LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 153

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SEMINARY ISSUES 153

New Orleans (July 1973) to remove the present members
of the St. Louis Board of Control, as well as their executive
officer, and elect or appoint others to these responsibilities
who will obey the resolutions of Synod and administer the
St. Louis seminary accordingly.
Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH
Bend, Oreg.
Walter A. Anderson, Pastor
Henry P. Lursen, President
Roy A. Scurlock, Secretary

Similar:

3-150B

St. John’s Lutheran Church, Roselle, Ill., James Johnson,
Secretary.

ST. LOUIS SEMINARY
3-151

To Close Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

WuerEaS, The controversy concerning the doctrinal po-
sition and teaching role of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,
appears to be growing (gaining in size) and not lessening
(getting smaller in size); an

Wuereas, It appears that all efforts to bring about an
edifying and Christ-pleasing solution to the controversy
about the seminary and its teaching role will be defied (re-
sisted) both now and in the future; and

Wuereas, This controversy about the seminary and _ its
teaching role is dividing and diverting The Lutheran Church
Missouri Synod from its primary role of proclaiming the
saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people; and

Wuereas, This controversy brings shame not only upon
our beloved Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod but also
upon the entire body of Christ thereby adding little of a
good and constructive nature to either the life of the Lu-
theran Church — Missouri Synod or the entire body of
Christ; therefore be it

Resolved that we, the members of St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church, Lowell Twp., Nebr., in this our January (1973)
voters’ meeting memorialize The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod at its synodical convention to be held in New
Orleans, La., during the month of July 1973 to consider
prayerfully and carefully that the needed and edifying
course of action for solving this controversy in our midst is
to terminate (end) all operations and instructions (teach-
ing) at Concordia Seminary St. Louis, that the President of
the seminary, the faculty of the seminary, and all adminis-
trative officials of the seminary be released (relieved) from
all duties present and future: and that the Board of Control
for the seminary be disbanded; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod (Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod) be empowered to create a special
study committee whose duty will be to make recommenda-
tion to the Synod as to what shall be the wisest and best use
of the property which is now known as Concordia Seminary.
St. Louis, and to make these recommendations to the Synod
as quickly as possible but no later than our 1975 synodical

onv ion.
conventio St. Paut’s LUTHERAN CHURCH

Lowell Twp., Nebr.
Alwin Hartman, Chairman
David Caspersen, Pastor

3-152A

To Suspend Activities at Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis

Wuereas, The majority of professors at Concordia Semi-
nary, St. Louis, have demonstrated allegiance to a false view
of the Holy Scriptures; and

Wuereas, The faculty of the St. Louis seminary by their
statements have demonstrated unwillingness to teach in ac-
cordance with the doctrinal position of the Synod; and

Wuereas, The professed allegiance of the majority of the
St. Louis professors to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran
Confessions is not borne out in their teaching and practice;
and

WuHerEas, It is manifestly impractical to deal with each
man at the seminary individually; and

Wuereas, The Board of Control of the seminary has found
it impossible to deal with the complex situation; and

Wuereas, The Synod cannot afford a continuation of the
controversy at the St. Louis seminary; therefore be it

Resolved. That the Synod suspend operations at its semi-
nary and declare all positions vacant; and be it further

Resolved, That such suspension shall be for a time short
enough not to interfere seriously with the theological train-
ing of Synod’s future pastors, but long enough to enable
the Synod to select a faculty openly in support of Synod’s
doctrinal position, and be it further resolved that such selec-
tion of a new faculty be carried out by the electors of the
Synod in consultation with a special blue ribbon committee
to be named by the President of the Synod after consulta-
tion with the Vice-Presidents of the Synod; and be it further

Resolved, That threats of legal action by incumbent pro-
fessors at such action if carried out be regarded by the
Synod as a violation of Articles I and VI, and be it finally

Resolved, That present members of the faculty who do
not in their personal theology reflect a false doctrine of
Scripture or other aberrations be considered first for calls to
serve on the faculty when operations are resumed.

Trinity LUTHERAN CHURCH
Howells, Nebr.

Kermit Bisch, President
Cerl R. Efraimson, Pastor

Identical or Similar:
3-152B

Zion Lutheran Church, Leigh, Nebr., Martin Bayenburch,
President; Carl Efraimson, Pastor.

3-152C
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fairchild, Wis., Alfred Klatt,
Chairman; Harold Thur, Secretary.

3-153

To Close Down and Reorganize
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

Wuereas, The first object of Synod (Handbook, p. 15) is
“the conservation and the unity of the true faith (Eph. 4:3-6;
1Cor.1:10) and a united defense against schism and sec-
tarianism (Rom. 16: 17); and

Wuereas, The Report of the Synodical President to The
Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod in compliance with Res.
2-28 of the 1971 Milwaukee convention shows that a majority
of the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St, Louis, “hold a view
of the Scripture which in practice erodes the authority of
Holy Writ” and that they “allow the possibility that many of
the Old and New Testament stories are not really historical
(the event recorded may not have happened; the people
named in some instances may never have existed), and that
“the Gospel (the primary teaching of the Scriptures) js re-
garded as virtually exclusively normative in such a way as
to detract from the normative authority of the whole Scrip-
ture’ (Report. p. 22); and

Wuereas, The majority of the faculty in their “Discussion
of Issues” repeatedly plays down the historicity of Biblical
events: p. 17, “the message remains the same whether we
consider the text of Gen. 23 a literal historical account or
some other kind of literature”; p. 23, “The fact that a given
Biblical episode is historical is not important in and of it-
self’; “It is not the historical fact that Jesus Christ died and
rose again that by itself constitutes the Gospel”; p. 23, “Some
insist on a public acceptance of the historicity of every de-
tail of the life of Jesus as recorded by the evangelists”; p. 26,
“Any attempt to make the Promise dependent on the his-
torical authenticity of every detail of the Scriptures destroys