LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 69

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 69

and challenge in the Lord.” We have been sent forth by
God’s blessing to be a blessing to many all around the
world. This is what outreach is all about.

Therefore, as we move into the next six days, and into
the months and years ahead, approaching the turn of the
century, our Synod needs to remain equally committed to
faithfulness and outreach. We have nothing to fear as we
boldly testify about our faith before the world. We do not
need to imitate others. We can both do our mission work
and at the same time remain faithful, confessional Luther-
ans. In fact, we must do this. We have a very unique and
special message for the world. It is the pure teaching of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and all its articles. Therefore, our
Synod’s family reunion for these next six days must ever
. keep these two words in the forefront: faithfulness and out-
reach. Faithfulness and outreach.

Observations on Specific Issues ©
for Our Synod’s Family Reunion

I would now like to offer some specific observations as
your synodical president in regard to a number of the reso-
lutions which will come before you over these next several
days.

I am sure that when you first received the Convention
Workbook you may have been a bit overwhelmed by the
many and various overtures which it contained. Here is
where the work of our floor committees comes in. They
gathered together over the Memorial Day weekend and did
an outstanding job of preparing the resolutions which you
have now in Today’s Business. They met again last Friday
and Saturday to finalize these resolutions and to hear from
anyone who wished to share observations with them. I com-
mend the floor committees’ work to you and encourage you
to support the resolutions which they have prepared for
your consideration. ;

As I looked through the first issue of Today’s Business, I
was struck by a number of key resolutions which we will be

considering. First, the whole matter of a modification to our .

Synod’s system of resolving disputes and conflict among us
will come before you in Resolution 7-02. The floor commit-
tee, in conjunction with representatives of the Dispute Res-
olution Task Force, really labored over these modifications.
The goal was to build on the strengths of the new process as
it now stands and to provide modifications which will make
doubly sure that the process is fair and just to all the par-
ties involved. Thus Resolution 7-02 includes a process for
appealing decisions made by Dispute Resolution Panels. As
it now stands, the process does not provide for this. Resolu-
tion 7-03 calls for the preparation of guidelines for this
process. At the present time we also lack these very neces-
sary guidelines. This too will be an important factor in
strengthening and improving our Synod’s process for re-
solving conflict, adjudicating disputes, and, hopefully,
bringing reconciliation to situations of conflict among us.
The main goal in all these changes is to make absolutely
sure that we, out of love for our neighbor, go the extra mile
to ensure justice.and fairness for all parties to a dispute.
Another key issue which has rightly attracted a lot of at-
tention is the whole matter of the CTCR’s study document
on the service of women in the church. Resolution 3-15 calls

for further study and work on the CTCR’s document. I -
would encourage you to support this resolution. It is obvi-
ous that the document needs more work. The entire CTCR
recognizes this fact and has expressed its desire and will-
ingness to continue this work.

Another key issue facing the Synod is the matter of the
creation of the Board for Congregational Services. I would
encourage you to support Resolution 2-04. There are some
who feel strongly that the new board is not really the best
idea for our Synod. I too must confess that I have some very
genuine concerns about the merger of the various program
boards, but I fee]. that if our Synod does decide that a
merger is the wisest course of action, then we need to make
sure that the synodical convention elects all or at least the
majority of the members of the Board for Congregational
Services.

I would also like to draw your attention especially to
Resolution 2-03 which calls for the Commission on Worship
to remain an independent entity. I am absolutely convinced
that our Synod needs to have a free-standing Commission
on Worship. Resolution 2-03 calls for the Commission on
Worship to remain free standing but also calls on it to work
closely with the Congregational Services area. This too is
crucial. So, I would strongly encourage you to support Res-
olution 2-03 and join many congregations and Districts of
our Synod which feel that a free-standing Commission on
Worship would be of great value to our Synod as we move
into the future.

Another big decision which faces our synodical family is
Resolution 5-03. This resolution declines the Board for
Higher Education’s extensive revision to the Bylaws of our
Synod governing our Synod’s system of higher education. I
am very concerned about these proposed changes. In some
key respects, they move the colleges and universities fur-
ther away from the input of our synodical convention. We
as a Synod need to retain a strong sense of ownership over
our institutions of higher education. The proposed Bylaws
would give the Synod less of an opportunity to elect the
Boards of Regents at our various institutions. The property
of the institutions would also no longer be controlled by our
elected Board of Directors. Instead they would be turned
over to the appointed staff and members of the Concordia
University System. These and other aspects of the Bylaw
changes trouble me and many others who have carefully
studied them. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to
support the floor committee on this issue and refer these
Bylaw changes back to the Board for Higher Education for
further work and study. We cannot afford to make changes
which we may later deeply regret.

I would now like to draw your attention to the resolu-
tions in Today’s Business concerning full financial disclo-
sure and openness. Resolutions 4-02 through 4-05 all ad-
dress aspects of tht important issue. As I travel back and
forth across our Synod, I ‘have found that this issue is a
very genuine concern among our people. It is not enough
for us as synodical and District officials simply to say,
“Trust us.” We need to demonstrate a genuine willingness
to answer questions which are asked and to supply as much
information.as possible, and not merely only that.informa-
tion required by state laws. We have made progress in