LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 28

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Following the selection of the Second Vice-President, each succeeding vice-president (3 to 6) shall be ranked by majority vote.” This
motion was declared out of order. After further discussion, the Special Standing Rules were adopted as proposed [Yes: 881; No: 87].

Convention Schedule
The chair called attention to the newly distributed tentative
schedule for the convention, calling attention to recent changes
that necessitated the distribution of a new document. A motion
introduced to adopt the convention schedule as newly proposed
was adopted after brief discussion [Yes: 1,010; No: 12]. The chair
declared the convention to be “in order and ready to conduct business.” The first of a series of videos produced by Lutheran schools
in response to the theme of the convention and viewed at various
times throughout the convention was shown.

President’s Report, Part 3
With convention gavel in hand, President Harrison spoke of the
gavel’s use by every convention of the Synod since it was carved in
1911 from wood from the Synod original log cabin seminary to
mark the 100th anniversary of C. F. W. Walther’s birth. He compared difficult conditions faced by the Synod then and now, noting
that the gavel has witnessed difficult conventions and trying times,
the faces carved into the gavel (Luther and Walther) reminding of
the consolation and strength found in God’s Word and its “remember” verses, ever important because the church has never had a
“golden age” without struggles and hard times.
He noted that the gavel also has carved into its side the words
of Romans 3:28, which the church since Luther has been pointed
back to in order to stand like Luther in the face of opposition to
the Gospel. President Harrison noted that every great era in the
church has begun with cries of “Repent!” and “Back!” even as must
be the case today with our Synod and its great blessings, which he
enumerated and punctuated with blows by the gavel. There are
also challenges facing our Synod in our time, and the Synod may
“take heart” as in the case of the paralytic let down from the roof
to receive Jesus’ attention.
Today, Jesus tells His disciples what He told His disciples in His
day: “Be strong. Wait for the Lord.” Our global partners will assist
us and we will be strong together, baptized for this moment. [The
full text of Part 3 of the President’s Report is printed elsewhere in
these 2013 Convention Proceedings.]

Special Welcomes and Greetings
President Harrison announced that the Mayor of St. Louis,
Francis Slay, was planning to attend the convention and bring
greetings from the city, but was unable to attend. A special framed
proclamation by the mayor naming July 20–25 “LCMS Week in the
City of St. Louis” was read on his behalf.
Rev. Timothy Scharr, President of the Southern Illinois District,
brought his district’s greetings as host district for the convention.

Convention Essay—Baptized for This Moment
Using the example of the Baptism of a child, Essayist Rev. William Cwirla underscored that while the devil “always departs
kicking and screaming,” all that has been placed into Baptism are
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also the blessings of Baptism today. God’s love has its say, and in
all baptized Christians the life of Christ lives, a new way of living as members of a priesthood offering lives of living sacrifice,
their voices declaring the wonderful deeds of Him who called them
out of darkness into the light of His grace. In this life, both Law
and Gospel are important, since the baptized are both sinners and
saints at the same time. Quoting Luther: “Christians are divided
into two parts—an inner which is faith, and an outer which is the
flesh.” Because the outer man is not actually dead yet, he must
be drowned daily by instruction by the Law. Still, the baptismal
moment embraces every moment of life, saving even now, affecting
our lives and our life together as we stop to remember our Baptisms.
[The complete text of Rev. Cwirla’s essay is printed elsewhere in these
Convention Proceedings.]

Committee 3: Life Together
The chair introduced Minnesota North District President Donald Fondow for the presentation of his committee’s business. After
introductory comments regarding life together made possible by
Christ, he called on Rev. Timothy Yeadon, New England District
President and member of Committee 3, who spoke of recent difficult times faced by his district and presented a gift to President
Harrison as a token of his district’s appreciation and love.
Res. 3-01A “To Expand the Koinonia Project” (TB, p. 238) was
introduced by the committee. A motion to insert the following
resolve paragraphs was, after lengthy discussion, accepted by the
committee as a friendly amendment: “Resolved, That to lead by
example and to demonstrate to the entire Synod that this project
can bear fruitful results, the President of the Synod be directed
to divide the elected presidents of each district and the vice-presidents of the Synod into three study groups who will, by random
draw, study Koinonia together, with progress of each study group
reported on the newly developed Web site; and be it further
Resolved, That circuit counselors be encouraged to use at least a
portion of their monthly (Winkel) meetings to foster the kinds of
theological discussions the Koinonia Project seeks to foster; and
be it further.” After a motion to end debate was carried [Yes: 894;
No: 55], the resolution was adopted as amended [Yes: 869; No: 102].
Res. 3-02A “To Respect One Another and Put the Best Construction on All Things” (TB, pp. 238f.) was introduced by the
committee. During discussion, an amendment was proposed to
delete the second resolve. This was followed by a motion to send
the resolution back (refer) to the committee for further modification. After a motion to end debate was carried [Yes: 862; No: 85],
the convention voted to refer Res. 3-02A back to Committee 3 [Yes:
740; No: 241].
Res. 3-03A “To Support, Commend, and Increase Witness,
Mercy, and Life Together Ministry of Lutheran Schools” (TB, pp.
239f.) was introduced by the committee. During discussion, an
amendment was introduced: “Resolved, That this convention urge
LCMS congregations who operate Christian day schools to make
it a priority to staff their school by extending calls to teachers and
commissioned workers rather than to contract teachers (whether
or not these teachers are eligible to accept a call).” After debate on
the motion to amend was ended [Yes: 911; No: 100] and the proposed amendment failed [Yes: 311; No: 696], the chair called for the
Orders of the Day and noon recess.
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