LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 22

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22 MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

President’s Report

President Preus began his report by pointing out
that the first section of the report had been presented
when the convention committees gathered for the
preparation of resolutions and that this section of the
report had been sent to all delegates. He began the
second section of his report by expressing his thanks
for the prayers, moral and financial support, and other
assistance which had been given by all of the members
of the Synod, with special reference to the efforts of Dr.
Nickel, Third Vice-President of the Synod, Dr.
Carpenter, the synodical Treasurer, Dr. E. C. Weber,
First Vice-President of the Synod, and Dr. Robert
Sauer, assistant to the President of the Synod. He also
pointed out that the second section of his report, which
would be included in an issue of Today’s Business,
would include appendices reporting the disposition of
matters which had been assigned to the President’s
office by the convention at Anaheim as well as a listing
of congregations who have left the Synod and those
who hold dual membership in The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod and the AELC, together with the
situation of pastors in these congregations. Another
appendix would include a list of the congregations who
have joined the Synod during the past biennium.

President Preus continued his report by pointing to
the positive achievements of the Synod in recent years.
He indicated that in 1976 the Synod had reached its
highest membership in its 130 years of history. It had
also achieved the highest total and per-capita giving
for all work, amounting to over $375,000,000. In the
past biennium 1,100 young people have been added to
the list of professional church workers. Concordia
Seminary in St. Louis, which had a total enrollment of
90 students in 1974, had increased to 360 in 1977. The
latest reports in the Synod point out that 338,000 are
enrolled in Bible classes, the highest number which has
ever been enrolled. Several corners have been turned,
including a stemming of back-door losses, which have
begun to decline as a result of evangelism training and
workshops. Another corner which has been turned was
that of adult accessions, which have begun to increase
once again and last year totaled over 27,000.

Of the hundreds of meetings requiring presidential
attendance, President Preus cited two which were
especially important. The first of these was held in
Porto Alegre in 1975, a meeting of partner churches of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The second
meeting was held in 1977 in Hong Kong and was the
first international mission planning conference. Dr.
Preus stated that it was his belief that if all of the
members of our church could have been present at these
meetings, they would have been inspired to move
forward and there would be no lack of funds or effort
expended to share the Gospel with the world. Among
other positive things to which President Preus pointed
were the fact that we have the marvelous grace of God
in Christ Jesus, that we are a confessional church and
are not afraid to put on paper what our church stands
for, and that we have a congregational form of church
government in which all are part of the action.

In referring to the future, President Preus pointed to

certain things which could be described as stones in the
cathedral for the future. Among these are the “Year of
the Sunday School” and the Bible study program
entitled “That We May Grow.” Others include efforts at
improving interchurch relationships, the Black Centen-
nial, our concern for suffering, a national youth
organization which is to be considered by the conven-
tion, the educational program of our Synod, efforts at
reconstruction and restoration of the circuits, and the
contributions of $375,000,000 for all work of the Synod
and its congregations.

While all these are positive factors, President Preus
stated that there is apathy, uncertainty, and ignorance
and that one of the purposes of a convention is to
inspire delegates to go home and inspire the members
of the circuits which they represent. He stated that we
must get away from thinking that to be orthodox is to
be against something. It includes positively being for
something, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Preus
concluded his statements with the prayer that we may
grow in faith, hope, and love.

Standing Rules

Dr. Herbert Mueller, Secretary of the Synod,
addressed the delegates, pointing out that special
standing rules adopted at the Anaheim convention had
also been approved by that convention to serve as
temporary rules for the present convention. Further-
more, a Convention Format Committee was continued
to consider any change in rules which should be
presented for the present convention. This committee
had considered the convention format and proposed
special standing rules as found on page 8 of Today’s
Business. The proposed rules were then adopted by the
delegates as the standing rules for the present conven-
tion.

Constitutional Matters and
Registration and Credentials

Dr. Richard Schlecht, President of the Michigan
District and chairman of the Committee on Con-
stitutional Matters, presented Res. 5-01 (TB 99) to the
delegates. This resolution asked the delegates to declare
the Synod’s position on the Association of Evangelical
Lutheran Churches, especially dual membership in The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the Association
of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. Prior to the reading
of the resolution several changes were made. In lines 34
and 35 (TB 99) the numbers 52 and 93 were changed to 45
and 107 respectively. The names which had been
omitted on lines 60 and 61 (TB 99) were included. These
names are Dr. Michael Stelmachowicz, Dr. Otto A. Dorn,
and Pastor Louis Meyer. In line 72 (TB 99) the words
“where conversations are taking place and where
progress is being made toward what seems to be an
imminent resolution,” were placed between the words
“case” and “such.”

After the reading of this resolution the President of
the Synod declared that parliamentarily Res. 1-01 (TB
36) should be read since it was related to Res. 5-01 (TB
99), but that before action would be taken on this
resolution action should be completed on Res. 5-01.