Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 214
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 214

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

214 SYNODICAL ADMINISTRATION

5:9; Titus 1:9-11; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; Matt. 7:15; Rom. 16:17;
Col. 2:8; Titus 3:10-11; 1 John 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1-3); and

Whereas, The Synod owes it to God as well as to its
members to be penitently and firmly determined that,
with the help of God, all matters of doctrine and prac-
tice in its midst shall, in accordance with its Constitu-
tion, Art. II, be brought into agreement with Holy
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions; and

Wuereas, The synodical Constitution assigns to the
President of the Synod:

1. The responsibility for “the supervision regarding
the doctrine and the administration” of all synodical
officers, employees, Districts, and District Presidents
(Handbook, p. 20, Art. XI, B, 1);

2. The “duty to see to it that all the aforementioned
act in accordance with Synod’s Constitution, to ad-
monish all who in any way depart from it, and, if such
admonition is not heeded, to report such cases to Syn-
od” (Ibid., 2);

3. The “power to advise, admonish, and reprove,”
and also the obligation to use “all means at his com-
mand to promote and maintain unity of doctrine and
practice in all the Districts of Synod” (Ibid., 3): and

4. The authority to “see to it that the resolutions of
Synod are carried out” (Ibid., 4); and

Wuereas, The burdens of the President’s office in
the area of supervision of doctrine and practice have
become almost overwhelming because of serious and
widespread disregard of Article II of our Constitution,
especially through teachings in direct conflict with the
pledge:

Synod, and every member of Synod, accepts without
reservation:

1. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament
as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm
of faith and of practice;

therefore be it

Resolved, That the Synod respectfully remind its
President of his duties in regard to supervision of doc-
trine and practice within the Synod, while at the same
time invoking God’s richest blessings upon his adminis-
tration, especially as pertaining to any Scriptural action
he may take toward bringing conditions in the Synod
into agreement with Article II of our synodical Con-
stitution, which demands that Scripture and the Lu-
theran Confessions be accepted without reservation by
every member of the Synod; and be it further

Resolved, That in order to lighten the heavy burden
of the President’s office in the area of supervision of
doctrine and practice, the Synod, during this conven-
tion, elect a temporary advisory committee to be of
service to the President until the next regular biennial
convention of the Synod, the following stipulations to
apply:

1. That the purpose of this committee be limited to
that of assisting the President in the area of his duties
pertaining to action aimed at bringing conditions in the
Synod into agreement with Article II of the synodical
Constitution;

2. That the duties of the committee shall be:

a. To gather, organize, and evaluate information
pertaining to the various phases of the need for action
by the President in the aforementioned area of his
duties;

b. To draw up recommendations for action in the
various areas of need for action, either as individual
reports covering individual areas or, if deemed advis-
able, as general reports, and to submit them to the
President as soon as practicable; and

c. To meet with the President for consultation re-
garding reports submitted to him;

3. That the membership of the committee consist of:

a. An executive committee of three members; and

b. Nine subcommittees of three members each, these
subcommittees to be:

1) A subcommittee on methods of evaluation, order
of priority, and review of reports from other sub-
committees;

2) One subcommittee each for seven of the Divi-
sions listed in the Bylaws to the Synod’s Consti-
tution, par. 2.175 (p. 74), these being:

The Division of Missions

The Division of Special Ministries

The Division of Higher Education

The Division of Communications and Public
Relations

The Division of Parish Education and Parish
Services

The Division of Social Action and Welfare

The Division of Church Literature

3) A subcommittee on all remaining areas of need
for action by the President:

4. That the committee be given the privilege of co-
opting members for special tasks, such coopting to be
subject to the prior approval of the President of the
Synod.

5. That the Synod’s Board of Directors be authorized
to budget for this item. Rev. ARNOLD H, GEBHARDT

Council Bluffs, Iowa

(4-11)
To Exhort District Presidents
to Exercise Proper Supervision

Wuereas, The Bylaws of The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod state: “The District Presidents, in ac-
cordance with the Constitution of the Synod, shall su-
pervise the doctrine, the life, and the official administra-
tion on the part of the pastors and teachers of their
District”; and

WuereEas, Pastors and teachers of the Synod have
recently and often made a name for themselves by their
public utterances and activities in behalf of highly con-
troversial causes; and

Wuereas, Reports continue to filter out of our col-
leges and seminaries with regard to false teaching tak-
ing place there; and