LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 68

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• Visitation of districts will continue, with greater participation of the regional vice-presidents,
and with myself and First Vice-President Mueller
spending time strategically with various districts.
• The political season this cycle was really quite short,
praise the Lord! That’s good!
• This convention will consider a four-year Synod cycle.
Besides reducing costs to congregations, districts,
and the Synod, it would also reduce political nonsense
to once every four years instead of every three. I
like that. It will also allow us in the national office
to concentrate on the mission of the church.
• We need greater unity and cooperation between
the seminaries.
• We must concentrate on the domestic and international mission of making Christ known to the lost.
“And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were
going out to him and were being baptized by him in
the river Jordan, confessing [exhomologesthai] their
sins” (Mark 1:5).
Let’s boldly confess our sins. “If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8).
Let’s boldly confess Christ and His teaching. “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
and “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all
sin” (1 John 1:8–9; 1:7).
Let’s boldly confess the praise and joy of the Lord,
and do it loud enough that the nations may hear!
“As it is written, ‘Therefore I will praise [actually,
“confess”] you among the Gentiles, and sing to your
name’ ” (Rom. 15:9).
VIC E-P RESI D EN TS

I am going to be bold to ask, if it accords with your
conscience and it is pleasing to God, that you re-elect
our current slate of vice-presidents. Herb Mueller is a
gem of a human being, and he has consented to serve
one more term. They are all superb men. They bring
manifold gifts to the task at hand. They are deeply
humble to a man. They pray fervently for the church
and for me. They are all 100 percent committed to
the Scriptures and Confessions. And they are wise.
They add tremendously to the theological capacity of

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UPON THIS ROCK

the Council of Presidents. They have been a personal
and professional blessing to me beyond belief. They
have the guts to tell me when they think I’m wrong,
and they support me when they think I’m right. We
are of one mind. I love them dearly.
T H E RE V. DR. MICH AE L KU MM AND T HE BOAR D
O F DIRE CTO RS

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kumm has led the Board of
Directors with distinction. They have avoided internal
division and contention. They have overseen the
financial and business dealings of our Synod with the
highest distinction. Michael and the whole board have
tackled the most difficult challenges, with interminable
patience and wisdom. And we are the beneficiaries of
that fidelity and absolute competence.
PE RS O NAL

On a personal note, I will not hide from you the fact
that this has been the most difficult and challenging
year in the life of my family. The devastation in the
wake of a house fire a year ago, and the myriad tasks
required to return to normal, have pressed us beyond
what we can bear at times. My brother’s returning
cancer, the deaths of dear extended family members,
and other challenges have reduced us to nothing at
times. Our family’s theme verse has been: “To keep me
from becoming conceited … a thorn was given me in
the flesh. … But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me”
(2 Cor. 12:7, 9).
These many challenges, and the stress and demands
of the job, have meant that my dear wife and children
have too often suffered in my absence and, when
home, from my distraction. They know better than
I that I have feet of clay. And yet, my wife and boys
love me still. And I care about them more than I care
about my job.
CO NCLU S IO N

A month or two back, I preached at the baccalaureate
for Concordia University Wisconsin. The Rev. Dr.
Patrick Ferry had just seen a communication sent to
all educational institutions by the Obama administration with directives on implementing transgender
hospitality. “I cannot believe how quickly we have
fallen so far,” I told him. He replied, “You know, it’s

“President’s Report, Part 3”