LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 99

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2. Greetings of the Secretary
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
President Barry, distinguished officers, voting members,
and visitors: Grace and peace be with you in the name of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
I greet you on behalf of the 5.2 million members and
10,936 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America. I bring particular personal greetings from Presiding Bishop George Anderson to you, President Barry,
and to this 60th regular convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. We treasure with you our shared
Lutheran heritage as children of the Reformation.
This convention is being held in the 151st year of the life
and work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. You
completed what I understand was a marvelous celebration
last year of your first century and a half of ministry and
mission. That 150th anniversary celebration was an occasion of appropriate thanksgiving—thanksgiving for the continuous history of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
since its organization in 1847. You have the privilege as a
church body of enjoying that continuity of identity and
work, continuity that spans a century and a half in this
land.
By contrast to your continuous history as a single church
body, the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America is far more complex. The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America is the descendent of what once were
many separate church bodies. In fact, in this century alone,
more than a score of churches gradually came together
through various mergers to form just over a decade ago the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
As a result, the ELCA is, in a way, a large tapestry—a
tapestry of threads woven together from the strong and rich
history of Lutherans in North America.
In examining those threads, we find that we trace the
ELCA’s history to colonial America. This year will mark the
250th anniversary of the formation of the ELCA’s first predecessor synod. On Aug. 14, 1748, a few pastors and laity
came together at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in
Philadelphia. They came together to form that first synod.
It became known as the Ministerium of Pennsylvania.
Significantly, their first order of business was the dedication of a new church building and the ordination of a pastor.
Their concern was providing places for people to worship, amid the rapid influx of immigrants. Their concern
also was seeking properly educated and appropriately prepared candidates to serve as pastors. They were driven by a
sense of mission. They sought to be faithful to the leading of
our Lord in their time.
Much in our nation and world has changed in the past
250 years. Yet much also remains the same. In fact, we
might say that what is most significant has not changed.
After all, the need for faithful witness and service in the
name of Christ always must be our urgent priority in every
generation. We are summoned constantly by our Lord to
the spreading of the Gospel. Indeed, as the theme of this

convention reminds us, the good news of salvation in Christ
is to be proclaimed “to the ends of the earth.”
Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—in worship, prayer, and study—are discovering anew
the profound meaning and crucial relevance of God’s Word
for this world’s problems.
We in the ELCA are mindful of our solid roots in Scripture, our participation in the tradition of the whole church,
and our particular heritage through the Lutheran Reformation. We in the ELCA venture with confidence and hope
into God’s tomorrow, just as Abraham and Sarah did by
faith in the days of old.
This confidence in both our precious heritage and our
steadfast hope allows for thoughtful discussion of how to
address current issues in the light of God’s Word. Trust in
the promise of God’s Spirit provides the context for the ongoing life and work of ELCA congregations, synods, and
churchwide ministries.
Given all of the threads of history woven together within
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we have had
to learn how to listen to one another. In that listening, we
also seek to be more faithful to the witness of Scripture.
After all, we are convinced, as declared in the ELCA’s constitution, that the Bible is “the inspired Word of God and
the authoritative source and norm” of our preaching, faith,
and life.
As you know, significant ecumenical steps have been undertaken by the ELCA in recent years. These steps are seen
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