Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 98

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

98 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

tors in Britain. Our pastor who headed these discussions was also
chairman of the Lutheran Council of Britain, which dispensed
relief to the pastors also in the form of salary grants and to the
people. So the Council, in the thinking of many, was identified
as the group carrying on both projects, though not set up that way
from the beginning.

Today we have three congregations and four pastors in Eng-
land, which have organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
England, in fellowship with our Synod, ready to make it their
business to take over the effort to bring together as many of the
other Lutheran churches in Britain as possible into the fellowship
of this new church body. Doctrinal discussions are to be continued
under this arrangement leading to a final decision on the part of
the refugee churches to accept the Lutheran confessional standard
we also uphold and join with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
England or to come to a parting of the way. Relief is still being
' dispensed through the Council during this transition period.

Let it be said here that despite this complicated situation,
which grew out of the unique position the refugee groups held in
England, we know of no instance where our men violated Scrip-
tural principles of church fellowship or permitted them to be
violated. We irivite careful investigation of the whole situation
by our brethren in the Wisconsin Synod to bear out what we

have said.
Bad Boll Conferences

“These conferences, held in Europe since 1948, were mutually
arranged between our Synod and our brethren in the European
Free Churches on the one side and the other Lutheran churches
(Landeskirchen) on the other side, for the purpose of rallying
Lutheran churches, sorely depressed by the ravages of war, around
the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions and thus to strengthen
Lutheranism in Europe over against the onslaughts of Romanism
as well as Calvinism and rationalism.”

There is no church fellowship involved. They are free con-
ferences taking up doctrines vital to the Christian faith, wherein
there is no full agreement, and seeking to resolve the difference
by the power of God’s Spirit working in His Word and leading
all to obedience to that Word. “The morning and evening devotions
are fully of a private nature and bear no semblance of even a
feigned church fellowship.” God's guidance and help is sought
for these discussions, and the situation is in every way similar to
the one treated under “Joint Prayer.”

An incident occurred at the first Bad Boll meeting that some
have considered of such a nature as to have set up a sort of pulpit
fellowship between us and the Lutheran churches of Germany
represented there. This situation was not of our planning. Safe-
guards were set up for the next Bad Boll meetings that such an
incident could not occur again. Our Free Church brethren in
Germany satisfied themselves that this matter was adequately
taken care of and have joined us since then in these Bad Boll
conferences. These Bad Boll conferences have strengthened and
clarified our position on church fellowship and unionism as far
as the European Lutherans are concerned.