LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1977, Page 76

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76 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

toward the future and see where we want to go. We might
look upon ourselves as workers building a cathedral,
that place where the people of God gather and sing His
praises, glorify His name, and are strengthened for
service to Him and our neighbor, are filled with hope and
joy for this world and for the world to come, because
ultimately that is our reason for belonging to a church
and for holding this convention of the representatives of
6,200 congregations. A cathedral does not exist for itself
but for Christ and His church.

Christian Education

This year we are inaugurating the Year of the
Sunday School as an effort not just to rake in children
and improve statistics but to bring the Bread of Life to
the children of our own parishes and the children of our
own community. The New Life in Christ lessons have
already given new interest and vigor in our churches.
This year, over 78 percent of our Sunday school pupils
are studying God’s Word in the New Life in Christ series.
Presently almost 95 percent of our congregations use all
or part of Concordia Publishing House Sunday school
materials. Our Parish Education Department is
devoting itself zealously and eagerly to the work of
congregational edification and the strengthening of the
family and the strengthening of the witness in the
community.

In connection with Christian education, may I give
special and renewed stress to the “That We May Grow”
program, which is the theme of our convention. The
essays and related Bible studies that will be on the daily
agenda are designed to emphasize the goal and purposes
of this program. I hope that every delegate will take
home with him or her the message that we urge every
congregation to study with greater intensity the Holy
Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, and what it
means to be the church of Jesus Christ on earth. These
studies of the Bible and the Confessions will be edifying
at all levels, in Sunday school, youth work, church
organizations, voters meetings, and through the con-
gregations.

Fellowship

I should also call your attention to the resolutions by
Committee 3 relative to the matter of fellowship and
dialog with other Lutherans. To this particular conven-
tion, unlike all others, I as your President have invited
all the Lutheran church bodies in the United States who
I thought would even have a remote interest in The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to send observers
and if they desire to bring greetings. We are also sending
observers to conventions of other Lutheran churches to
a greater degree than ever before. Invited have been not
only The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran
Church in America but also the Association of Free
Lutheran Congregations, the Church of the Lutheran
Brethren of America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

It seems to me that, while on the one hand we
continue to stand very firmly on our doctrinal position
and not deviate from it, on the other hand there needs to

be discussion and dialog not only with the two other large
Lutheran Churches but also with all bodies that bear the
Lutheran name. Missouri has never carried out any kind
of dialog whatsoever with some of the Lutheran Church
bodies in America. Perhaps the time has come for us not
just to sit and wait for invitations but to initiate some
dialog. We are still very mindful of those synods which
once comprised the Synodical Conference and which
were separated from us a number of years ago. That
separation still brings us great pain. It seems to me wise
to continue to keep the doors open for discussion with
these synods of the former Synodical Conference.
Inasmuch as we have been conducting dialogs with
Reformed, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and many
others, we should certainly not neglect other Lutherans.
I suggest that the Commission on Theology and Church
Relations be given this additional assignment, namely,
that we attempt to open the doors to carry on doctrinal
discussions and create warmer and friendlier
relationships with all those on our continent who bear
the Lutheran name.

The Black Centennial

As this convention we are beginning the celebratin of
the Black Centennial. Work was begun in 1877 among
the former Black slaves in the South, and today there are
about 175 congregations which are considered Black,
with about 45,000 members. Truly the Lord has blessed
these efforts. There is tremendous need, however, for
recruitment of Black pastors and for expansion of work
among the large Black population of our nation. The
proposals of the special committee on ethnic concerns
deserve our careful and prayerful attention. I urge their
passage, including a substantial collection to educate
Black clergy. We thank God for the contribution which
the Black people have made to our church, and we pray
that He will continue to bless this work on the part of
both Black and whites, so that in the years ahead even
greater progress can be made. Is an offering of
$1,500,000 too much for 3,000,000 people to celebrate a
centennial? I think not, and I know you feel the same.

This is not just a way of trying to show the world that
we are interested in Black people but to show the Black
people that from our hearts we love them and apprecia-
te their contribution to the church. Therefore we
celebrate with them, and we support them in their
outreach among the huge minority in our population
which have been so oppressed and so downtrodden, so
poor, and so mistreated in a thousand different ways.

Concerns for the Suffering

Our Department of Social Ministry and World Relief
is attempting constantly to sensitize our people to the
needs for compassion and concern, not only about the
spiritual welfare of individuals but also about their
physical needs, their hunger, their housing problems,
and all the other difficulties which beset so many
millions and even billions of people in all the world. Also
there is constant and increasing concern about the
aging.

The Education of Workers

Our colleges and seminaries need greater support.