LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 58

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58

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Finally, I would also like to encourage your committee
to consider offering to our Synod for consideration a resolution against same-sex marriages. I believe this is an issue
our Synod needs to speak clearly about. I would also like to
encourage your committee to prepare a resolution reaffirming and supporting the importance of the family. Another important issue you may wish to consider is the matter of human cloning. Here too we have the opportunity as
a church body to take a clear position on a very important
moral issue of our day.

Committee 4 Program and Finance
While it is certainly true that you do not have many
overtures before your committee, I would like to point out
that your committee has been assigned a very important
report from the Financial Aid Task Force (R4-06). This is
an extremely significant report, which I have assigned only
to your committee. I would like to encourage you to study it
very carefully. The task force did extensive study and work
to try to help our Synod come to grips with a problem that
has massive implications for our supply of much-needed
church workers as we move into the years ahead.

Committee 5 Higher Education
A key issue facing committee 5 is the matter of an ordained diaconate. It is my strong feeling that our Synod
does definitely need to explore this option of providing men
for pastoral ministry in situations where a full-time pastor
is simply not available or is unable to be provided for by the
congregation. I would suggest that your committee act on
the recommendation that, before there be an ordained diaconate established in our Synod, it must receive the approval of the Board of Directors, the Council of Presidents,
both seminary faculties, the Commission on Theology and
Church Relations, and the synodical President.
Your committee also will have before it the matter of
Bylaw revisions concerning higher education (Overture 501). These suggested Bylaw revisions represent a reworking of the Bylaws in the area of higher education. I appreciate the careful work that went into this proposal, and I
believe it represents a significant improvement over the
1995 proposal.
The matter of continuing education also will be before
your committee. Continuing education for all of our fulltime church workers is of great importance, and I encourage your committee to act favorably on the overtures before
you concerning continuing education.

Committee 6 Human Care
As I reviewed the overtures before your committee, I
found the matter of the persecution of Christians to be a
particularly significant matter for our Synod to address and
speak clearly about. The ongoing worldwide persecution of
Christians is greater now than ever before in the history of
the church. Oftentimes, our persecuted brothers and sisters
in Christ are ignored and overlooked, not only by the governments that should be protecting them as citizens, but,
tragically, also by their fellow Christians who are called on
by our Lord to remember them in their prayers.

I also believe it will be helpful for your committee to deal
with the overtures dealing with ministry to those in prison,
to homosexuals, and to the mentally ill. In each of these situations we have the continued opportunity to be sensitive
to the needs of hurting people.

Committee 7 Planning
and Administration
You have no doubt noticed already that a major portion
of the overtures before your committee reflect concerns
about a situation with one of our District presidents. The
facts of this situation have been shared with your floor committee chairman and no doubt you are aware of them already.
Here I want only to indicate that this is a very serious
matter. Our Synod clearly expects all elected officials in our
Synod to uphold, maintain, and honor the positions of this
church body. Our District Presidents are elected officers of
the Synod and represent the Synod and the Synod’s President in their Districts. In assuming these offices, our District Presidents promise to “endeavor faithfully to perform
all the duties” of their office as “stipulated in the Constitution and Bylaws of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod”
(Lutheran Worship, Agenda, p. 358). This is a very serious
and solemn oath. Our Synod expects that all of our elected
officials will, in all integrity, clearly follow through on this
their sacred promise as elected officers of our Synod.
Therefore, given these serious concerns, I believe your
committee will need to bring resolutions to our Synod that
clearly address the specific concerns listed here, as well as
resolutions that address the more general concern about
the supervision of the doctrine and administration of our
District Presidents. It is totally reasonable that our Synod
expects all of our elected leaders to uphold their promises,
and, if they feel they cannot in all integrity do so, they need
to step down from their offices.
Over the past 15 years, I have been privileged to serve
as a member of the Council of Presidents and to work with
the council, first as a District President and more recently
as synodical President. I have appreciated the privilege of
serving with these men in this area of service. We thank
God for their willingness to serve our Lord and the Synod
in this capacity and pray God’s blessing on them as they
carry out their important duties and responsibilities.
Another important issue before your committee is the
lingering problem of congregations that hold membership
both in the LCMS and the ELCA. The Synod must finally
face up to these situations and bring them to a final conclusion. I encourage your floor committee to consider a resolution that will establish a date by which a final decision
must be made, clearly communicate that date to the dual
membership congregations in our Synod, and then permit
each congregation to make a decision. If they do not end
their dual membership by the date announced, our Synod
should then inform them that they have forfeited their
membership in the Synod.
The work of the Nomenclature Study Committee is also
before you. I encourage you to read their report. I believe
that the Nomenclature Study Committee has done a fine
job of addressing the assignment given to them, and I hope