LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 133

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3. Theology and Church Relations
To Thank God for Ministry
of Reverend Doctor Alvin L. Barry
RESOLUTION 3-01
Report 1-08 (CW, pp. 1–10)
WHEREAS, It is very appropriate to acknowledge Dr. A.
L. Barry’s God-directed ministry to and within The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and to express gratitude to God for his faithfulness; therefore be it
Resolved, That we remember with gratitude Dr. Barry’s
devotion to increasing and enhancing unity in the one true
faith within the Synod, which he personally demonstrated
and modeled through his many public statements affirming and supporting historic, genuine Lutheranism, both in
the church and secular press, through numerous papers
and essays on many doctrinal topics, most notably the
“What About” pamphlets; and be it further
Resolved, That we remember with gratitude Dr. Barry’s
emphasis, “To Tell the Good News about Jesus,” which, as
he explained in his last report to our Synod, “revolves
around and is based on the personal witnessing that each
and every baptized Christian is called to do in his or her
own life, in whatever station and calling in life they may
find themselves, in whatever their vocation might be”; and
be it finally
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
pray the Lord of the Church to guide and guard this Synod
as we move forward, ever recalling the encouragement of
Dr. Barry, “Keep the message straight, Missouri! Get the
message out, Missouri!”
Action: Adopted (2)
(The resolution was adopted without discussion [yes: 1,117;
no: 26].)

To Formally Declare Altar and Pulpit
Fellowship with Lanka Lutheran Church
of Sri Lanka
RESOLUTION 3-02
Overture 3-01 (CW, p. 155)
Preamble
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod began mission
work in the country of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1927. Sri
Lanka is an island country off the coast of India with a population of 19,000,000. It is predominately a Buddhist and
Hindu country with a very sparse evangelical Christian
population.
Since 1960 there has been a consistent Lutheran ministry of Word and Sacrament in Sri Lanka. The Lanka
Lutheran Church was established through the mission
work of the LCMS. There are presently 600 Lutherans with
five ordained pastors and four commissioned evangelists.
There are four church buildings in the upcountry region,
where ministry has been mostly to the Tamil people. There
is one church building in the commercial center of Colombo.
133

Committee 3 Chairman Roger Pittelko

Regular worship is also held in at least 12 house churches.
Nearly 300 children are attending preschools in all
churches. Sunday schools, youth organizations, evangelism
programs, seminars, and teacher training programs take
place on a regular basis. Three or four visits by short-term
missionaries of the LCMS each year offer ongoing education and encouragement in ministry.
Relations with the India Evangelical Lutheran Church
(a partner church with the LCMS) are nurtured when the
political climate between the nations of India and Sri
Lanka allows. Holy Scripture is available in all languages.
Lutheran hymnals in Tamil, catechisms in Tamil and Sinhala languages, and The Book of Concord are available and
studied in both Tamil and Sinhala. The Lanka Lutheran
Church was recently (in 1999) accepted into the International Lutheran Council.
WHEREAS, Since 1927 Sri Lanka has been a mission field
of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod; and
WHEREAS, Through the effort of those early missionaries, the Lanka Lutheran Church was established; and
WHEREAS, Ongoing education and encouragement in
ministry continue to be offered by the LCMS, evidence of
the close relationship that has existed between our two
church bodies from the very beginning until the present;
and
WHEREAS, The Lanka Lutheran Church has been accepted into the membership of the International Lutheran
Council in 1999; and
WHEREAS, The Lanka Lutheran Church has requested
the formal recognition of altar and pulpit fellowship between itself and the LCMS; and
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