Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 40

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40 Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Convention

DOCTRINAL MATTERS

Report of the Joint Union Committee

At its Chicago convention in December, 1956, the Ev. Lutheran
Synodical Conference of North America adopted a resolution which
contained, among other items, the following recommendations:

I. That the President of the Synodical Conference be authorized

to call a joint meeting of the Union Committees of member

synods in order to:

1. Establish the significance of the action taken by the synods
at their last conventions; and to

2. Develop a program of future discussion on the basis of
these findings. :

Following a suggested outline of procedure, it was recom-

mended:

Il. That as the Union Committees of member synods reach |
agreement in the controversial issues, they draw up a com-
mon doctrinal statement to serve the Synodical Conference.
(Proceedings, 1956, p. 145)

Pursuant to this mandate of the Synodical Conference, Dr. John
S. Bradac, President of the Synodical Conference, convened a ple-
nary meeting of the several union committees on January 23 and
24, 1957, in Chicago. Personnel of the joint committee included
the President, Vice-Presidents, and Secretary of the Synodical
Conference, the Presidents and some Vice-Presidents of the mem-
ber synods, and the members of the respective synodical standing
committees on Doctrinal Unity, nearly forty men in all. At this
first meeting Dr. Bradac and Prof. Herbert Bouman were elected
chairman and secretary, respectively. With few exceptions, due
to resignations and substitutions, the personnel of the joint com-
mittee has remained quite constant, thus providing a continuity
of study and discussion which has been an important factor in
the progress of the deliberations.

Proceeding to the task assigned to it by the Synodical Con-
ference, the assembly devoted much time to a careful analysis of
all resolutions adopted at the most recent conventions of the sev-
eral synods pertinent to Synodical Conference problems, with
a view to establishing accurately and fairly the significance of
these resolutions.

Since one of the goals of these joint endeavors is to be the
drawing up of “a common doctrinal statement to serve the Synod-
ical Conference,” consideration was given to the premises requisite
for such an undertaking. A committee of four, one member from
each synod, was instructed to prepare a statement of premises.
The following draft, which may be amended and/or augmented
as needed, was submitted and adopted:

Your committee, appointed to formulate some premises on
which the union committees of the constituent synods might
agree for the work of drawing up a common doctrinal statement,
wishes to submit the following:

1. that in drawing up a joint confession we proceed from the

conviction, born of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that Scrip-
ture is the absolute and final authority on all matters on which