LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 21

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION

Opening Worship

The opening worship service for the 59th Regular Con-
vention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was held
in the America’s Center of St. Louis, Missouri. The Rev. Dr.
A. L. Barry preached the sermon, with the Rev. Allen W.
Schade, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church of St.
Charles, serving as the presiding minister.

Delivering a message based on 2 Kings 7:3-9 to the dele-
gates, guests, and visitors, Dr. Barry asked the question,
“What shall we do with the Good News?” After pondering
the forgiveness we share and the salvation we have in
Christ Jesus Dr. Barry answered his question: “Let us go
now and tell the King’s people the Good News!”

Session 1
July 16, Morning
Sunday Morning Worship

The Sunday morning worship service was led by the Rev.
Jerold Munz, pastor of Peace Lutheran Church for the Deaf,
Indianapolis. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Doug-
las Rutt, missionary from Guatemala.

Committee 8: Registration, Credentials, and Elections

The Rev. Roger Krause, President of the Rocky Moun-
tain District and Chairman of Committee 8, Registration,
Credentials, and Elections, reported on the number of vot
ing delegates registered to this point in the convention. As
of 9:00 a.m., July 16, there were 585 voting pastors and 579
voting laypersons registered. The total number of voting
delegates present was 1164, constituting a quorum. Regis-
tered pastoral advisory delegates, 45; teacher delegates,
113; representatives from Synod’s boards, commissions, and
faculties, 193; youth representatives, 34; others, 20. The
total registrations: 1569. In addition 220 guests registered
their attendance for a total of 1789 in attendance.

Convention Gavel

‘The Rev. Dr. August Suelflow, Director of the Concordia
. Historical Institute for 45 years prior to his retirement ear-
lier this year, together with his successor, the Rev. Daniel
Preus, presented a celebrated gavel to Dr. Barry for use in
the opening and closing of the convention. The gavel was
first utilized in 1911 by Dr. F. Photenhauer, fifth President
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The gavel had
been prepared a year earlier by a layman from a piece of
wood taken from a beam of the log cabin in Perry County
which served as the first seminary. President Barry is the
sixth synodical President to use it.

Video Presentation .

_ The delegates had the opportunity to see the theme of
the convention, “Sent Forth to Be God’s Blessing,” depicted
in action throughout our Synod via a video prepared by the
Communications Department of the LCMS.

21

Welcome Message

President James Kalthoff, President of the Missouri Dis-
trict, welcomed the delegates, representatives, and guests.
Rev. Richard Thompson, Chairman of the Board of Direc-
tors of the Synod, responded.

Convention Schedule

The delegates voted to adopt the schedule for the con-
vention as printed on pages 27-28 of Today’s Business, with
the following modification: The business originally sched-
uled for Tuesday, July 18, at 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, re-
spectively, will be reversed.

Standing Rules

The delegates voted to adopt the standing rules with the
following addition: A member who has spoken on an issue
may not at the close of the speech move the previous ques-~
tion.

President’s Address

President Alvin L. Barry opened his remarks by ex-
pressing thanks for the privilege of being able to serve our
beloved Synod as President during the past triennium. Dr.
Barry likened our being together in convention to a family
reunion, and he welcomed all of the delegates, advisors, and
friends. Dr. Barry declared that faithfulness and outreach
must guide convention business during the coming days.

President Barry offered observations regarding several —
important resolutions to come before the house and
harkened back to his acceptance speech three years ago in
which he urged, “Keep the message straight, Missouri! Get
the message out, Missouri!”

Electronic Voting

President Roger Krause introduced the delegates to the
electronic voting system to be utilized during the course of
the convention.

Election of a President

Dr. Walter Rosin, Secretary of the Synod, presented the
slate of nominees for the office of President of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. The nominees included, in order
of nominations received: The Rev. Dr. Alvin Barry, the Rev.
Dr. John Johnson, the Rev. Dr. Richard Kapfer, the Rev.
Dr. Robert Kuhn, and the Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer. The slate
was adopted by common consent. Rev. Roger Krause led the
delegates in casting the first ballot.

The result of the first ballot of voting is as follows:

Alvin Barry 154 64 percent
Richard Kapfer 290 =. 25 percent
John Johnson 60 5 percent
Dale Meyer 46 4 percent
Robert Kuhn 12 1 percent.

Dr. Alvin Barry was declared elected.