LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 7

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PREFACE
The following pages contain the official record of the 68th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod, conducted at the Baird (formerly, Wisconsin) Center, Milwaukee, Wis., July 29—August 3, 2023, with 1,023
voting delegates and 453 advisory delegates, representatives, and official guests in attendance.
The resolutions contained in this volume are presented in the form in which they were finally acted upon by the
convention. Each had its origin in one or more reports and overtures submitted, in accordance with Bylaws 3.1.6–
3.1.6.2, by authorized individuals and entities, including the districts, circuits, and congregations of the Synod. Twelve
floor committees prepared a final total of 101 resolutions (including the three omnibuses). Of these, 87 were acted
upon in the course of the convention and 86 were adopted. A few notes may be helpful:
•

An “A” or other letter attached to a resolution number indicates that the committee revised the resolution after
its initial publication in Today’s Business, necessitating the printing of a new version.
• The line immediately following the resolution number indicates the origin of the material being acted upon,
usually one or more reports or overtures printed in the Convention Workbook or Today’s Business.
• A resolution’s introductory section, whether comprising rationale or preface paragraphs or a series of whereases,
is regarded as having the same weight and importance as the resolves that follow.
• A summary of the action taken by the convention, an indication of in which session that action was taken, and
an excerpt of the relevant portion of the minutes, including the final vote (if tabulated), are included after each
resolution. The complete minutes, presented earlier in this volume, and the previously published Convention
Workbook and Today’s Business, First Edition, provide additional context.
A number of the resolutions have amended the Bylaws of the Synod; these will receive attention by the Commissions
on Constitutional Matters and Handbook, culminating in the production of the 2023 Handbook in months to come.
Various important aspects of our life together as a Synod—including all aspects of the relation of the Synod to its
universities; the preparation and supply of pastors to the congregations and parishes of the Synod, including the small
ones; care of missionaries and international relationships; various aspects of our life together as congregations and
Synod in the midst of theological, practical, technological, and cultural challenges and opportunities; the philosophy
and practical support of our parochial and other primary and secondary schools; the representation of our
congregations at convention; and the present situation with Concordia University Texas—received and will be
receiving careful attention through the triennium. A variety of issues facing every Christian and every congregation
received attention worthy of wide consideration. The Synod will be well served if all our congregations, church
workers, and agencies review carefully this consummation of a triennium’s work at refining Synod’s governance,
objectives, and approaches.
A word of profound thanks is in order to the Today’s Business staff and to Concordia Publishing House, without all of
whom this work would not be such as it is.
The convention theme, We Preach Christ Crucified, drawing on 1 Corinthians 1:23–24, continues to challenge us all to
make these words our own, to speak them with one voice as the congregations of our Synod, and so to govern all we
have built together. It focuses our attention on what matters: preaching. What is to be preached, every time,
everywhere, to everyone? Christ, and Him crucified—and just so, Christ, the power and the wisdom of God and our
righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. What does it mean for us in this world? Suffering, scorn, for the wise
not only count us fools but are shamed by our preaching, and by it those things that make much of their being
something are brought to nothing. But what does it mean for the world that we are in it with this preaching? Life
beyond all their knowing! For He who is low and despised, who seems to be nothing, is revealed to be everything, the
only foundation that is laid, the One in whom all things are ours—the world, life, death, present, future—and we are
Christ’s, and the Christ—even Him crucified—is of God (1 Corinthians 1–3).
May the Lord of the Church bless us as a Synod, to “agree, and that there be no divisions among [us], but that [we] be
united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Division, dissention, and quarreling are out of place
among us. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power
of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). God grant us truly to walk together in the preaching of Christ Crucified, indeed, therefore, in the
wisdom and power of God and the redemption of the world—to be of one mind and heart, united in his Word,
following the example of the apostolic church, and applying the diversities of our gifts to the common profit
(Constitution, Preface).
John W. Sias, Secretary
Preface

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION | 7