LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 64

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64

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

such matters if there is an appeal of a District President’s
decision. During the past triennium there were several
cases appealed to the Praesidium. In most of those cases,
the Praesidium upheld the decision of our District Presidents. In one situation, the Praesidium found it necessary
to suspend a pastor for teaching and advocating false doctrine concerning the doctrine of justification.
Under the revision of Bylaw 2.27 adopted at our last
convention, the Synod granted the synodical President the
same authority our District Presidents have, namely, the
authority to restrict and suspend those over whom he is
given supervision, namely, our District Presidents. This
provision was used two times during the last triennium.
In one situation, it was necessary for me to request an
apology from one of our District Presidents who participated in a pan-religious prayer service in a Roman
Catholic cathedral, a service involving representatives of
non-Christian religions. The District President stated
without qualification that what he did was contrary to the
Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions and hence
was contrary to the doctrine and practice of our Synod. He
acknowledged his wrongdoing in this situation and apologized for it. There has not been a repetition of this situation.
In the other case, it was necessary for me to ask for the
resignation of a District President from the ministerium
of the LCMS, which he gave. In each of these situations,
the authority granted to the Synod’s President under
Bylaw 2.27 proved to be extremely helpful.
Doctrinal Review

An important, though often overlooked, aspect of the
doctrinal supervision in our Synod is the process of doctrinal review. Everything made available to the Synod from
the boards, commissions, agencies, and entities of our
Synod is submitted to doctrinal review, where it is scrutinized carefully to check for faithfulness to the Scriptures
and the Lutheran Confessions. This is done in order to
make sure that there is nothing said in the material that
is misleading, ambiguous, or lacking in doctrinal clarity.
The process continues to serve our Synod very well. We
need to thank all the doctrinal reviewers who devote their
time, without compensation, to this important task.
The President’s Commission on the Sanctity of Life

The President’s Commission on the Sanctity of Life has
been doing outstanding work providing leadership to our
Synod on life issues. Dr. Raymond Hartwig has chaired
this group since its inception. I commend him for his service in this regard and for providing much-needed leadership to our Synod on sanctity of life issues.
In the past triennium the PCSL produced a high-quality video intended primarily for teenagers, in which the
issues of abortion and related topics are dealt with in an
engaging and helpful manner. The video is titled Life: It’s
a Class Project. It debuted at the 1998 youth gathering. It
has been received well both within our Synod and outside
of our Synod.
The PCSL has also continued its work of informing our
Synod of important life issues through inserts in the Re200l Convention Proceedings

porter. It has just released a new study document on the
critical issue of euthanasia titled, That They May Live.
Their previous documents titled That They May Have Life
and Real and Abundant Life continue to be reprinted and
distributed across our Synod and our country, with nearly
two million copies of these documents in print and in circulation throughout the English-speaking world.
The issues that the President’s Commission on the
Sanctity of Life are engaged with go to the very heart of
what it is to be human, to be Christian, and to be a member of a society ordered by the rule of law. Our Synod is
able to provide a strong voice for these issues. I appreciate
the work that the Commission on the Sanctity of Life is
doing for our Synod on behalf of the defenseless victims of
abortion and those threatened by the growing culture of
death that more and more characterizes our culture and
society.
Report on the Financial Aid Task Force

During the 1998 convention our Synod endorsed the report of the Financial Aid Task Force. This report requested that the various synodical entities take steps to
implement plausible solutions to the problem of inadequate funding of retirement benefits under the Synod’s old
Pension Plan for Pastors and Teachers (PPPT) and also
the increasing level of debt that many of our Synod’s professional church workers experience. Representatives
from Worker Benefit Plans, Lutheran Church Extension
Fund, LCMS Foundation, Board for Human Care, Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support, and the Institute for Christian Financial Management met several
times and have developed a nationwide retirement and financial education program for our Synod. Their report is
included as an appendix in the Workbook.
Church Growth Study Committee

The 1995 convention encouraged the synodical President to consider appointing a committee to study the issue
of the Church Growth Movement. I did appoint that committee and the results of its work are now available in
their report entitled For the Sake of Christ’s Commission.
A copy of their report is printed in the Workbook in the
appendix section. This report contains much for our Synod
to reflect on and discuss as we all together move forward
in faithfulness to our Lord’s Word and to the Lutheran
Confessions, all for the sake of Christ’s commission.
Ministry to Homosexuals and Their Families

Resolution 3-12A of the Synod’s 1992 convention mandated the creation of “a plan for ministry usable by congregations, campus ministries, institutions, and agencies
of the Synod, for the purpose of providing biblical and
Gospel-directed ministries to persons troubled by being
homophile in their orientation and their families.” The
task force assigned this task completed their work and
their report, A Plan for Ministry to Homosexuals and
Their Families, was completed and presented to the Synod
in 1992, with copies provided to our pastors and then
made availble from Concordia Publishing House and also
provided on the President’s Office Web site.