LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 103

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

4, Greetings of the President
of Lutheran Church—Canada

President Barry, convention delegates, brothers and sisters
in Christ:

To visit with family i is always a joy to be treasured.
Thank you for giving me that privilege, and through me,
allowing: Lutheran Church—Canada to come onto your
agenda. I will try to honor your time constraints, and stay

within the three minutes allotted to me.

First of all; let mé congratulate you, Dr. Barry, upon
your reelection as President of the Synod. I look forward to
continuing the, excellent cooperation that has existed be-
tween our respective offices and between our two Synods. I
pray that God'will grant you good health, a strong faith,
and a pastoral heat as you continue to serve God and His
people.

‘Seven years | have now passed since the Canadian Dis-
tricts of the LCMS became an autonomous church: a
daughter church, a sister church, a partner church. Auton-
omy has challenged us to accept new responsibilities for
God’s mission, and God’s grace has never failed to meet our
needs. But the older we get, the more we appreciate the
LCMS for the legacy it has left us.

I am often asked what kind of church I want Lutheran
Church—Canada to-be. I find the answer in those charac-
teristics which have marked the LCMS in its best mo-
ments. You have been marked by your confession, with a
burning desire to share the Gospel at every opportunity,
and you have been marked by compassion, dealing with dif-
ficulty or dissent according to the Gospel. Those three char-
acteristics are like a three-legged stool. When any one of
them is missing, it is difficult to sit safely on the other two.
I pray for your Synod, and for ours, that such conviction,
confession, and compassion will never cease.

I also want to use this opportunity on behalf of the In-
ternational Lutheran Council, a global association of some
25 confessional Lutheran churches around the world, to
thank you for your unfailing support. You have demon-
strated this not only in the resolution you have adopted to
join the ILC, but also in your strong financial support, and
in providing the ILC with executive staff services in the
person of Dr. Nafzger. With this support, the ILC has been
able to help its member churches, big and small, old and

104

new, to receive encouragement and theological strength
from one another.

Brothers and sisters, you have been sent forth with
God’s blessings. Even as you guard the Gospel jealously, so
also give it away generously. Keep the truth secure, but
don’t keep it a secret. Confront error with truth, but speak
that truth in love. It is my own prayer and that of your
many friends in Lutheran Church—Canada that God will
continue to bless you and make you a blessing to many.

E. Lehman, President