LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 74

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74

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Part II
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the
world and Lord of the universe, through whom alone we receive forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation!

Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to this Floor Committee Meeting Weekend, in
preparation for the 63rd Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. As you are well aware, convention
activities will begin eight weeks from tomorrow. Many in the
Synod are looking forward with great anticipation to this convention, and I pray that is true of each of you, as well.
In my travels around the Synod and in communications
from pastors, educators, and laypeople from throughout the
Synod, I am greatly encouraged by the voluntarily and freely
offered assurance that many, many people and many, many
congregations are holding each of us, the entire Synod and
our national convention in their private and public prayers.
Although originally offered in a context of prayer for healing,
the words of the apostle James seem fitting for our church
body as well: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective” (James 5:16). It is my prayer that the prayers of the
many who have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, our Savior, will indeed be received with
favor by God Himself and that His blessing will abound in
our midst during the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

Floor Committee Selection Process
and Assignment
There are several aspects of this Report of the President
of the Synod: Part II. Before delving into specific areas of importance and concern, I believe it is important to say a few
words about how and why each one of you has been selected
to serve your God and your Synod as a member of a convention floor committee. The Bylaws of our Synod address this
important matter:
3.1.7 All reports and overtures accepted by the President in
accordance with the foregoing paragraphs shall be referred by
him to convention committees appointed by him in the name
of the convention.
(a) Appointments will be made from among the voting delegates (Bylaw 3.1.2ff), advisory delegates (Bylaw 3.1.3ff), and
advisory representatives (Bylaw 3.1.4ff).
(b) Ordained ministers, commissioned ministers, and
laypersons shall be represented on all committees.

Those words describe in general how you got here. More
specifically, in appointing each of you to your respective floor
committee, I asked for and received assistance from your district president, who several months ago received information
from my office regarding the process that would be followed in
the selection of floor committee members.
Basically, that process recognized the variation in numbers of convention voting delegates from each of the 35 districts of the Synod and created a formula for floor committee
member recommendations in proportion to the number of voting delegates from each district. Essentially, the larger the
number of voting delegates in a district, the greater the number of floor committee member recommendations that were
received from that district for potential floor committee ser2007 Convention Proceedings

vice. Resultantly, district representation across the whole of
all the committees is generally proportionate in number to
the size of the voting delegation and number of floor committee recommendations from each district, with a minimum of
at least one floor committee member from each district in addition to the district president. Your district president was
quite helpful in identifying the gifts, interests, and experiences of the voting delegates from your district, from among
whom you were chosen for this position.
Serving on a floor committee includes privilege, task, and
process, all briefly described in the remainder of Bylaw 3.1.7
and in Bylaw 3.1.8.1:
(e) If the President deems it advisable, he may convene
any committees prior to the opening of the convention.
(f) After due consideration of the matters referred to it,
each committee will report its findings and recommendations
to the convention.
3.1.8.1 The first issue of Today’s Business containing proposed resolutions shall be sent to all registered delegates of
the convention and to each congregation of the Synod.
(a) Responses to the tentative resolutions contained in the
first issue of Today’s Business shall be submitted to the chairman of the appropriate floor committee at least one week prior
to the convention.
(b) All floor committees shall meet at the convention site at a
time prior to the opening of the convention to review such responses and reconsider their proposed resolutions accordingly.

Those of you who serve as floor committee chairmen and
vice chairmen are well aware of the process by which you
were selected by the Synod President. Essentially, a review
was conducted of Synod conventions since 1980, providing objective information regarding how frequently and how recently each district has been privileged to offer the services
of its district president as floor committee chairman. In addition, consideration was given to gifts, interests, and experiences of district presidents that would be compatible with the
needs of each floor committee.
In all cases, the process of appointment of floor committee
chairmen and members was bathed in prayer and purposeful reflection. While others may have been chosen for the position you now hold, the fact remains that, in the words of the
letter written by the apostles and elders in Acts 15 (the portion of Scripture, incidentally, that summarizes one of the two
reasons for the forming of this “Synodical Union” we know
and love as The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod), “it
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” that each of you be
appointed.

A Word of Prayer
With that introduction, I invite you to join me in a word of
prayer before we proceed.
Dear heavenly Father, we praise and magnify your holy
name. We thank you for the gift of the life, perfect obedience,
suffering, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Pour out upon us the gifts of your Holy Spirit, by whose
working through Word and Sacrament we have become your
children. Fill our hearts and our minds, our lips and our lives
with the truth and the power that you alone can provide. May
every word we speak and every deed we perform bring honor
and glory to your name, edification to your people, and expan-