LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 8

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8 SYNODICAL REPORTS

duced. The first, titled Y2Day, dealt with the beginning of a new
millennium and offered encouragement and suggestions for our
congregations as they move forward with outreach efforts. The sec-
ond video, titled Now What, dealt with the synodically designated
“Year of the Child,” with a focus on post-baptismal instruction and
nurture of the children of our parishes.

The World Wide Web continues to increase in popularity by
leaps and bounds. According to recent statistics, it is estimated that
there are presently 192 million English-speaking people using the
Internet, and that figure is estimated to increase to 230 million by
the year 2004. Obviously, this is a rich resource for communica-
tion. In many ways, the church is ideally suited to using the Iiternet
to provide information, since so much of what we do involves writ-
ten documents and other such information. I appreciate the fact that
our Synod has pursued the Internet as a communication medium,
and I hope and anticipate that we will be seeing more and more of
this in the years ahead. The President’s Office maintains a Web site
on the Synod’s site: www.lcms.org/president.

Doctrinal Supervision

The President’s Office exercises supervision of the various en-
tities of the Synod primarily through our Synod’s District Presi-
dents. Our District Presidents are charged with the supervision of
the doctrine and practice of the church workers and congregations
in their District. Our Synod’s Bylaws provide for an orderly
process where, if and when it is necessary, charges may be brought
against members of the Synod. In these rare cases, the procedure
involves the District President investigating the situation and, if
warranted, suspending the member from the Synod. The President
of the Synod becomes involved in such matters if there is an ap-
peal 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 Pres-
idents. In one situation, the Praesidium found it necessary to sus-
pend a pastor for teaching and advocating false doctrine concerning
the doctrine of justification.

Under the revision of Bylaw 2.27 adopted at our last conven-
tion, 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 Dis-
trict 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 ser-
vice involving representatives of non-Christian religions. The Dis-
trict 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 resigna-
tion 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. Every-
thing 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 mislead-
ing. ambiguous, or lacking in doctrinal clarity. The process contin-
ues to serve our Synod very well. We need to thank all the doctrinal

2001 Convention Workbook

reviewers who devote their time, without compensation, to this im-
portant 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 in-
ception. | commend him for his service in this regard and for pro-
viding much-needed leadership to our Synod on sanctity of life is-
sues.

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 man-
ner. 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 Reporter. 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 cir-
culation 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. [ 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 profes-
sional church workers experience. Representatives from Worker
Benefit Plans, Lutheran Church Extension Fund, LCMS Founda-
tion, 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
ils work are now available in their report entitled For the Sake of
Christ’s Commission. A copy of their report is printed in the Work-
book 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 Confes-
sions, 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, cam-
pus ministries, institutions, and agencies of the Synod, for the pur-
pose of providing biblical and Gospel-directed ministries to per-
sons troubled by being homophile in their orientation and their
families.” The task force assigned this task completed their work