LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 61

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 61

is not possible to make a detailed presentation of all the ac-
tivities of the President’s office, but I do want to paint a pic-
ture for you in broad brushstrokes of some of the important
highlights. I am sure I will have an opportunity to comment
in more detail on various items when I address the floor
committees as they meet in St. Louis in May and when I
am able to address the convention this July.

II. Activities within the Family
over the Past Three Years

I believe one of the most important things I did early in
my administration was to establish a clear vision for our
Synod as we move into the years ahead. The fivefold vision
statement, which you have heard about at District conven-
tions and other such gatherings, has an interesting history.
Even before the Pittsburgh convention, as I was thinking
about the possibility that I might be elected to serve the
Synod as president, I began to think about the hopes. and
dreams I had for our beloved Synod.

After the election, and during my first Board of Direc-
tors meeting, I shared my desire to present to the Synod a
vision of where we as a Synod needed to focus our atten-
tion. During that meeting the board then asked me to pre-
pare a statement of my vision for the Synod. Thus it was
that I presented what we now know as the fivefold vision
statement. I am not going to review each point of the vision
statement in great detail, but I will repeat them here for
you.

Before I do, I need to say that this vision statement is
not a “program.” It is not something that one day may work
and the next day may not. It is not something that can be

‘discarded or set aside when something new’ comes along.

No, it is a vision. It is a set of priorities for our Synod, pri-
orities that we as a Synod need to emphasize as we move
into the future. Therefore, I listed as my vision for our
Synod:

A church body which is

a. strongly in the Word;

b. people sensitive and people centered;

c. reaching out boldly with the Gospel;

d. faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions;
e. marked by peace and unity in the Lord.

A high priority I set for myself during the past several
years has been my desire to be out among the Synod in as
many different locations as possible. I have attempted to
meet with as many members of our Synod as I could during
these years. I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing
this has been for me.

Needless to say, after serving congregations for some 15
years, my heart is still very much in tune with the local
congregation. I have enjoyed many opportunities to be with
individual congregations, both large and small, rural and
urban, to celebrate special events or commemorate signifi-
cant milestones. Being with the people of God in this way,
listening to their hopes, their dreams, and yes, hearing
their worries and concerns, has been extremely valuable to
me as I serve our Synod.

I was able to attend 17 of our 35- District conventions.
During this time with the Districts, I shared a report on the
fivefold vision statement as well as expressed some very
heartfelt concerns about our synodical financial situation

and the need for us to seriously address the decline in sup-
port to the Synod through the Districts and the increase in
individualized giving.

And of course, over the past few years there have been
numerous synodwide events and activities. Conventions,
convocations, seminars, symposia, pastoral conferences, re-
gional meetings, meetings of special organizations and en-
tities, all these have been a valuable part of my getting to
know our beloved Synod even better. I continue to be very
impressed by the tremendous blessing God gives our
beloved Synod in the form of dedicated and talented church
workers and lay people. Truly this is the strength of our
Synod.

Often an important aspect of my meetings with various
groups is an opportunity to share papers and make presen-
tations. We have attempted to make these papers available
to the church. Some of these key presentations have dealt
with church fellowship, the concept of peace in the church,
the office of the ministry and the priesthood of all believ-
ers, the work of the ministry, the whole subject of worship
and liturgy and so forth. These papers remain available
upon request from my office.

I would like to mention some specific activities of my ad-
ministration over the past three years:

150th Anniversary

Shortly after I came to St. Louis, I had an initial meet-
ing with officials to discuss our Synod’s 150th anniversary
celebration. Our synodical family began in 1847 and in
1997 we will be privileged to praise and thank God for our
150th anniversary. It is a time for us as a Synod to look
back on our history and with great thanksgiving see the
mercies and blessings of God. It is a time to look forward
to the future, trusting in the same all-powerful leadership
of God’s Holy Spirit.

As part of the planning process for this 150th anniver-
sary celebration, I appointed a committee, chaired by Pres-
ident Robert Kuhn (CI). This committee has been meeting
over the past two and a half years to make plans for the cele-
bration. I am especially pleased with the excellent work
being performed by Dr. Karl Barth, who was appointed to
serve as the director of the 150th anniversary celebration.
His co-worker, Dr. James Boldt, has also been of tremen-
dous help in this effort.

Opportunities in World Lutheranism

Our Synod has marvelous opportunities opening up
around the world to share our confession of faith with a
wide variety of Lutheran church bodies. In the spring of
1993 I was privileged to travel to parts of Eastern Europe,
making contacts with a whole host of Lutheran church body
leaders, including our partner churches, as well as newer
friends in various parts of what was once the Soviet em-
pire. Many of these contacts were the first time the Mis-
souri Synod has made contact with church bodies which for-
merly were behind the Iron Curtain. For me, a special part
of the trip was meeting with synodical workers who serve
faithfully in conditions which oftentimes are less than
ideal.

Time and again as I met with our synodical workers in