LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 62

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT 63

That is the Synod’s position on the Holy Scriptures,
and it is my position. I say to you in all candor, before
you choose the man to occupy the President’s chair,
that it will continue to be my position next year, and
the following year, and the year after that, and for as
long as the Lord sees fit to use me as one of His min-
isters of the Gospel. It will be my position in whatever
ministry or position the Lord calls me to fill. In fact, I
could not in good conscience accept any position in this
church body, whether as pastor, teacher, or official, if I
were expected to carry out my responsibilities on any
other terms. For the official position of this great church
body is, and by God’s grace shall ever remain, the po-
sition which I believe, teach, and confess with all my
heart.

VII. We See That the Synod is People

This report began by inviting you to join me in
taking a panoramic look at The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod, particularly to see some of the ac-
complishments as well as some of the challenges which
characterize our existence together in the 1970s. There
is one more emphasis which we should look at to-
gether, and it is a very important one. For when we
look at The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, we see
people, not merely an institution. We see brothers and
sisters in Jesus Christ, not merely statistics. We see
millions of sinners forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ
reaching out to all the world as God gives them strength
and ability. These have not been easy years for the
Christian church on earth nor for our Luthrean Church
— Missouri Synod, and yet the dedicated help of all of
our people has contributed mightily to the ongoing
progress of the Gospel through our beloved church
body.

Thank You

It is important not only that we accent the personal
nature of the church, but that we recognize, at an
occasion such as this, how richly God has blessed our
church in giving us so many loyal and active servants.
It would be impossible for me to single out all of those
who have done special service, because all have worked
so magnificently, and the Synod owes all of you a deep
debt of gratitude. I want particularly to express the
Synod’s appreciation to all our pastors, teachers, syn-
odical officials, boards, commissions, committees, execu-
tives, District officials, and all who have served so will-
ingly and devotedly during the past biennium. A special
word of thanks should go to our great vice-presidents,
our synodical Board of Directors, the Board of Trustees,
our synodical treasurer, Dr. Carpenter, our secretary,
Dr. Herbert Mueller, the Board of Stewardship and its
staff, and the 125th Anniversary Committee and its staff.
To all of you who have contributed so much at the
synodical, District, and local level of our church’s ex-
istence, may I take this opportunity to say thank you
and God bless you for all that you have done.

Our Departed Brethren

While we are emphasizing the gifts God has given
our Synod, may I use this opportunity to honor the
memory of the many synodical servants, both pastors
and teachers, who have passed away during the past
biennium. The text of my Report printed in the Pro-
CEEDINGS will contain a complete list of those who have
entered eternal life during the past 2 years, and later
during the convention program we will conduct a special
memorial service in their honor. To their widows and
orphans and their loved ones, as well as to the congrega-
tions or groups they served, the Synod expresses its
sincere sympathy as well as its profound gratitude.

Support Our Workers

Yes, when you look at The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod, you see not just an institution, but people
— people united in faith and joined together in service
to their fellowmen. As we thank God for these gifts,
we must also confess that we have not always shown
our appreciation for the many servants God has given
our church, If we are to maximize the efforts of all of
us in carrying forth the mission of our church as we
have been talking about it this morning, we need to do
all that we can to support our pastors, teachers, and
officials in their work. Every District president, circuit
counselor, synodical and District executive, together
with the lay leadership of the Synod, needs to be con-
cerned that our pastors and professional church work-
ers are happy in their work, that their morale is high,
that they continue to learn, to develop, to be motivated
and dedicated to the great tasks which challenge us all.
I would urge the lay delegates here to carry back to the
congregations in their circuits the need for adequate sal-
aries for our pastors and teachers and other church
workers. Many of our chuch workers are adequately
paid but some are not.

Please also permit a few words regarding our lay
men and women. Missouri was founded by a very real
combination of clergy and lay people. Our fathers strove
to make Luther’s doctrine of the priesthood of all be-
lievers a reality. This shows up in our polity, our em-
phasis on strong lay auxiliaries and in our very con-
vention structure. We need to devote attention here
and at home to the further development of lay leader-
ship and talents. What resources for service and mission
we have! What resources for evangelism and financial
development, for social service and ministry of many
kinds!

Welcome to Delegates

We have been emphasizing and expressing our ap-
preciation of the fact that the church is people — people
united in Jesus Christ to carry out His mission to the
world. In fact, people of The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod come from all parts of North America and
some parts of South America. We are particularly for-
tunate at this convention to have representatives of this
church in much greater numbers from certain parts of
our Synod. To mention one of these areas, I am espe-