LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 106

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SYNOD REPORTS
Synod Prison Ministry Conference
Human Resources Committee
Several pastoral conferences around the Synod

The Praesidium, which includes the President of the Synod and the
five vice-presidents, met regularly for prayer, Bible study, and discussion of Synod matters. The Praesidium gave counsel on a variety of
matters as requested by the President of the Synod, district presidents,
and others. The undersigned serves as secretary of the Praesidium.
The First Vice-President serves as chairman of both the Colloquy
Committee for the Pastoral Ministry and the Colloquy Committee
for Commissioned Ministry, the reports of which follow in this
Convention Workbook. By means of colloquy, the Lord of the Church
provides for the congregations of the Synod many qualified commissioned ministers and ordained pastors.
The President or his staff often consult with me or ask me to work
with individuals or groups requesting information regarding ecclesiastical supervision issues in the districts. We always seek to help the
individuals and to help and support the district presidents in their necessary work. We assisted in the preparation for district conventions
and handled most of the requests for circuit exceptions in the preparation for the 2013 Synod convention.
President Matthew Harrison, at the beginning of our service
together, asked the undersigned to develop what we are calling
“The Koinonia Project,” an initiative of the office of the President
to work toward greater unity of doctrine and practice in our Synod.
More information on this effort can be found both in the Report of
the President and on the Synod’s Web site at http://lcms.org/page.
aspx?pid=1041. The goal of The Koinonia Project (koinonia is the
Greek word meaning “partnership,” “fellowship,” or “sharing in common”) is to address the theological issues causing friction among us
by a thorough process under the Word of God where we come
to clear agreement on (1) the points at issue, (2) what we confess
together, (3) what we reject, and (4) what we will therefore do
together, on the basis of Scripture and our Confessions. This effort
to do so we have chosen to call “The Koinonia Project” because we
pray God will build and strengthen our unity in the Word of God and
our fellowship, our “koinonia” together. In so doing, we seek to follow our Lutheran forebears who began the process of developing the
Formula of Concord by agreeing on what the true issues were. We
pray The Koinonia Project can become an honest Spirit-guided effort
over time to do what it takes to engage one another in theological listening and the discussions necessary under the Word of God and our
Lutheran Confessions to work toward unity, concord, and harmony
in our midst. “Koinonia” is always God’s gift in Jesus by means of
His Word and Sacrament.
During the triennium, the First Vice-President visited several times
with members of the faculty of both of our seminaries and preached
in chapel at both seminaries. He attended the LCEF Fall Leadership
Conferences and 15 district conventions, spoke at various professional
church worker conferences, preached at a number of congregations
across the Synod, addressed a variety of groups within the Synod,
and wrote various pieces for the Witness, Mercy, Life Together blog
sponsored by the President’s office (WMLTblog.org).
To speak personally, it is both a privilege and a joy to serve with
President Matthew Harrison, together with the Praesidium, other
Synod officers and the Council of Presidents. The President and all the
members of his staff, especially my executive assistant, Mrs. Brenda
Schreder, are all gifts of God and a pleasure to work with. I look forward to each day working with them in order to serve the Lord and
to serve you, the members of the Synod, in this capacity. The Lord
Jesus is blessing our beloved Synod with rich resources and faithful servants.
Herbert C. Mueller Jr., First Vice-President
2013 Convention Workbook

R6-01-02

Report of the Praesidium
The vice-presidents of the Synod are elected to advise the President
of the Synod, to serve on the Council of Presidents, and to form, under
the President, the Praesidium of the Synod. The Praesidium for 2013
included the following:
– President Matthew C. Harrison, St. Louis, MO.
– First Vice-President Herbert C. Mueller Jr., Waterloo, IL.
– Second Vice-President John C. Wohlrabe Jr., Milwaukee, WI.
– Third Vice-President Paul L. Maier, Kalamazoo, MI.
– Fourth Vice-President Daniel Preus, St. Louis, MO.
– Fifth Vice-President Scott R. Murray, Houston, TX.

Upon his request or as provided by the Synod, the vice-presidents
assist the President in carrying out his responsibilities and represent
him as needed. The Praesidium as such met regularly (generally four
times per year) for prayer, Bible study, discussion of Synod matters and to give counsel on a variety of matters as requested by the
President of the Synod, district presidents, and others. The undersigned serves as secretary of the Praesidium.
The Praesidium is responsible for a series of Bible studies prepared for circuit pastoral conferences. “The Under-Shepherd under
the Cross” was the theme for 2011–2012. During the present year
(2012–2013), we are working with the theme “Called to Be Christ’s
Witnesses.” These studies are funded through payments made each
year by the districts and are available for free download at www.lcms.
org/page.aspx?pid=1129. Pastor Mark Love of St. Peter’s, Rockford,
Michigan, is the general editor.
During the triennium, the vice-presidents visited several of the
campuses of the Concordia University System, advised the President
and First Vice-President on the Koinonia Project, assisted in making
sure a representative of the Synod was present for all of the 35 district conventions, and provided consultation to the President regarding
nominations for the CCM.
A major project given to the Praesidium by the 2010 LCMS
convention had to do with the evaluation of our relationship with
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in the area
of “cooperation in externals.” This directive came from 2010 Res.
3-03 “To Cooperate in Externals with Theological Integrity,” which
resolved as follows:
Resolved, That the task force be thanked and commended for its
work on identifying practical implications of the 2009 ELCA decisions
on human sexuality; and be it further
Resolved, That, in keeping with the basic principles set forth in the
task force statement, cooperation in externals with other churches, including the ELCA, continue with theological integrity; and be it further
Resolved, That we give thanks to God for the opportunity to give
witness to God’s care for all people through such cooperative work; and
be it further
Resolved, That the CTCR, in consultation with the Praesidium and
other entities and individuals as needed, develop more in-depth theological criteria for assessing cooperative endeavors, determining what
would necessitate termination of such cooperative efforts; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Praesidium, in consultation with the CTCR, provide an assessment of the current state of cooperation in externals and
a full report of criteria for ongoing assessment of the same by July 13,
2011.

In response, the CTCR prepared “Principles for Cooperation
in Externals with Theological Integrity,” adopted by the CTCR in
December 2010, which appears in this workbook. The Praesidium
discussed at length the above resolution and this document prepared
by the CTCR. Relationships with social ministry recognized service organizations (RSOs), plus educational RSOs, dominated the