LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 45

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5

TAI LIT OE SEN,

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 45

delegates adopted Res. 3-11 (TB 61), declaring the
position of the Synod on the historical-critical method.
This resolution rejected and repudiated as opposed to
sound Lutheran theology and injurious to the Gospel
any view of the Bible and method of interpreting it
which relates history to the production of the sacred
writings in such a way as to diminish their “not of this
world” character and deprive them of their divine
authority. It also reassured the members of the Synod
that the Synod still adheres faithfully to its historic
position on the Scriptures as God’s very own inspired,
inerrant, and authoritative Word for all matters of
doctrine and practice, and asked the responsible
officers of the Synod to implement evangelically the
provisions of the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws,
which are intended to assure that in all institutions
under the Synod’s control this position will be upheld
and preserved. In adopting Res. 3-13A (7B 199) the
convention issued a warning against Transcendental
Meditation/Science of Creative Intelligence and asked
the Commission on Organizations of the Synod, which
has prepared a paper on this matter, to send a copy of it
to all pastors, teachers, congregations, schools, and
officials of the Synod, as well as any civil authorities
that may be affected by this movement. After adding
Overtures 3-179A—B (CW 120) to the overtures dealt
with in the resolution, the convention reaffirmed the
Synod’s position on women with reference to the
pastoral office by adopting Res. 3-15 (TB 64).

Memorial Service

Former Vice-President of the Synod, Dr. Roland
Wiederaenders, led the delegates in a memorial service,
thanking God for the faithful workers of the Synod who
had departed this life trusting in Christ and now enjoy
the blessings of being in His presence.

Session 13

July 21, Morning
Opening

The Thursday morning session of the convention
began with the singing of the hymn “Holy Ghost, with
Light Divine” by the delegates. Chaplain Streufert
introduced Alfred Bartel, a consulting engineer from
Indianapolis, who read John 15:1-11 in Russian. After
reading the same section in English, Dr. Streufert
briefly discussed the closing words of the lesson, “that
your joy may be full,” and led the delegates in a prayer
for joy for their homes. After he had announced that he
would not be present for the remainder of the conven-
tion and that Dr. August Bernthal would be conducting
other devotions of the sessions, the convention ex-
pressed their appreciation for the work of Dr. Streufert
with a standing ovation.

Orders of the Day

After calling the convention to order, President
Preus indicated possible changes which would be made
in the orders of the day.

Program Implementation

After reminding the delegates that the words “be
strongly encouraged to” had been placed between the
words “representatives” and “develop” in line 75 (TB
249), Floor Committee Chairman Zimmerman re-
introduced Res. 13-14A (TB 249), asking for the
establishment of a required course in stewardship at
the seminaries. After brief discussion the delegates
adopted the resolution as amended. The convention
approved a revision of Bylaw 9.01 and the following,
which established budget-setting procedures to be
followed (Res. 13-01A, 7B 244). In presenting the
resolution the chairman of the floor committee explain-
ed that this revision allows the convention not only to
adopt a work program but also to adopt a spending
budget. The action was taken after the delegates had
declined to add the words “if they so desire to do this”
after the word “meeting” in line 11 (TB 247).

Missions

Before accepting Res. 2-37 (TB 317), calling for the
continued implementation of Mission Study Commis-
sion recommendations, the delegates adopted an
amendment calling for a final resolve stating: “That we
hold our mission workers high on our prayer list, and
that while these studies are under way during the next
biennium, the Board for Missions strive for even
greater effectiveness by placing special emphasis on
the promotion of God-pleasing understanding and
unity among our missionaries and between the Board
for Missions and our workers in the field, so that we
may also grow in the love of Christ and the power of the
Spirit in this vital work of the Lord.” The resolution
was then adopted as amended.

Rev. Wilbert Sohns, chairman of the Board for
Missions, introduced missionary Harold Ottemoeller,
missionary to Nigeria during most of the 40 years of
that mission’s existence. In his remarks he related the
exciting story of missionary outreach which has
developed in that country. He was given a standing
ovation by the delegates at the close of his presentation.

Elections

Chairman Ziegler of the Floor Committee on
Elections called for elections to complete the roster of
officers and boards of the Synod. Ballots were
distributed after Chairman Ziegler had explained that
because of an omission of the name of a pastoral
nominee on the first ballot for pastoral members of the
Committee for Convention Nominations, a new vote
would have to be taken for this position. Because of the
error the Commission on Constitutional Matters had
ruled that no election had occurred for the position of
pastoral members on this committee. The ballots were
then distributed and the elections declared closed.

Missions

Missionary Arbie Patschke, missionary to Japan for
the past 23 years, addressed the delegates and reviewed
recent developments in this mission field. He described
the changed situation which has occurred in Japan,
which is described as “interdependence,” in which the