LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 113

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OTHER PRESENTATIONS
1. President-Elect Acceptance Speech
The Lord be with you. Let us pray:
Our Gracious Heavenly Father, Your ocean is so big and our
boat is so small. You have chosen to place my hand with
Yours on the rudder of this ship we call The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. At times my hand will probably
be tempted to turn that ship toward the safety of the harbor,
for ships are safe in a harbor. But that’s not what ships are
for. So fill the sails of our ship with the sometimes steady,
sometimes strong, and sometimes seemingly still breeze
blown by Your Holy Spirit, who is the breath of life. And as
our ship sails through weather, stormy or smooth, enable us
to cast the life preserver of Your precious Gospel to those
drowning in the depths of sin, that they may also by Your
grace be saved eternally, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
A word of tribute to Dr. Alvin Barry … a man who loved
the Lord, His church, and His Word. Any time the leader
of an organization dies in office, especially the pastor of a
congregation or the President of a church body, the people
who knew him and who loved him experience a period of
grief following his loss. His successor in office is called upon
to be sensitive to this grief and to lovingly and pastorally
apply the soothing balm of God’s grace in Jesus to the
hearts of those who mourn his passing. We give thanks to
God and we remember Dr. Barry for his many contributions as President of the LCMS. His favorite scriptural passage was Jude 24 and 25:
24
To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with
great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty,
power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before
all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
It is also more than appropriate that we express a word
of sincere thanks and appreciation to the man who was
called upon to carry the mantle of synodical leadership following Dr. Barry’s death. Preparing to retire quietly and
happily to the beautiful state of Florida, this man was suddenly thrust into action, with only 31/2 months remaining
to plan for and to conduct a national church body convention. Dr. Kuhn, I speak for the delegates to this convention
and for the entire LCMS as I thank you for your ministry
among us, especially these past few months. We pray for
you and Judy the richest and choicest of our Heavenly Father’s blessings in the years to come.
It is with a prayerful and thankful heart that I anticipate working with the newly elected Praesidium and Board
of Directors, along with the Council of Presidents. VicePresident-Elect Daniel Preus and I have communicated to
each other our mutual respect and collaborative commitment to work together for the sake of the mission of this
church of Jesus Christ, The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod. We pledge to you our prayers and request yours on
our behalf. We seek to foster the health and strength of the
LCMS through the ministry and mission of its Districts,
congregations, professional church workers, and lay leaders. Rev. Preus, Dr. Schulz, Dr. King, Dr. Maier, Dr. Weinrich … I look forward to the development of our relation-

ship with one another as the Praesidium of the LCMS and
pray God’s bountiful blessings on our mutual ministry as
elected leaders of our Synod.
As the months passed prior to Sunday’s presidential
election, I heard, read, observed, and sensed many concerns
throughout the Synod about the kind of man who would be
chosen as the 12th individual to serve as President of the
LCMS. These concerns include the following:
1. A concern for the pure proclamation and clear articulation of the doctrine and theology of the Holy Scriptures
and the Lutheran Confessions, near and dear to the
members of our Synod throughout its 154 years of existence. The Synod wants, needs, and desires a President
with an unwavering commitment to the confession of
faith stated in Article II of the LCMS Constitution:
The Synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts
without reservation:
1. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament
as the written Word of God and the only rule and
norm of faith and of practice;
2. All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated
statement and exposition of the Word of God.

This is indeed my heartfelt confession.
2. An intense desire for a President who will be not only
scripturally grounded and theologically sound, but also
a courageously aggressive, caringly pastoral, and practically progressive leader of all the congregations, all the
workers, and all the lay leaders of the Synod, a man who
will be the President of the whole church, not the Presi113

200l Convention Proceedings