, That we strive to become aware and to
make all of our congregations aware of the dramatic
urgency of this problem for the future of our Synod;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Synod give earnest consideration
to the appointment of an Urban Church Commission, to
be charged with the duty of studying the problems of
high population-density areas; and be it further

Resolved, That special training be afforded to pas-
tors working in such areas or interested in such work,
both in the seminary and in after-seminary years; and
be it finally

Resolved, That a substantial portion of the vicars
which are available each year be placed in service with
inner-city churches — if necessary, at synodical expense.

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
New York, N. Y.

Ropert E. WitTENBuRG, Pastor
Avex J. Hamann, President

Karu E. Fritscu, Secretary

[217]

To Authorize Brazil District to Begin
Mission Work in Portugal

The Thirty-Seventh Convention of the Igreja Evan-
gelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of The Lu-
theran Church — Missouri Synod) adopted the following
resolution:

The mission work in the land of Portugal is no longer
a dream in the missionary endeavors of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Brasil, but by the grace of God has
turned into an agreeable and blessed reality.

The Rev. Dr. Rodolfo Hasse, missionary of the
Portuguese Lutheran Church; the President of the
Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District
of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod), the Rev.
Arnold W. Schneider, and the professors Dr. Hans

Rottmann and Otto A. Goerl, visiting the mission field
of Portugal, had a very favorable impression of the
mission possibilities in Portugal.

This fact causes us much joy, since we Brasilians
are united with the Portuguese nation by many bonds
of relationship, among which we would emphasize the
language, customs, sentiment, and Latin temperament,
as well as the mutual sympathy between the two
nations, which in the distant past were together under
the same flag and the same king.

BRETHREN PRESENT AT THIS 37TH CONVENTION:

Considering what has been stated above;

Considering the order of the Master, which He issued
to our church and to each one of us in particular, “to
make disciples of all nations”;

We propose to the 37th convention:

1) To intensify in all possible ways the Portuguese
mission;

2) To appear before The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod and to show with unrefutable arguments the neces-
sity and the timeliness to begin the work through the
Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil (Brazil District of
The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod), requesting the
Missouri Synod to grant us permission to carry out this
mission work;

3) To request that the missionary of the Portuguese
Lutheran Church, the Rev. Dr. Rodolfo Hasse, continue
to visit the Portuguese mission periodically, strengthening
in this manner the small but promising group of true
Portuguese Lutherans;

4) To administer, on the occasion of these visits to
Portugal, a course for evangelists and missionaries to
young men interested in the work.

This proposal of the committee that studied the
Memorial No. 1 was adopted.

We, the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil
(Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod) appear before the 45th regular convention of
The Lutheran Church-— Missouri Synod in order to
request the convention to authorize the Board of Direc-
tors of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod to grant
permission to the Igreja Evangelica Luterana do Brasil
(Brazil District of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod) to carry on the work in Portugal with their own
means and under their own responsibility.

In the name of and by order of the Igreja Evan-
gelica Luterana do Brasil,

ArRNotb W. ScHNEmER, President

[218]

To Change Provisions for Salaries Paid
North American Missionaries Who Are
Willing to Work in Brazil

Wuereas, “The laborer is worthy of his hire”; and

Wuereas, The salary which has been paid to North
American missionaries in Brazil has been quite inferior
to the remuneration which was and still is being given
to laborers in other mission fields; and

Wuereas, North American workers employed at our
seminary in Porto Alegre always drew a higher pay
than other North Americans working in the field; and