LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 147

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RESOLUTIONS 147

strength of moral judgments and indictments which
classify men into simple categories of victim and villain
but may be a greater service of love to apply the most
practical and impartial wisdom of which men are capa-
ble; and

Wuereas, The church cannot close its eyes to any
human misery without pleading for God’s mercy and
seeking some way to be of service in securing for an
economically, socially, and educationally deprived group
a greater dignity, security, and hope in this world; there-
fore be it

Resolved,

1, That the Synod withhold any judgment with re-
spect to the merits of the grape strike and boycott as
a strategy, or with respect to the vineyard owners, or
with respect to any individuals or groups among us who,
deeply moved by the cause, have taken a course of action
which they hope and pray will contribute eventually
toward improving the lot of the migrant workers; and

2. That the Synod ask any members who may be in
a strategic position in any area of government or eco-
nomics to offer concrete help in effecting a solution, to
consider whether God may not be calling them to make
this problem an area of special study and attention; and

3. That congregations serving areas where part-time,
full-time, and migrant workers are seasonally employed
seek ways of serving the total needs of these persons,
who otherwise are so easily overlooked and forgotten,
and that they be invited to call for the resources of the
social ministry department of the Districts as well as
those synodical boards and commissions that may help
toward a solution; and

4. That our congregations, recognizing their limited
capacity to be of direct service, nevertheless bring this
need explicitly before God in fervent prayer, in confi-
dence that such prayers will be heard and will have
God’s blessing.

Action: Adopted (16).

To Decline to Declare Moratorium
on Capital Expenditures
RESOLUTION 9-21
Overture 9-07, I, D (CW, p. 391)

Wuereas, The proposal to declare a 2-year morato-
rium on all capital expenditures in order that the church
may give a higher priority to the urgent needs of the
hungry has the support of many of our youth, not only
for its practical value but also as a symbol of the church’s
recognition that people are more important than prop-
erty; and

Wueneas, There are many difficulties with this pro-
posal, for example:

1. It would be meaningless and beyond the Synod’s
authority to issue a blanket judgment concerning priori-
ties, for such decisions belong properly to the people
directly involved in making particular decisions.

2. The proposition that “people are more important

than property” must be held in tension with another
proposition: that property is a gift of God to people, to
be received with thanksgiving and used to His glory.
For property, like life, is protected by God’s command-
ment, and the loss of property has in it already a sign
of death. The problem of fallen man is not that he pos-
sesses and uses property or even that he defends it but
rather that man covets property, grasps it at the expense
of and without regard to his neighbor, clings to it when
God calls him to let it 80, imagines it is his by right
rather than by grace, and thus turns it into an idol.

3. The declaration of a moratorium would not neces-
sarily add an equivalent of wealth to the cause of feeding
the hungry, unless perhaps it were accompanied by a
definite and concrete plan which could offer the hope of
constributing to a long-term solution of the hunger
problem and not merely to the momentary relief of rela-
tively few people.

4. Christian love is called to respond to many needs,
including the central task of proclaiming the Gospel of
the Bread of Life. Its expression cannot be regimented,
for even the call to feed the poor, for all its appeal of
love, can fall under the criticism of a text like Matthew
26: 6-13.

5. The call to respond now to a need that is obviously
immediate and urgent must always be set over against
another call and responsibility: to apply what wisdom
we have to the longer-range impact of our present deci-
sions and actions; and

Wuereas, It is prejudicial to assume that building
programs of congregations or of the Synod are designed
as instruments of comfort and self-congratulation in the
pride of riches. For institutional structures, including
buildings, though they belong to the secular kingdom,
are a necessary form within which congregations and
synods may function on this earth, to be sanctified by
the Word of God, received with thanksgiving, and used
as instruments of God’s work with the best practical in-
sight of which God’s people are capable; and

Wuereas, For the Committee on Social Welfare and
Action to offer a resolution proposing such a moratorium
for the sake of dramatic effect, in the knowledge that
it would have to be declined, would not only be an irre-
sponsible waste of the convention’s time but would also
leave the Synod open to the accusation that it is only
institutionally oriented and values property over people;
therefore be it

Resolved,

1. That the proposal of a moratorium on new build-
ing be respectfully declined;

2. That those who have argued for a moratorium with
great determination be asked to study this resolution as
well as “A Statement of Principle on Social Action”
(TB, pp. 163—164), adopted by the convention on Mon-
day, July 14, for a clearer understanding of the role of
the church in relation to society;

3. That the Synod and its congregations nevertheless
take the problem of world hunger with great seriousness
as they plan their total programs, and also evaluate