LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 77

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“told the 1977 convention of the Synod that I had
yin office only a very short time when I came to
lize that basically I had three things that I particu-
y felt called upon to try to achieve during my period
‘president: (1) to resolve existing theological problems
‘and assure that the Synod would remain Biblical and
fessional in its doctrine; (2) to keep the Synod
her; (3) to keep the church going in the achievement
fthe mission which Christ has given to us.

‘While I’m sure that my successor will also have
iny other goals, such as the strengthening of the
rish; the improvement of the finances, the extension
‘the mission, and many more, I am convinced that
vase three matters will remain high on his agenda.
n-order to accomplish these goals, particularly the
first, it has been necessary for me at times to become
somewhat blunt and in some instances unpleasant. I
icerely apologize to all in the church who have in any
vay been wounded or hurt by anything I have ever said
‘and done. I have never deliberately set out to hurt
anyone, but I fully realize that particularly in the
‘naintenance of doctrinal discipline sometimes people
do get hurt. For this I am sincerely sorry. I have not
always been as kind or judicious as I should have been. I
have often spoken in haste and have made many
istakes. For all of these I ask God’s forgiveness and
yours.

“3, , Yet, despite the mistakes on the part of the President,
the 12 years have proven to me that I have the honor of
serving as President of one of the greatest church bodies
the world has ever known. When one thinks of the
difficulties we have had, and still to a lesser degree
continue to have, when one thinks of the great decisions
that we face even at this convention in the election of the
President, in the serious decision regarding church
fellowship and in the difficulties of organization, one
can only say that the church has endured these things
and in some ways has actually thrived under them. Who
could ever imagine that Forward in Remembrance
would be so enormously successful? Who could ever
imagine the high percentage of congregational partici-
pation?

Who could ever imagine that after the great difficul-
ties we have had in the middle 1970s that we would come
back from these times with renewed vigor and dedica-
tion and determination to be about the Lord’s business?
I believe that we have witnessed a whole series of
miracles. It is my firm belief that the Missouri Synod is
a church body which, in a sense, can be said to live a
charmed life. This is not because we are good or
deserving but because the Lord has been exceedingly
abundant in His blessings and grace. One can only
think of the Bible verse, “Where sin abounded, there did
grace much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

In speculating on the question of how has all of this
happened, aside from the abundant blessing of God, I
believe that the Missouri Synod has been singularly
blessed in its strong adherence to the Word of God as the
rule and norm for our faith and our life, in its great
emphasis on thorough Christian education at all levels,

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 77

in its excellent theological training, inits interest in the
needy and the poor, the old, the young, and the
oppressed, and in its great interest in missions and
evangelism. These are the ingredients which make a
great church body. And our people, despite all of our
difficulties, have never lost sight of these matters, never
lost confidence in their Lord, and never ceased to believe
in His mission. In Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” Fagan says
to Oliver, “You can be the greatest man in the world.”
Missouri can achieve greatness in service to our Lord
and His people. We have yet to see what He can do with
and through us. May God give us vision, faith, and
courage. We move Forward in Remembrance.

With reference to the proposed resolutions prepared
by the floor committees, I first want to express sincere
thanks to the floor committees for their diligent work,
and also to state that while I am not in total agreement
with every single detail of every single resolution, I do
believe that the committees have done a very excellent
piece of work and that the convention should give
serious and earnest consideration to the proposals they
make. In Part I of the President’s Report, I made many
recommendations which you may wish to consult, but
in this Part II of my report I shall simply leave it to the
good judgment of the delegates to make proper and
intelligent decisions on the material that is presented to
them by the floor committees. The floor committees
have done an excellent job of distilling a very large
Workbook, and I think they have made it possible for the
individual delegate, even if he is not well informed on all
details, to make intelligent and well-considered
decisions.

Now I come to a matter which is extremely difficult
and complicated. I ask you to give this matter and the
report of the floor committee your very careful and
prayerful attention.

We face at this convention the very difficult question
of suspending fellowship with The American Lutheran
Church. This history is probably well known to you. The
Missouri Synod had carried on discussions for many
years, ever since the 1920s, with church bodies which
today make up at least part of The American Lutheran
Church. At many times it appeared that fellowship was
very close, and that it would readily be established. This
did not happen for reasons that need not be mentioned
at this time. ;

Finally in 1965, we decided to become a charter
participating body in the Lutheran Council in the
U.S.A., which brought us together with both the
Lutheran Church in America and The American
Lutheran Church in a conciliar relationship, thatis, one
which involved a considerable amount of cooperation in
various aspects of church work, discussions of theology,
looking toward the establishment of fellowship, but not
actual fellowship itself. Then in 1969, after several
years of discussions, fellowship was established
between The American Lutheran Church and the
Missouri Synod. Feelings ran very high, the debate was
intense, and the vote was very close. This resulted in a
split-off of a couple dozen congregations at that time. It