LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 74

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74

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Part III
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
More than 150 years ago, hundreds of Lutheran men,
women, and children left their homeland in Eastern Germany, boarded trans-Atlantic sailing vessels and made
their way to a new land and a new life. En route, they faced
serious challenges and had to overcome numerous difficulties. Many died of cholera or other communicable diseases.
One ship was lost at sea, its passengers never to be heard
from again.
They made the journey for various reasons. Some came
to preserve their Lutheran doctrine, confessions, and practice. Others ran away from haunting indebtedness. Still
others were troublemakers who couldn’t get along with
their own people in Germany. They all risked life and limb
for the sake of seeking new liberty.
These Lutheran immigrants settled in several different
parts of North America. They were hardy folks, faced with
finding new homes, establishing new churches, learning a
new language, developing a new livelihood. They are the
ancestors of many of us. We are familiar with their history
of challenges and difficulties, both in life and in faith.
The group that made their way from New Orleans up
the Mississippi River to settle in Southeastern Missouri,
experienced significant conflict but emerged nevertheless
as our fathers in the faith. Dr. Samuel Nafzger relates pertinent portions of their story in an article in the May 2004
issue of The Lutheran Witness:
After almost two years of arguing over troublesome
questions (of church and ministry), the famous Altenburg debates of April 1841 brought some clarity.
Several of the immigrants decided to return to Germany, but a young pastor by the name of C. F. W.
Walther convinced the majority that the church was to
be found wherever the Gospel was preached and the
sacraments administered. Even though they had erred,
despite the lack of a bishop, they were still [a]church,
and they could and should get on with the work of the
church in this new land.
Six years later, in April 1847, these Saxon immigrants joined with a number of pastors sent to America
by Wilhelm Loehe in Bavaria to organize “The German
Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and
Other States.” They deleted German from the name in
1917, and in 1947, on its centennial, the Synod officially
shortened its name to “The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod.

The rest is a 157-year saga of challenges faced and difficulties overcome. As we meet at this 62nd Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, in the
year 2004, we, too, are facing our own challenges and difficulties. Yet, our history has proven that we can, as a church
under God’s grace, endure challenges and overcome difficulties. This Report of the President—Part III focuses on
the reality of such a past, the tenacity required for our present, and the vision of a future filled with hope and expectation.
In its 157-year history, the LCMS has grown and developed into the tenth largest Protestant body in the United
States. In many ways our Synod has been and continues to
be a leader:
2004 Convention Proceedings

• Our commitment to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran
Confessions is foundational for mission and ministry!
• Our role in missions, theological education, and human
care in the larger Lutheran community is a formidable force in worldwide Christian outreach!
• LCMS missionaries have been sent “to the ends of the
earth” for over 100 years!
• Mission work is conducted in over 70 countries around
the world!
• Almost thirty sister churches have developed in connection with our Synod’s mission endeavors!
• The Lutheran Hour and This Is the Life set the pace
for religious broadcasting and television programming
in America!
• Our system of parochial education is the largest
among United States Protestant churches!
• Our system of higher education is the envy of many
Christian church bodies!
• Our system of theological education is second to none
in Christendom!
• The quality and commitment of our lay leaders is outstanding!
• Our demonstration of faith, active in love, through
human care and world relief has reached thousands of
people in times of special need and natural or manmade disaster!
At the same time, who can deny the challenges, struggles and conflicts that have been an integral part of our
past, both distant and recent? Congregations and individuals in our Synod have disagreed, argued, and even fought
over many issues, resulting in ecclesiastical division and
family dissension.
For example, the church of my forefathers in Serbin,
Texas, split. The children from the school at the newly
formed St. Peter Lutheran Church, built only a literal
“stone’s throw away,” and the children from the original St.
Paul Lutheran Church, expressed what they heard at home
from their parents by throwing rocks across the cemetery
at each other. St. Peter later disbanded and went out of existence. St. Paul celebrated its 150th anniversary this year.
Very few people alive today can articulate what that controversy was really all about.
This example is illustrative of the fact that over the
years we have developed a most unfortunate reputation in
some circles for infighting and animosity toward one another.
Much of that disharmony has resulted from doctrinal
difficulties, as our Synod has struggled, among other issues, with the fine line between being confessional and becoming sectarian. Other disagreements have been practical, namely, how our pure doctrine is to be applied. And
many of our struggles concern what appear today to be
minor issues but in the past were anything but minor. For
example, in the LCMS:
• It once was considered a sin to purchase life insurance.
• Membership in the Boy Scouts of America was not allowed.