LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 79

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rcent. This is going to make more difficult various
kinds of negotiations and interchurch relationships.

Perhaps the greatest factor of all, however, is that if
the merger takes place, the center of gravity in the new
church will shift to the East, perhaps to New York or
- philadelphia, where the greatest concentration of LCA
Dutherans is to be found. Missouri and the ALC have
- peen sort of bastions in the Mississippi valley. If the
» genter of gravity moves to the East, Missouri will by
- default inherit the entire Midwest as its area of activity
“ahd influence. This will also give us a much greater
~- entree to the South and to the West of this country. Ina
certain sense, if this happens, it could be the day of
~ greatest opportunity for the Missouri Synod in all its
history. While it is true that the location of headquarters
of a church body is not everything, it is also true that
under the polity that one can expect from the new
- church, the centralization in the headquarters will be
far greater than the centralization that the Missouri
' Synod has always so cordially rejected. Among other
things this can very well mean that if we plan and think
carefully, the Missouri Synod can become the theo-
logically and ecclesiastically dominant Lutheran
church west of the Allegheny Mountains in this country.
Therefore, as we contemplate actions regarding the
particular point of ALC fellowship as well as the
broader subject of inter-Lutheran relationships in
general in North America, we need to be very careful to
take stances and positions which will not jeopardize
what could be a most interesting and most challenging
future for what I think we all believe is an enormously
dynamic and talented church. We are able to accomplish
very, very great things, not only in such areas as
Forward in Remembrance, but in missions, mass media,
evangelism, and also in the area of confessional
Lutheran theology. All of this, of course, is due to the
blessing and mercy of God, but the fact is that God has
accomplished some great things through our church.
Therefore, as we contemplate one aspect of the inter-
Lutheran relationship question, we must not be unmind-
ful of all aspects of it, not only of the present but also of
the future, not only of the next 5 years but also of the
next 50 years. I have long hoped and prayed and
contended that some better method for interrelating
between Lutherans could be developed than we pre-
sently have. I do not think the issue is totally black and
white, one that is either full fellowship or total rejection.

We have not as yet thought through the process of
how we as a confessional church with a doctrinal
heritage which we cherish and thoroughly believe,
relate to those who do not share completely that heri-
tage, but yet bear the Christian and in some cases the
Lutheran name, so that on the one hand we do not
become self-righteous isolationists or on the other hand
raving ecumaniacs. Both of these positions are in error.

All that has been said to this point was written prior
to June 4, at which time I believed that I had said all
that was necessary and probably more than was neces-
sary in reporting to the Synod as these 12 years draw to
aclose. However, on June 17 I received a letter from Dr.

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 79

David Preus with an enclosure which I am appending to
this report comprising a recommendation he was
making to the Church Council of The American Luther-
an Church during its June 22—26, 1981, meeting. I am
appending the entire report so that you may read his
recommendation in its context. The recommendation
itself reads: “That the ALC Church Council invite the
LCMS to join in encouraging widespread regional and
local consultations regarding the continuance or non-
continuance of altar and pulpit fellowship between the
two churches, such consultations to precede any action
to terminate fellowship between our churches.” As an
additional piece of information I should share with you
what many of you probably already know, namely, that
six Districts of The American Lutheran Church (only
two of which have communicated with my office
directly), have passed resolutions asking The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod to continue its fellowship
with The American Lutheran Church. For your infor-
mation two of these six Districts together with six
others have also urged the ALC to merge with the LCA.
At this point of writing on June 18, one District of The
American Lutheran Church has voted against merging.

I wrote: to the Church Council of The American
Lutheran Church on June 19, and am appending this
letter also for your consideration and information.

On June 24, the Council of The American Lutheran
Church communicated with my office, indicating that
they had adopted the recommendation of President Dr.
David Preus, as read to you a few minutes ago. I felt it
was only proper to communicate all of this late informa-
tion to you.

Quite obviously, the resolution of the President and
Church Council together with that of the Districts of the
ALC indicates a desire on the part of many members of
the ALC that fellowship continue. It should be noted
that as early as its 1977 convention, the Missouri Synod
asked for multilevel discussions of doctrine with the
ALC, but this was rejected by the ALC leadership and
the only discussions in which they would take part were
those of the now somewhat discredited Commission on
Fellowship and one meeting between professors of the
two churches, which produced little or nothing. Ido not
believe that an action on our part to continue fellowship
will deter or delay the merger. Whether The American
Lutheran Church would be willing to hold such discus-
sions in the event that fellowship is broken at this
convention, is only a matter of conjecture. Whether the
discussions would be of help in resolving our differences
is also, of course, a matter of conjecture. The fact has to
be faced very forthrightly that a break in fellowship on
our part and a failure to hold discussions will positively
guarantee that The American Lutheran Church will
drift inexorably into the orbit of the Lutheran Churchin
America to the point where the ALC will cease to exist.
Again, how important this is to our people, most of
whom together with the great majority of the ALC live
in the Midwest, is again something that we must
carefully ponder. In other words, American Lutheran-
ism is at a crossroads and churches are taking courses