LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 7

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 7

with them a very high view of the authority of Scripture, though
we find ourselves differing with them over the issue of the charis-
matic movement and various other aspects of Lutheran doctrine
and practice. Again, the meeting was a helpful way simply to main-
tain contact and discuss those areas where we do find ourselves in
agreement, such as the Scriptures, the centrality of justification, and
sanctity of life issues. I am sure that we will be able to meet again
in the future, and I look forward to the relationship between our
two churches moving ahead.

Contacts with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

I need to report to the Synod that I pursued establishing a se-
ries of formal theological discussions between our Synod and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which dovetailed very
nicely with the 1998 Synod convention’s resolution calling for such
meetings. As a result, three two-day meetings were held with rep-
resentatives of the ELCA. As you know, our two church bodies are
far apart when it comes to some of even the most significant truths
of God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions. We cannot help but
view this reality with profound sadness and regret. Many of us have
friends and even family members in the ELCA. Consequently, we
continue to watch with growing dismay as the ELCA slips further
and further away from genuine Lutheranism.

In order to express our heartfelt concems in a formal way and in
more depth than we have been able to do for many years, I con-
tacted Bishop George Anderson and proposed a series of meetings
involving representatives of our two church bodies. I appointed
Pastor Carl Fickenscher, Dr. Ronald Feuerhahn, Dr. Raymond
Hartwig, Dr. Robert Kuhn, Professor Kurt Marquart, Dr. Samuel
Nafzger, Pastor Harold Senkbeil, Dr. James Voelz, and Dr. William
Weinrich to attend these discussions. Three series of meetings were
held, the most recent concluding last fall. At each meeting, repre-
sentatives at the meeting presented papers. The subjects discussed
included the LCMS perspective on the ELCA’s ecumenical agrce-
ments, our response to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification, and other such matters.

During the final meeting there was acknowledgment from both
the LCMS and the ELCA that church fellowship between our two
churches is simply impossible. The LCMS indicated to the ELCA
that in light of its theological direction we cannot consider them to
be an orthodox Lutheran church body, and they expressed their
feeling that precisely because we do not agree with their ecumeni-
cal agreements they regard us in a similar manner. While this prob-
ably goes without saying, it was good formally to acknowledge and
recognize this reality in a formal context, for sometimes it is sug-
gested both within and outside of our Synod that the differences
between our two churches are not really of great significance, when
in fact they are.

We continue to be encouraging toward those ELCA Lutherans
who now find themselves increasingly unable to identify with the
positions of the ELCA. When they approach us, we make every ef-
fort to welcome them and encourage them. While we certainly do
not want to give the impression that we are “sheep stealing,” at the
same time we cannot simply ignore or turn our backs on those
Lutherans in the ELCA who are feeling that their church has left
them.

Another way in which we continue to maintain contact regu-
larly with the ELCA is through the Committee on Lutheran Coop-
cration meetings that are held a few times each year, either in St.
Louis or in Chicago. During these meetings there are discussions of
programmatic issues and information sharing between our two
churches.

Communication and Encouragement to the Synod

An ongoing effort of the President’s Office has been regular
communication to the Synod using a variety of media formats. I
would like simply to walk through these and review them with you.

Printed Materials

Monthly columns in The Lutheran Witness provide me with the
opportunity to communicate pastorally and devotionally with the
readership of that publication, primarily the laity of our church. The
President's Newsletter is mailed three times a year to all pastors,
teachers, and other church workers in our Synod, along with vari-
ous lay leaders of our congregations. It provides me with the op-
portunity to offer commentary and reports on various issues facing
our Synod. The Noble Task is an occasional letter sent just to pas-
tors of our Synod, offering them words of encouragement and sup-
port. The Tell the Good News about Jesus newsletter has been pro-
duced by my office as well, as a regular supplement to the Reporter
in order to offer encouragement for this effort.

The What About pamphlets continue to be produced and dis-
tributed throughout the Synod. These have been extremely well-re-
ceived, and by the time of our convention, there will be over !2
million copies of the What About pamphlets in print. The goal of
these pamphlets has been to provide our pastors with brief, clear,
and to-the-point presentations of key teachings of our faith, as well
as brief presentations on significant issues facing people today.
There are presently 34 titles in this series:

(1) The Gospel

(2) The Bible

(3) The Small Catechism

(4) The Ten Commandments

(5) The Apostles’ Creed

(6) The Lord’s Prayer

(7) Holy Baptism

(8) Confession and Absolution

(9) The Sacrament of the Altar

(10) Being a Lutheran

(11) Lutheran Worship

(12) The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
(13) Telling the Good News about Jesus
(14) Christian Families

(15) Angels

(16) Death and Dying

(17) Pastors

(18) Attending Church

(19) The New Millennium

(20) Differences between the ELCA and the LCMS
(21) Fellowship in the Lord’s Supper
(22) Homosexuality

(23) Abortion

(24) Jehovah’s Witnesses

(25) The Lodge

(26) Living Together without Marriage
(27) Gambling

(28) Islam

(29) Jehovah’s Witnesses

(30) Mormonism

(31) Ordination of Women to the Pastoral Office
(32) Christian Stewardship

(33) Creation and Evolution

(34) Suicide

Electronic Media

During the past triennium we concluded a project to send out
regular videos to be used at pastoral Circuit conferences and moved
to an annual video to the congregations of the Synod, released
around the time of Epiphany. Two of these videos have been pro-

2001 Convention Workbook