LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 34

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34 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

An accessible President

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wise.” The amendment was adopted. An amendment
to substitute “dogmatic statements” for “exegetical in-
terpretations” in line 1, page 212, was defeated. It was
resolved to limit debate to 2 minutes per speaker. The
amendment was defeated: “That the Synod reaffirm that
the teachers at our synodically governed schools are
required to teach according to this resolution.” After
the previous question was moved and passed, the entire
resolution with the amendment was adopted with two
dissenting votes (TB 210—212, 2-31).

It was resolved to enter the statement by Dr. Robert
Preus into the minutes (included in the minutes of the
16th session).

Dr. Norman Temme led the devotion to close the
day with a Litany of Intercession.

Adjournment came at 10:10 p.m. The assembly had
agreed at 9:30 that it would not adjourn until Resolution
2-31 had been disposed of.

Session 16

Opening July 14, Morning

Rev. Martin J. Hartenberger was chaplain for the
devotion to begin the day. The theme was “God — Life-
giving Spirit.’ The sermon was based on 1 Peter 1:2.
The Litany to the Holy Ghost was used.

Dr. Oswald C. J. Hoffmann

Dr. Hoffmann gave the fifth section of his essay on
the apostolicity of the church. It is the continuity of
the apostles’ teachings. The church, to be truly apos-
tolic, must believe, teach, confess, and preach Christ.
The continuity of the apostolicity of the church is pre-
served in the Gospel, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s
Supper. The church cannot forget the poor. It must
proclaim and practice the Gospel. It is the faithful
followers of Jesus Christ, justified by grace.

Dr. Hoffmann received a standing ovation at the
conclusion of his essay.

Minutes

On the recommendation of the secretary, Dr. Herbert
Mueller, the convention resolved: (1) That Dr. Robert
Preus submit his written statement to the President of

the Synod; (2) That the President check the statement
for accuracy in consultation with Dr. Robert Preus,
Dr. Arthur Repp, and one or more of the vice-presidents
of the Synod; (3) That thereupon the final statement
be incorporated in the minutes at the direction of the
President; (4) That this whole process be completed
within the coming week (by July 21).

The statement as drafted by Dr. Preus and agreed to
by Dr. Repp was later in the session directed to be
placed in the minutes by President Harms. It reads:
“In drafting this resolution Committee 2 sought to re-
main as close to the terminology of the Scriptures and
the Lutheran Confessions as possible and still to speak
to the issues raised by the several memorials. The
committee sought to present the basic teachings of
Creation, Fall, and related topics in a clear and under-
standable manner and to avoid doing exegesis. The
committee had no intention of retarding sound and re-
sponsible exegesis. /s/ R. Preus”

Then the minutes of Session 15 were adopted as read.

The assistant secretary asked that TB 398b, line 3,
be corrected to read “Commission on Worship” instead
of “Commission on Theology and Church Relations.”

Dr. Harms announced that the committees would
report in the following order: 11, 3, 14, 18, 2, 6, 5, 17.

It was resolved that the total time for the discussion
for each resolution be limited to 5 minutes, that each
speaker be limited to one minute, and that a person
may speak to a resolution only once.

Committee 11— Communications and Public Relations
The convention resolved to refer the matter of the
election of the editorial commission to the Council of
Administrators for study, the report to be presented to
the 1969 convention (TB, 333, 11-15).
With this Committee 11 completed its work.

Committee 3— Church Relations

The convention resolved that President Harms should
acknowledge with gratitude the letter from Dr. M. Lohe,
president of the Lutheran Church of Australia, and
expressed its willingness to have conversations with
that church about entering into altar and pulpit fel-
lowship (TB 402, 3-24; see TB 401).

With this Committee 3 completed its work.

Committee 14— Stewardship and Finance

The convention adopted the resolution to include
the work of the Armed Forces Commission in the
annual budget of the Synod and provided that a Mother’s
Day offering be received for its work during the next
2 years (TB, 357, 14-15).

It authorized the Board of Directors to take what-
ever action is necessary to provide for capital funds
after 1967 (TB 403, 14-16).

With this Committee 14 completed its work.

New York Convention Arrangements Committee

The members of the New York Convention Arrange-
ments Committee were presented to the convention: