LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 44

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

My Frettow Repeemep:

A few preliminary remarks need to be made before
going into the body of my report to the convention,

Some portions of my official report have been pre-
pared as appendices. I will not read these portions,
but they will be published in Today’s Business and
made a part of the official record.

Resolutions referred to the President and the Board
of Directors in the closirig moments of the 46th regular
convention in Detroit have been implemented. The
index of action is appended to this report and will be
found in Today’s Business for your information.

In the materials submitted to convention committee
13 you will note reference to my personal involvement
in overtures pertaining to Doctor Adolph A. Brux. I
have intervened in this matter, and I ask you to join
me in supporting Overture 13-22. There is a reason
that prompts me to make this request: I am persuaded
that the love of Christ constrains you as it does me.
By this love God wants to wash all failures and sins
of the past with His perfect forgiveness. By this love
He wants us to live in that peace and unity which only
forgiveness can create.

In the early part of my address a short while ago
I quoted from the preamble of our Constitution. I be-
gin this report by quoting from the Bylaws. They say
rather simply: “The President shall then make his
presidential address, submit his official report, and an-
nounce the order of business” (Bylaw 1.25). This di-
rective seems so simple that it might be misleading, so
general that it might seem to serve no specific purpose.
But in the context in which it is given, this directive
requires no elaboration or interpretation. It is predicated
on some very simple but important assumptions.

The fundamental assumption is that we are Evan-
gelical Lutheran Christians. By saying that we are
Evangelical Lutheran Christians we are in fact saying
three things:

1. We affirm our complete confidence in the Gospel

of Jesus Christ revealed to us in God’s infallible
Word;

. We accept the blessed Gospel ministry to which
we are called as people of God; and

3. We commit ourselves to an evangelical procedure
in the pursuit of our calling both to faith and
to service.

This report is related in a very integral and essential
way to the address which I delivered only a little while
ago. In that address I indicated that God has provided
our church’s platform for us in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. This report is designed to be an accounting of
our stewardship on the basis of this platform and to
offer some precise suggestions for a more faithful stew-
ardship in the future.

At the outset I must express gratitude to you for
having given me the high honor to serve as President
of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. Any com-

44

mendation that comes to me belongs, in fact, to God
and to you. Beyond what I might think or ask, God has
blessed my simple faith and small service. It is an
astounding thing to watch God at work among us and
through us. It isa gratifying thing to see The Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod at work. The esteem and ap-
preciation of others belong to you who make the Synod
such a servant to God’s purposes.

At the beginning of this term of office we undertook
a careful study of the various responsibilities which the
Synod has assigned to its chief servants. Each responsi-
bility reflects a very proper concern of the Synod, yet
the sum total of these responsibilities adds up to a very
formidable challenge. In an effort to provide, at least
to an increasing degree, the kind of leadership and
management which the Synod deserves, we drew up
detailed and clear job descriptions for the following
offices: President, Vice-Presidents and the First Vice-
President, Executive Director and the Board of Direc-

“How dare we withhold the Gospel from others while we debate mat-
ters which God Himself saw fit to leave unanswered or until we have
reorganized the institutional church into the shape we like?”