LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 21

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION
Opening Worship Service
July 14, 2007
Saturday Opening Worship Service
The opening worship service of the 63rd Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was
hosted by Trinity Lutheran Church of downtown Houston,
Texas. The Rev. Michael Dorn, Senior Pastor, presided
over the service, held in the convention auditorium of the
George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The officers of the Synod, district presidents, and area pastors participated in the distribution of the Sacrament.
The Rev. Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President of the
Synod, preached the sermon. Basing his message on 1 John
4:9–11, he spoke of the “One Message—Christ! His Love Is
Here for You!” relating recent personal travel experiences to
emphasize that as Christians we always have something to
say to the people that God brings us into contact with in our
daily lives, especially when they need a message of hope because of hardship in their lives. Whether for the cab driver
who has just lost a loved one or a young mother on her way
to military duty in Iraq, that message is “Christ! His Love Is
Here for You!”
Secretary Raymond L. Hartwig

Session 1
July 15, 2007

the President responded to questions regarding the resolution of the delegate exceptions issue. He called on Rev.
C. William Hoesman, President of the Michigan District
and chairman of the Convention Delegate Review Committee, to summarize the committee’s report. In the absence of further discussion, the motion to approve the registration report was adopted (Yes: 1,061; No: 123). The
chair announced that the necessary quorum was present
for the business of the convention to proceed.

Opening Worship
The Sunday morning Service of Prayer was developed
and led by Rev. Philip Esala of Kettering, Ohio, and Rev.
Walter Waiser of Hurst, Texas. The service featured Scripture readings (Eph. 6:10–12; John 12:27–28; Rom. 12:9–12;
Acts 4:13; John 17:20–23) followed by brief meditations,
opportunities for silent prayers, and hymns.
Following the service, President Kieschnick called the assembly to order and introduced the people on the podium before inviting the assembly to sing the hymn “Hark, the Voice
of Jesus Crying.” He then called on the chairman of Floor
Committee 9, Registration, Credentials, and Elections, Rev.
Larry Harvala, President of the North Dakota District, to
provide a brief introduction to the use of the electronic voting
keypads for early decisions to be made.

Call to Order
Dr. Martin Noland, Executive Director of Concordia
Historical Institute, was introduced for the presentation
of the Synod’s historic gavel, first used in 1911 by former
President F. Pfotenhauer, made of wood from the log cabin
where the Saxons first debated the formation of the
Synod. After noting the carvings of the likeness of Luther
and Walther on the gavel, the President proceeded to call
the convention to order “in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Initial Registration Report
Chairman Harvala then provided his committee’s initial registration report:
Total voting delegates
Total advisory delegates
Advisory district presidents
Ad hoc committee members
Former officers
Invited guests
Total registration

1,227
316
34
3
2
2
1,584

Special Standing Rules
The President then introduced the Board of Directors,
the Commission on Constitutional Matters, the Council of
Presidents, and the presidents of the Synod’s seminaries
before calling the convention’s attention to the proposed
Special Standing Rules (TB, pp. 10–12). He explained that
Rule 7, if adopted, is planned to be used only for Res. 801. A motion was introduced to adopt the Special Standing
Rules as proposed. After explanation regarding the use of
microphones, an amendment was introduced to amend

The committee introduced a motion to approve the report
of the Registration, Credentials, and Elections Committee.
In discussion that followed regarding the Report of the
Convention Delegate Review Committee (TB, pp. 22–24),

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2007 Convention Proceedings