LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 26

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26 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

the convention. At this time 25 of these had been acted
upon.

Seminary Issues

Dr. Lewis Niemoeller, chairman of the floor com-
mittee on Seminary Issues, began the committee presen-
tation by pointing out that the committee had held 57
hours of meeting prior to the convention and 55 hours
of meeting since their arrival here. They had met with
many individuals in order to become fully acquainted
with the issues and materials confronting them. Care-
ful checks have been made of statements which had
‘been brought to their attention. While the material of
the resolutions is long, the resolutions themselves are
rather short. He stated that it was the prayer of the
committee that the Holy Spirit would guide the con-
vention in its deliberations on these resolutions. The
first resolution presented was Resolution 2-12 (TB 31),
a joint resolution of the Committee on Theology and
Church Relations and the Committee on Seminary Is-
sues, asking that Article II of Synod’s Constitution be
understood as requiring the formulation and adoption
of synodical doctrinal statements. After a motion had
been made and seconded Dr. Niemoeller called upon
President Preus to make a statement to the convention.
The floor was cleared in order to make it possible for
all of the delegates to give attention to it.

Dr. Preus stated that he had been elected by the
delegates in spite of having been described as a con-
troversial person. Criticism had come to him as a result
of his efforts to maintain the doctrinal position of the
Synod. The delegates must decide the question as to
which doctrinal position the Synod shall hold. It had
been his desire during the past 4 years to unite the
church on the basis of its historic faith. While everyone
in Synod professes to accept Article II of the synodical
Constitution, under its umbrella many questions had
not been resolved. These involved such matters as the
historicity of Adam and Eve, original sin, New Testa-
ment miracles, the third use of the Law, and the origin,
nature, and authority of Scripture. The convention
must decide what it wants. Someone ought to have the
authority to determine who should supervise doctrine
and how our faith should be interpreted. We must re-
tain the authority of the synodical voice and allow our
officials to act. We should not delude ourselves as to
what is at stake.

After extending time for discussion of the resolu-
tion for an unlimited period and imposing a two-minute
time limit on speakers, discussion proceeded. Time to
complete the discussion however was insufficient, and
the decision on the resolution was postponed to a later
time.

Evangelism

The agenda was altered to allow 15 minutes to the
floor committee on Evangelism to present a group of
young people to whom proclamation of the Gospel is
a way of life. Dr. Erwin Kolb, executive secretary of
the Board for Evangelism, described their activity as
a part of the ongoing program of Ambassadors for

Christ. After being introduced by their leader they
gave their witness to Christ in word and song. Follow-
ing their presentation the delegates adopted Resolution
8-07 (TB 71) calling upon the Synod to foster child and
youth evangelism by preparing new and coordinated
materials and sponsoring programs such as Ambassa-
dors for Christ.

Elections

Chairman Mennicke of the Elections Committee re-
ported the following results of balloting for the remain-
ing vice-presidential positions. Karl Barth 94, August
Bernthal 482, Moses Dickinson 412, Paul Harms 295,
Paul Jacobs 285, Emil Jaech 2, William Kohn 277, W. H.
Krieger 494, Walter Maier 532, Guido Merkens 628,
Charles Mueller 9, Theodore Nickel 550.

On the basis of these results Guido Merkens was
declared Second Vice-President, Theodore Nickel, Third
Vice-President, and Walter Maier, Fourth Vice-Presi-
dent.

Chairman Mennicke announced that since the Fifth
Vice-President had not been elected, in accordance with
synodical Bylaws the ballot for Fifth Vice-President
would contain only two names, those of August Bernthal
and W. Harry Krieger. After distribution of ballots the
election was declared closed.

Missions

Chairman Schlecht of the floor committee on Mis-
sions introduced William Kohn, executive secretary of
the Board for Missions, who presented President Waesa
of the Lutheran Church — New Guinea to the delegates.
President Waesa spoke to them in Pidgin. His remarks
were interpreted to the group by missionary Elwyn
Ewald.

A presentation of concerns of black Lutherans was
begun when Albert Pero introduced Rev. Will Herzfeld
as spokesman for the group. The presentation of these
concerns was made in symposium style and was directed
particularly to two issues: black education in the church
and black representation in seats of power. The presen-
tations were made by Rev. Albert Pero, Rev. Moses
Dickinson, Rev. Edwin Thompson, and Dr. Richard
Dickinson. While the group noted changes which had
occurred during the almost 100 years of the history
of black Lutheranism in America, all were in agree-
ment that there is need for intensified change in the
future in order to change the white image of the Synod.
It was suggested that machinery be set in motion for
the celebration of a century of black Lutheranism to
be observed in 1977. The presentation included the
black national anthem, the last stanza of which is a
prayer in which the delegates were asked to join. Rev.
Herzfeld concluded by reminding the delegates that the
Spirit was trying to get through to them. “Be careful
how you listen,” he said.

Theology and Church Relations

Discussion of Res. 2-04 (TB 27) asking that homo-
phile behavior be declared sinful was resumed after
Chairman Barth of the floor committee asked the dele-