LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 31

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION
tion and the concerns expressed by the delegate, who accepted the assurances of the chair without advocating additional action. Another delegate encouraged that the motives of delegates not be publicly questioned.
Res. 3-05A, “To Affirm Marriage as Union of One Man
and One Woman” (TB¸ p. 242), was introduced after explanation by the committee of changes made from the original
version of the resolution. An amendment was offered and
accepted unanimously to add a sixth whereas to read:
“WHEREAS, God gave marriage as a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride the Church (Eph. 5:32);
and.” After discussion of the significance of this action, the
chair called the question on the amended resolution. Debate was ended [Y: 1,109; N: 60] and the resolution was
adopted [Y: 1,163; N: 22].
Bible Study 3
The convention chaplain introduced the Bible study
leader, the Rev. Dr. David Smith. The focus of his study
was “Ablaze in One Mission with Compassion for the Lost.”
He emphasized that the underserved love of God is inseparably linked to the lost. If the very nature of God were not
grace, He would not care for the lost, but His grief for the
lost was so great that He sent His Son to die. We have come
to think that we are one of the ninety-nine and become so
wrapped up in ourselves that we forget the lost or are filled
with apathy for the lost. Dr. Smith noted that our Lord did
not say, “They got lost. Let them find their own way.” Nor
should we thus rationalize or simply ignore the lost. Behind
the work of searching out the lost is the very nature of God
and His work for our salvation.
Dr. Smith offered three questions for small group discussion: (1) Why is it so hard for us to grieve for the lost? (2)
Why is it so easy to just forget them? (3) What gets in the
way in our personal lives and in our churches from grieving
for the lost and then being proactive in getting the Gospel
out beyond our own homes and our own churches? Emphasizing that we are indeed people called upon to grieve for
the lost as God does, he underscored that only God’s grace
can work in us the kind of heart that God has. Referencing
the parable of the lost sheep, he noted that we were born
into this world quite lost, and that the Good Shepherd came
far, far down to find us, to forgive us, nourish us, and give
us life forever. If we remember this, then He will also work
in us the compassion we need to look toward and for the
lost (Romans 5). We who are blood-bought people of God
dare never forget that all people have been blood-bought.
This is the message we must take to the lost ones. The message is the reason that we reach out. This, which is the
greatest priority of God, should be our greatest priority
also.
The Bible study presentation was closed with prayer,
and the assembly sang the hymn “How Wide the Love of
Christ.”
Committee 7: Structure, Planning, and Administration
The committee appeared only long enough to introduce a
motion to change the orders of the day to facilitate a meeting of Committee 7 with the Board of Directors by moving
Committee 2 to 10:40 a.m., Committee 7 to 2:35 p.m. (fol-

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lowed by elections at 4:05 p.m.), Committee 5 at 4:40 p.m.,
and Committee 4 at 5:20 p.m.. The convention approved the
changes [Y: 1,063; N: 62].
Committee 2: District and Congregational Services
The assembly viewed a video introducing the proposed
new hymnal and the process used for its preparation. The
chairman of the Commission on Worship also addressed the
assembly. Res. 2-03A, “To Accept Lutheran Service Book
and Agenda as an Official Service Book and Hymnal of
Synod” (TB, pp. 192−193), was introduced by the committee, noting the addition of a second resolve to its original
proposed resolution. The chair asked Dr. Paul Grime to address the assembly and provide explanation of the intentions of the third resolve and clarification of the inclusion of
the Small Catechism. After discussion, a motion was introduced to amend the resolution by adding a resolve after the
current second resolve: “Resolved, That Divine Service setting one and setting two of the Lutheran Service Book will
use the communion liturgy from the Preface through the
Distribution from Lutheran Worship.” After discussion of
the proposed amendment, a motion to cease debate on the
amendment carried [Y: 1,066; N: 114]. The amendment
failed [Y: 186; N: 993]. A second amendment was offered:
“Resolved, That the translation of Holy Scripture used in
the Lutheran Service Book be chosen by majority vote of the
Synod in convention from among the choices of the NIV,
KJV, NKJV, and ESV.” After discussion of the proposed
amendment, debate was closed on the amendment [Y:
1,030; N: 73]. This amendment also failed [Y: 166; N: 961].
A third amendment was offered to add a new second resolve: “Resolved, That the updated version of the Lord’s
Prayer (as it appears throughout Lutheran Worship) be included as an alternative, side by side with the traditional
version, in Divine Service settings one, two, and four.”
Without discussion, the motion to amend failed [Y: 554; N:
632]. The chair called for the orders of the day.
Committee 8: Ecclesiastical Supervision and Dispute
Resolution
Committee 8 called attention to a pending motion to
refer Res. 8-01A (TB, Issue 4—Part B, pp. 307–332) to the
Commission on Structure, and discussion continued from
an earlier session. After a motion to cease debate carried
[Y: 1,046; N: 144], the motion to refer failed [Y: 556; N:
644]. The chair referred to Robert’s Rules of Order regarding debate when the chair is aware of opposite points of
view in the assembly. He asked the assembly’s support for
moving to a pro-con mode of debate and was supported [Y:
944; N: 192]. Discussion on the main motion continued
until the chair called the question: [Y: 843; N: 354]. The resolution was adopted [Y: 683; N: 528].
Res. 8-03, “To Thank God for Providing Resources and
Guidance During National Tragedy” (TB, p. 166), was introduced by the committee. A motion was offered to amend
the resolution to remove the date of 9/11 and not isolate the
one tragedy. After discussion, the chair ruled that the
amendment is in effect a substitute motion. As such, the
convention declined to consider it [Y: 370; N: 799]. An
amendment was offered to line 35 to replace “9/11” with
2004 Convention Proceedings