LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 1

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SYNOD REPORTS
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through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ—forgiveness then freely extended to and received from our brothers and
sisters in Christ.
The grace of God in Christ moves us to be in conversation with
one another, celebrating our areas of agreement and oneness, and
working on those matters where we have not yet achieved complete
harmony. In a number of ways our time together in convention will
focus on our unity in Christ. Beginning with Sunday morning’s prayer
service and continuing throughout the week, we will have opportunity
to speak and to hear words of confession, absolution, and forgiveness.
May God continue richly to bless us as ONE People—Forgiven!

LCMS Convention 2010
Report of the President
Part I
I. Introduction and Thoughts on Convention Theme
ONE People—Forgiven
This is the theme of our 2010 Synod convention. It follows and
fits nicely with the themes of the previous two conventions, “ONE
Mission—Ablaze!” and “ONE Message—Christ.”
Together, these three themes comprise our Synod’s vision
endorsed by the 2004 convention—“One Message, One Mission,
One People.” The 2010 theme reminds us that as ONE People we
are blessed by God through His Word and Sacraments to carry out
the ONE Mission He has given, to proclaim throughout the world the
ONE Message of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ. By the
grace of God, that is happening throughout The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod, faithfully and fruitfully.
In notes on Eph. 4:17–32, the section that includes the convention
theme verse, The Lutheran Study Bible comments, “Paul describes
the new life that results from the Gospel. Yet, the Law also continues to apply because of our sinful nature. As Luther explains the Ten
Commandments in the Catechism, the Law both forbids sinful behavior (‘shall not’) and urges good works (‘shall’). As we inevitably fail
to live up to such demands, forgiveness preserves and restores the
harmony of the Church” (emphasis mine).
The apostle Paul sounds a similar theme also in Col. 3:12–14,
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with
one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving
each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in
perfect harmony.”
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in
unity!” says Psalm 133. “It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down
upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even
life forevermore.”
When we live out and demonstrate the God-given unity that we
have in faith, it is a wonderful thing to behold and a true joy to experience. Just as Aaron was consecrated to God’s service by anointing
with oil, so the unity God gives us sets us apart as one people in His
service. The apostle Peter tells us, “But you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you
may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
The apostle Paul writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity
of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one
Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is
over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:3–6).
While it sometimes seems that we have a long way to go in our
Holy Spirit-driven quest to “stand firm in one spirit, contending as one
man for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27), positive signs abound in
our midst. The key is relationships between and among penitent sinners, who confess and repent of sin and receive with thankful hearts
the precious words of absolution: “Your sin is forgiven!” Those relationships are rooted firmly in the forgiveness extended to us by God

Our Progress toward Unity as ONE People
From time to time it is important to ask ourselves and one another
how we are progressing as brothers and sisters in Christ regarding our
unity as ONE People. Are we in fact making “every effort to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” as God directs through the
words of the apostle Paul?
The 2007 Synod convention declared that discord among us “has
been and is hindering the mission and is disheartening to God’s people” (Res. 4-01A). The convention asked that the Synod’s Council
of Presidents (COP) and Board of Directors (BOD) “initiate a specific plan for the sake of the whole church to restore harmony in our
Synod.” It directed that the COP and BOD call a summit to prepare
a strategy to that end. A committee from those two groups has been
appointed and is working on a response to that resolution. Their progress report, which I believe you will find very helpful, is published
elsewhere in this Convention Workbook. It is essentially descriptive
in nature. I look forward to the next phase of the report, which will
be prescriptive, and I anticipate that the steps suggested will prove
productive in restoring greater harmony in our Synod.
Examples of Personal Steps toward Reconciliation
In addition to this written report, the president presents a verbal
report during the early part of the convention. Part of that report will
be the sharing of examples of personal steps toward reconciliation.
Every time I am faced with my own shortcomings and sinfulness, I
thank God for His forgiveness and for the forgiveness I receive from
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who have been hurt, offended,
or negatively affected in any other way.
In addition, the 41 members of the Council of Presidents (35 district presidents, five vice-presidents, and the president of the LCMS)
have been invited to share during the convention video clips of their
own personal experience with confession, repentance, and absolution.
It is my hope and prayer that these stories and testimonies will set the
tone for a spiritually meaningful and enriching convention experience. We gather together as ONE People— Forgiven!
II. A Few Matters of Importance during the Past Triennium
Ablaze! and Fan into Flame
The Ablaze! movement, an initiative to reach with the Gospel 100
million people by the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and Fan
into Flame, the campaign to raise $100 million in support of the specific objectives of Ablaze!, were adopted by our Synod’s convention
in 2004. Updated information on the progress of both endeavors is
included in the report of the Board for Mission Services.
My observations are that the efforts of those congregations, individuals, and districts who are participating in these initiatives have
been greatly blessed in the process. For various reasons, a number of
congregations and individuals have chosen not to participate in either
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