LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 51

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
compromise our strong scriptural and confessional beliefs. At
times we hear voices suggesting that our Synod can no longer
continue to be the sort of strong, active, living, witnessing,
confessing church that we have been in the past. Nothing—
absolutely nothing—could be farther from the truth. We have
nothing to be ashamed of, nor anything to be afraid of, when
it comes to being a genuine voice of confessing Lutheranism
in our world today.
As I travel throughout our Synod, I am continually impressed by the vitality and strength of our church. I am impressed by the strength of our local congregations. I am also
impressed by the commitment and dedication of our pastors, teachers, directors of Christian education, deaconesses, certified lay ministers, and directors of Christian
outreach. I am further impressed by the commitment and
dedication of our preschools, elementary, and high schools.
We are blessed with one of the strongest parochial school
systems in this great nation, and I pray that the number of
Christian day schools continues to increase. Our pastors
are men devoted to preaching God’s Word in truth and purity, rightfully dividing Law and Gospel, bringing the wonderful news of God’s love into the hearts and lives of their
congregations. I am particularly impressed by an ever-increasing zeal for reaching out with the Gospel to the lost.
For all these wonderful strengths, I daily thank God.
I am also impressed by the increasing number of those
throughout world Lutheranism who look to the Missouri
Synod for strong theological leadership. We need to recognize that there are many Lutherans throughout the
world who are looking to the Missouri Synod to continue to
speak up boldly for genuine scriptural and confessional
Lutheranism. As I said six years ago when I first became
president of our Synod, I believe the great challenge for
Missouri may be summed up very simply: “Keep the message straight, Missouri. Get the message out, Missouri.”
May God bless richly as we do!
It is often the case that critics of our Synod’s strong doctrinal heritage do not really realize how important it is to be
and remain strongly Lutheran in our world today. The Missouri Synod I hear described by our critics is not the Missouri
Synod that I know and love. Together let us resolve not to become victims of our critics, nor to be intimidated by fault-finders. I do not believe any of us is naive enough to believe that
our Synod has no problems and does not face significant challenges. Let us never permit these challenges to keep us from
seeing our Synod’s wonderful strengths—strengths which
truly are great blessings from our loving heavenly Father.
Where some people see only problems ahead of us, I see
great opportunities in the Lord! I look back on the centuries
of the Lutheran church’s history, and back through our
Synod’s 150 years, and recall all the many challenges
Lutheran Christians have faced and overcome in the Lord
with His blessing. Through it all our God has blessed us
and has been with us every step of the way. It is important
to recognize that He will continue to do so! The presence of
our Lord to the end of the ages is our great joy and confidence as we look ahead with hope to the future.

Part I
Introduction
Grace, mercy, and peace to each of you from Him who
is, who was, and who is to come, even Jesus Christ our
Righteousness. Amen.
It is a privilege once again to offer this report to the
Synod as we prepare to gather in our 1998 convention this
summer in St. Louis from July 11–17. The second part of
my report will be shared with our floor committees when
they meet over the Memorial Day weekend. The third part
of my report will be delivered to the Synod during the first
day of convention business. At that time I will be sharing
with the Synod what I am calling the “3/10 Emphasis”—a
bold new plan for aggressive outreach with the Gospel into
the next century.
This first part of my report is divided into three major
sections. First, I want to offer words of encouragement to
our Synod as we move toward the end of the present century. Second, I want to discuss the chief hallmarks of a
strong, vibrant Lutheran church. Third, I want to report to
you on various aspects of my work as President of the
Synod during the past triennium.

I. Past Blessings, Present Joys,
and Future Opportunities for Our Synod
Our Synod’s convention theme is “To the Ends of the
Earth.” Our Lord has given His church the high calling and
great duty to take the Gospel to the very ends of the earth.
As we move forward with this great commission from our
Lord, our Synod needs to reflect on what it means to move
to the ends of the earth as a Lutheran church body. Our
Synod has embraced a fivefold vision statement of what we
want our church to be and to remain as we move forward.
By God’s grace and blessing, we will be a church that is
strongly in the Word, Christ-centered and people-sensitive,
reaching out boldly with the Gospel, faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, and finally, a church
that is blessed with peace and unity in the Lord. Our Synod
faces a great opportunity to be and remain this kind of a
church body as we move boldly to the ends of the earth.
There can be no greater calling for our Synod than the one
our Lord gave to all believers so many years ago when He
told His disciples to take the eternal and ever-living Gospel
to the very ends of the earth. To the ends of the earth!
During this past triennium we have had the opportunity
to praise God for 150 years of God’s blessing. Together we
have been enabled to thank and praise God for His blessings
in the past and together we have looked ahead with hope and
joy to the future. Unfortunately, there are those in today’s society who would want to convince us that our history is no
longer relevant and that our historic commitments to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions are out of step with the
times in which we live. Others seem to take delight at criticizing and finding fault with our Synod. Some ridicule our
emphasis on pure doctrine and mock our devotion to the truth
of God’s Word, accusing us of being loveless when we refuse to
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