LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 64

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64

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

One of the recommendations of the task force has already
been implemented, namely, a fiscal conference held February 8–10 in St. Louis. All 35 districts were represented at
this conference by the district president or his representative and, in most cases, two other district representatives.
A report on this conference was included in the March 2007
issue of Reporter.
7-02A To Amend Synodical Articles of Incorporation
and Bylaws Regarding Officer and Board
Responsibilities
Resolved:
“The convention . . . directs the President and the Board of
Directors jointly to appoint a committee to address the matter
and report to the 2007 convention.”
Action Taken:
In 2004 the Board of Directors and I jointly appointed a
committee to address “the matter” of the Synod’s Articles of
Incorporation and Bylaws regarding officer and board responsibilities in accord with 2004 Resolution 7-02A. The committee has been working diligently and is in the final stages
of completing its report with recommendations to the 2007
convention. (A copy of this report was sent to delegates prior
to the convention.)
Action on Certain Resolutions Not Specifically
Assigned to the President
2004 Synodical Convention
1-01 To Affirm Mission 21st Century Response to
Great Commission and
1-02 To Promote “Mission Outpost” Attitude
In many ways, I continued to affirm a confessional and
mission-minded approach by the Synod toward fulfilling the
Great Commission and have encouraged all congregations,
schools and entities to view themselves as mission outposts
and their communities as mission fields.
1-04 To Commit to $100 Million Ablaze! FundRaising Effort
Soon after the 2004 convention, this effort was titled Fan
Into Flame. Since that time I have personally expended significant time and energy in participating in the promotion of
this effort and in visiting prospective major gift donors in support thereof. As of this writing, advance gifts and pledges
amount to $15 million, with that total increasing almost
daily. An updated report will be provided at the convention.
1-05A To Establish Ablaze! National Goals
World Mission Services Executive Director Bob Roegner,
his staff, and I organized and participated in district Ablaze!
cluster groups in 2004 and 2006 and have addressed numerous gatherings to encourage and support efforts to achieve
these goals. Further information will be presented at the convention.
2007 Convention Proceedings

1.07 Ethnic and Urban Ministry
In 2006, I appointed a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Hispanic Ministry to study how best to assess and improve the
Synod’s capacity to reach out to the enormous and growing
Latino population of the United States. The report and recommendations of the BRTFHM to the 2007 Convention of the
LCMS address the short-term objective of helping us energize
the LCMS in our goal of reaching Latinos with the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and addresses longer-term objectives that will
help us reach out to and integrate Latinos into the LCMS in
real and meaningful ways. A copy of that report is included in
the Convention Workbook.
2-03A To Accept Lutheran Service Book and Agenda
as an Official Service Book and Hymnal of Synod
On many occasions I have supported the introduction of
Lutheran Service Book (LSB) with special acknowledgments
to the Commission on Worship and commendation of LSB.
2-04 To Affirm Responsible Use of Freedom
in Worship
In conversations with the Commission on Worship, I affirmed respect for diversity in worship and encouraged the
commission in its development of diverse worship resources
for use in the Synod. The commission has appointed a committee to pursue this matter and will be reporting its recommendations to the 2007 convention.
2-07 To Reaffirm Lutheran Educators and Schools
In my regular e-news Letter to Pastors I highlighted the
roles of Lutheran educators and other church work professionals on an ongoing basis. In addition, I visited and addressed various educators’ conferences in districts of the
Synod.
2-09 To Commit to Strengthening Lutheran
Doctrinal Education
In visits to the campuses of all ten Concordia colleges and
universities and multiple visits to our two seminaries and in
public addresses and written communications I have continued to promote the maintenance of a strong and solid confessional basis for all that we do in mission and ministry for our
Lord and His Church.
3-01 To Formally Declare Altar and Pulpit
Fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Kenya
In addition to implementing this fellowship relationship
according to protocol documents, various LCMS leaders and I
personally visited the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya
in 2006. As is true of most of the church bodies with whom
the LCMS has declared altar and pulpit fellowship, the ELCK
is rich in spirit and poor in resources. Significant time and resources have been shared with this partner church in the past
three years.
3-02 To Encourage the International Lutheran
Council
As a member of the executive committee of the ILC, I have
continued to support and participate in the work of the council. I attended the biennial meeting of the council in Berlin in