LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 6

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Forward in Remembrance

That was the theme of the 1981 synodical convention.
Prominent in the thinking of the delegates was the
astounding fact that God in His mercy had blessed our
Forward in Remembrance effort with an outpouring of
$75 million, far exceeding the goal of $40 million.

Stewardship received emphasis in the convention.
The essays were devoted to that theme; a special
stewardship rally was held on the Sunday evening of
the convention; and the convention took steps to enlarge
the place of stewardship in the life of the church.

It seems that there are three facets which will make
this convention noteworthy.

First of all, there was the declaration of the conven-
tion that the Synod is no longer in fellowship with The
American Lutheran Church. One can only say that this
has resulted in a feeling of deep sadness. Even the floor
committee that favored this action felt constrained to
add to the resolution the significant words, “with deep
sorrow.” Camelot! Camelot! It is doubtful whether most
of us will ever see “what once was” restored again.

The second significant fact lies in the termination of
the 12-year administration of Dr. J. A. O. Preus. How
shall one evaluate the man and his adminsitration?
History will no doubt judge his administration to have
been absolutely unique. At least one can describe him
already now as a man: scholarly, completely dedicated
to Biblical orthodoxy, witty beyond compare, brilliant,
tenacious, creative, restless. He could be a man of steel,
but he could turn into a cream puff when confronted
with sudden kindness or a cry for help. We have seen it
repeatedly.

The third noteworthy factor was the restructuring of
the synodical administration. Not everything was
accomplished that was proposed. As a result, the
machine may not hit on all cylinders. Perhaps the 1983
convention will complete the reorganization. At the
beginning of the convention there seemed to bea feeling
of distrust toward the proposals, fostered no doubt by
printed reports and oratory about centralization, clergy
takeover, steamroller tactics, etc. But as the convention
wore on, a high level of trust began to exhibit itself, and
the delegates came into their own. It was a difficult
undertaking for them, but in the end they performed
superbly and perhaps would have performed even more
superbly if time had not run out.

This convention marked the beginning of a new
administration, that of Dr. Ralph Bohlmann. The
prayers of a united church are with him! We bid a warm
farewell to Dr. Edwin Weber, faithful servant of the
Synod, and a warm welcome to his successor, Dr. Robert
Sauer!

Various awards were presented to men and women
who had excelled in service to segments of the Synod.

* * *

Once again we are listing for handy reference resolu-

tions which seem to be of more general interest (see also
the Index at the back of the book):

Res. 1-01 Missionary Support (also 12-09)

Res. 1-04A American Indians

Res. 1-09A Campus Ministry

Res. 2-01 Convention Cycle

Res. 2-03A Board of Directors

Res. 2-04A Program Boards

Res. 2-11 Staff Supervision

Res. 2-12 Nominating Committee

Res. 2-13 Circuit Involvement

Res. 2-14 Franchise

Res. 2-18B Handbook Revision

Res. 2-25 Boards of Regents

Res. 2-27 CTCR Membership

Res. 3-01 ALC Fellowship

Res. 3-02 Pro-Life

Res. 3-13 New Worship Agenda

Res. 4-15 Pension Benefits

Res. 4-18 Valpo Dialog

Res. 4-20A Age Discrimination

Res. 5-06 Ohio District CEF

Res. 5-07 New Corporations

Res. 5-08 Classification of “Ministers”

Res. 5-15 Emeriti as Counsellors

Res. 6-02A Canadian Seminary Training

Res. 6-04A Four Years for Winfield

Res. 6-04 Teacher Placement

Res. 6-16 Deaconess Bylaws

Res. 6-19 Colloquy Programs

Res. 6-21 Training for Black Ministry

Res. 7-02 Updated Catechism Translation

Res. 8-03 Conference on Social Needs

Res. 12-08A Department of Stewardship and
Financial Support

Res. 12-12 New Investment Structure

Res. 12-13 Distribution of FIR Receipts

* * *

The following should also be noted for the record:

—Al]l sessions were held in the Alfonso J. Cervantes
Convention and Exhibition Center in St. Louis, Mo.,
July 3-10, 1981.

—For the third time the convention had a senior
chaplain, Dr. August Suelflow, who was assisted in
closing devotions by various members of the synod-
ical staff.

* * *

Dr. Walter Rosin once again performed the yeoman’s
task of serving as assistant secretary, with primary
responsibility for the daily Minutes. Thanks are also
due to those who produced Today’s Business and worked
behind the scenes in other respects. Special mention
should be made of Jean Buettner, Marie Biesenthal, Jan
Markle, and Marcus L. Strohschein.

A few technical explanations are in order to under-
stand the makeup of this book.

Some resolutions have an “A” attached to their
identifying number. This means that the resolution
originally prepared by the floor committee over the