LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 22

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22 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

brief summary of the mission thrusts of the Synod dur-
ing its history. He stated that the primary mission of
the Synod today is missions.

Elections

Dr. Herbert Mueller, Secretary of the Synod, ex-
plained the process involved in nomination for First
Vice-President and reported the following results in
the nominating balloting on the part of the congrega-
tions:

Roland Wiederaenders . 945 August Bernthal ............ 324
Edwin C. Weber ............ 851 Guido Merkens _._.... 252
Walter A. Maier _...... 343. Theo. F. Nickel 0... 140

Dr. Wiederaenders, however, had declined. The Sec-
retary also read the tallies for all who had received at
least 5 nominating votes as instructed in a previous
resolution. A motion was made and seconded to adopt
the slate as presented. At this point the convention
added the name of Rev. Moses Dickinson as an amend-
ment to the slate. It was then adopted as amended.

Missions

Dr. William Kohn, executive secretary of the Board
for Missions, addressed the convention referring to the
excitement surrounding missions from the first century
to the present. He described it as a quiet, confident ten-
sion-filled excitement with missions closely tied to hope
in this life and in the future life.

Award

As a part of the mission report the John of Beverly
Award which is presented by the Board of Directors of
Lutheran Friends of the Deaf and the Board of Trustees
of Mill Neck Manor was given posthumously to Melvin
Luebke for his outstanding service in missions to the
deaf. The award was presented to his widow.

Missions

Chairman Schlecht reporting for the committee in-
troduced Res. 1-01 (TB 50) calling for completion of
the transfer of deaf work to the Districts of the Synod.
The delegates approved this proposal.

Higher Education

Rev. Elwood Zimmermann, chairman of the floor
committee on Higher Education, presented a resolution
calling for revision of the Bylaws which would make
the names of all nominees to college or seminary presi-
dencies available for election. (Res. 6-13, TB 39).
A motion was made to amend the resolution to read
“The electors, including the Board of Control as indi-
vidual members, may add any names from the list of
nominees to those proposed by the faculty committee
after consultation with said committee.” After rejecting
a motion to table the amendment and the original mo-
tion until Overture 6-27 had been presented to the
convention, the delegates approved the amendment after
a division of the house showed a majority favoring its
adoption, 516 to 396. Because of lack of time the original
motion as amended was not acted upon.

Evangelism

Rev. Car] Heckmann, chairman of the floor commit-
tee on Evangelism, asked the delegates the question,

“Are we happy with the results of our activity in evan-
gelism?” He pointed out that this is the first time the
Synod has reported a loss of members and that 200
pages of the convention Workbook are devoted to con-
troversy while 4% pages are devoted to the number-
one priority, evangelism. There is not one overture
addressing itself to back-door losses or the need for
increased adult accessions. Only one overture on evan-
gelism appears in the convention Workbook. After
pointing out these concerns he introduced Res. 8-01
(TB 68) asking the Synod to repent of its past failures
to witness to the world, seek forgiveness in the Lord,
and encourage the selection and implementation of an
evangelism theme for the 1975 synodical convention.
This motion was adopted.

Dr. Erwin Kolb, executive secretary of the Board
for Evangelism, introduced Dr. Theo. Raedeke, execu-
tive director of Key 73. Dr. Raedeke stated that we
are chosen, commissioned, empowered, and sent by
God. It is Christ who unites and we need to ask our-
selves the question “Are we still united in Christ?”
We may be the last generation to carry out the Great
Commission. We must consider whether we are helping
people fulfill the prophecy regarding the teaching of
Christ to all nations or the prophecy of the falling away
which occurs before His return. Key 73 is being used
by God to build the church, but the congregation level
of evangelism will not rise above the level of its pastor.
We need to face the personal question “Do you really
love Jesus?” Dr. Raedeke challenged the delegates to
answer that question, to commit themselves to a study
of the Word of God and to establish a goal of letting
God use each of them tu bring one person to Christ.

Following the presentation Chairman Heckmann in-
troduced Resolution 8-04 (TB 70) encouraging congre-
gations to praise God for the opportunity presented by
Key 73 and calling for a following of the Key 73 guide-
lines prepared by the Commission on Theology and
Church Relations. This resolution was adopted.

Elections

Ballots for the election of First Vice-President were
distributed to the delegates.

Nominations

Mr. Ray Joeckel, chairman of the Committee on
Convention Nominations presented his report. He
stated that because of the death of Mr. Wilbert Lahr-
mann the committee had substituted the name of Mr.
William Borgelt for Treasurer. The name of Edgar L.
Traugott was substituted for Grover C. Dixon as candi-
date for the Board of Control of Selma when Mr. Dixon
declined the nomination, and the name of T. G. Van Der
Bloemen was substituted for Rev. William Graumann
as a pastoral candidate for the CTCR.

Elections

At this point the election of the First Vice-President
was declared closed. During the nominations from the
floor which followed, the elections committee reported

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