LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 79

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REPORT ON LUTHERAN COUNCIL IN THE U.S. A.

The Lutheran Council in the United States of Amer-
ica began its official function on Jan. 1, 1967. This is its
first formal statement to one of the participating church
bodies.

The opportunity of addressing this convention is
special because it permits a direct report to the mem-
bers of one of the church bodies. We do not have this
privilege in any kind of continuing way because —
contrary to various reports — the Lutheran Council in
the United States of America does not have any general-
circulation magazine or periodical, either official or
unofficial.

Lutherans in the United States should really become
better acquainted with the Lutheran Council so that
they can discuss it with one another and write about it
with understanding. They should acquaint themselves
particularly with the dynamic within which the council
lives and functions, the dynamic so succinctly stated in
the Preamble to the Constitution. Here the participating
church bodies have said:

WHEREAS, in their respective constitutions, the partici-
pating Lutheran church bodies acknowledge the Holy
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the only
source and the infallible norm of all church doctrine and
practice, and see in the three Ecumenical Creeds and in
the Confessions of the Lutheran Church, especially in the

Unaltered Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Small Cate-
chism, a pure exposition of the Word of God; and

Wuereas, the participating bodies are of the conviction
that they should and can more effectively carry on their
work and further a Lutheran witness by cooperating in
matters of common interest and responsibility, coopera-
tion in which is not at variance with their doctrine and
practice;

Therefore, the participating bodies do hereby establish
and will maintain a common agency to be governed by
the following constitution.

The council is a governed, common agency. It has
come into existence at the will of the churches, and its
function is determined by the will of the churches. It
does that which the churches ask of it.

The folder which you received as an attachment to
Today’s Business gives a somewhat more comprehensive
overview of the council’s function and structure. But
some of the highlights and current emphases in the six
program divisions may be of special interest.

The Division of Educational Services has the respon-
sibility of providing for consultation, cooperation, and
sharing of plans, procedures, and program ideas in the
field of church and church-related education and of
campus ministry in non-Lutheran institutions of higher
education. Under the auspices of this division the cam-
pus ministry staffs of the participating church bodies
recently met to discuss thoroughly both their diversity
and their consensus in existing goals and patterns in
campus ministry. As an outcome, both groups con-
cluded that there are many areas in which the council
could move economically and effectively provide staff
services now maintained by each separately.

The division will also soon undertake a faculty dis-

79

covery program in the interest of Lutheran colleges and
universities.

The Division of Mission Services, which assists the
participating bodies by providing a means for furthering
cooperation among them in their mission activities both
at home and abroad, has placed particular emphasis on
the regional missions planning consultations. Two spe-
cific instances of competition or duplication have been
dealt with, and dozens of potential conflicts have been
averted. The cooperating church bodies have also re-
sponded enthusiastically to the recruitment of special-
ized personnel through the World Brotherhood Ex-
change, and the Department of Spanish Literature has
continued to serve all as a helpful instrument of support
for the related churches in Latin America.

The Division of Public Relations is giving special
attention to the development of future program possi-
bilities and to working relationships with the cognate
agencies of the church bodies. It is already quite clear
that some of the church bodies expect much more service
from the division than do others. Meanwhile the func-
tion of representation in Washington has been inten-
sified, and a bulletin has been developed to share with
the church bodies the information gained regarding
significant developments affecting the life and work of
the Lutheran churches of the United States.

The Division of Service to Military Personnel has
undertaken extensive studies in review of its responsi-
bilities as a division in providing for a spiritual ministry
other than that of the chaplaincy to men and women
in the armed forces and in military-related civilian
occupations, particularly in overseas areas. Many of the
special ministries which have been established by the
military-related agencies in the past are now serving
equally as many civilians as military persons. The divi-
sion is also placing great emphasis on the development
of a parish-support program by which congregations
will be better equipped to maintain their own direct
ministry to their members in military service.

The Division of Theological Studies is focusing its
first-year attention on the development of regional con-
ferences which will bring together a cross-section repre-
sentation of the participating church bodies to discuss
theology and, this year, an area of Christology. The
first set of conferences will convene in September.

The newest and most rapidly growing service of the
Division of Welfare Service will be that of consultation
with Lutheran institutions and agencies in behalf of all
of the cooperating church bodies, thus making it un-
necessary for them individually to provide for consul-
tants and consultation expense.

If you’ve been able to follow this rapid and sketchy
review, you will have observed that much of the func-
tion assigned to the council is familiar and of long stand-
ing. It has been drawn out of separate, earlier three-
body structures in which the Missouri Synod was in-
volved and out of bilateral agreement between The Lu-

.theran Church— Missouri Synod and the council’s