LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 72

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72 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Part II

Thanks

At the beginning of this report permit me to express
sincere thanks to the members of the Synod for their
prayers and their dedication during the past biennium
in furthering the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lay
people, pastors, and teachers continue to respond to the
call of the Gospel in every way, and as Paul says to the
Philippians, “I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you.”

I also want to thank the Vice-Presidents of the Synod
for their dedicated and faithful service. Doctor Edwin C.
Weber, our First Vice-President, has continued to give
constant and loyal support in every way, and I want to
thank him publicly. All of the Vice-Presidents have been
helpful and have carried out their assignments faithful-
ly and with devotion to their duties.

A special word of thanks is due to our Secretary,
Doctor Herbert Mueller, a tireless servant of our Lord
Jesus Christ and a man of great integrity and dedica-
tion.

At this convention two of our officers are not up for
reelection. Doctor Theodore F. Nickel, our Third Vice-
President, has indicated his desire not to be a candidate,
since he is retired from his work as a pastor and is
anxious to enter into the retirement which he so well
deserves. Doctor Nickel has served longer than any
member of the present Praesidium. He also served as
chairman of the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations and previously as President of the Northern
Illinois District. He is known to all as a man of great
dedication to his Lord Jesus Christ and to the Scriptures
and to the Lutheran Confessions. We will miss him.

Doctor Milton Carpenter, our synodical Treasurer, is
not eligible for reelection at this convention. Doctor
Carpenter has given freely of his time and talents. I
want to say on this occasion how much I have treasured
not only his personal friendship but also his splendid
contributions to our church during these many years.
When he took office, the indebtedness of the Synod was
$16,000,000. At the end of his last fiscal year it was under
$40,000.

A special word of commendation is due the Board of
Directors of the Synod and its Administrative Officer,
Mr. John P. Schuelke. No group in the Synod has given
more generously and sacrificially of their time, and I
believe that the Synod owes each of them, several of
whom are not eligible for reelection, a very special vote
of gratitude.

And to all members of all boards, commissions, and
committees of the Synod, to our faithful and hard-
working synodical staff, to all missionaries, professors
in our schools, and again to all our pastors and teachers
and members of our church a sincere word of thanks is
very much in order. The Synod has been blessed with
great talent and with loyal and dedicated Christian
people.

I would like to make special mention of thanks to my
own staff, Doctor Robert C. Sauer, Miss Jean Buettner,
and Miss Elizabeth Kops, all of whom have given
abundantly of their time and talents.

Certainly we want to thank also our District
Presidents and all District officers and board members
who have worked diligently for the unification of our
church and the spreading of the Gospel.

A special word of thanks should be given to those
men who took on a most impossible task as acting
presidents of four of our Districts. I refer to the Reverend
Albert W. Bahr in Eastern, the Reverend Henry L.
Koepchen in Atlantic, the Reverend Paul G. Barth in
English, and the Reverend Oscar E. Milke in New
England. I wish to express a further word of thanks to
the men who have succeeded them, namely, Pastor
George W. Bornemann in English, Pastor Martin P.
Dienst in New England, and Pastor Ronald F. Fink in
Atlantic. All of these men have served with distinction
and integrity, and the Synod owes them a great deal.

Likewise a word of thanks to the International
Lutheran Laymen’s League and its president, Mr A.
Walter Hamp, and its previous president, Mr. Gus S.
Melde; to the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League
and its president, Mrs. Helen Morris, and former
president, Mrs. Florence Montz, who served during this
present biennium of the Synod.

Appended to this report, as will be printed in Today’s
Business, are two reports on the activities of the
President during the past biennium:

1. The first deals with assignments made to the
President’s office by the Anaheim convention. The
action on these matters is presented in detail and need
not be dealt with here except as indicated.

2. It was originally the custom of the President to
append to his report a list of prominent leaders who have
died during the past biennium. On the assumption that
all servants of the church have some kind of
prominence, it has been the practice in the past several
conventions to list all servants, teachers or pastors, or
other servants of the Synod whom the Lord has called
home and whose works do follow them. This list has also
been appended.

I am also adding to the first part of my report given
over the Pentecost weekend the list of congregations
which have left the Synod, congregations which claim
dual membership, and the names of the pastors
involved, some of whom have left the Synod and some of
whom have not.

Finally, appended are the names of congregations
which have joined the Synod during the past biennium
and those I anticipate will join at this convention.

Floor Committees

Since all delegates have received a copy of the first
issue of Today’s Business, which includes Part I of the
President’s Report, I will not repeat the material given
there. The floor committees worked diligently and witha
great spirit of cooperation and desire for peace and
progress. I believe that the counsel given by the floor
committees, together with the Spirit-led thinking of the
delegates, will give these matters the kind of careful
attention which they deserve, without further comment
or advice on the part of the synodical] President. It seems