LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 27

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 27

Wilbert Griesse, chairman of the Council of Presidents,
to postpone consideration of this matter so that the
Council of Presidents could consider it one more time, a
motion was made and adopted to grant this request with
the understanding that the matter would be brought up
once again at the convention session or Tuesday after-
noon.

Administration

Dr. Elwood Zimmermann, chairman of the floor com-
mittee on Administration, reintroduced Res. 4-03A (TB
199), on which action had not been completed. A motion
was made and seconded to insert a number of word
changes in the resolution. Because of previous editorial
changes which had been requested by the convention and
had not yet been printed, as well as the new changes
which were being considered, the convention referred
this resolution back to the committee for editing and
reconsideration.

By adopting Res. 4-04 (TB 75) the delegates declined
overtures asking that it be mandatory.to specify reasons
for the termination of personnel. After considerable dis-
cussion, Res. 4-05 (TB 76) authorizing deficit spending
for current expenses in 1975 was approved, as was Res.
4-06 (TB 77), which called for amending the Bylaws
relating to budget preparation. The delegates agreed to
change the membership of the Fiscal Review Commis-
sion (Res. 4-07, TB 78) and granted authority for utilizing
insurance companies for the purchase of annuities and/or
investment purposes for the Pension Plan for Pastors and
Teachers (Res. 4-08, TB 79). While adopting this resolu-
tion they declined an amendment which asked that after
the word “companies” in line 31 (TB 79) the words “some
of which are owned and operated by minorities” be
inserted.

Recognition

. President Preus read a letter to the delegates from
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Scott stating that in gratitude to
God they would be turning the proceeds from the sale of
a radio station over to the Lutheran Foundation. The
estimated amount of the proceeds from the sale is
$1,250,000. The convention expressed their appreciation
for this action by a rising ovation.

Point of Privilege

Dr. Karl Barth, President of the South Wisconsin
District, on a point of privilege informed the delegates
that previous information regarding a Council of Presi-
dents meeting was misleading. He further indicated that
the District Presidents referred to in Res. 5-02A (TB 202)
had not requested such a meeting and that there was no
indication on their part of a change of view or a desire to
delay action on this resolution.

Closing Devotion

The convention closed with the singing of the doxol-
ogy and the pronouncement of the benediction by Presi-
dent Preus. Following the devotion, arrangements for the
small-group meetings were announced by the Rev. Rob-
ert Sauer, assistant to the President of the Synod.

Session 4
July 7, Morning

Opening

The morning session began with small-group Bible
studies based on Matt. 28:16-20 and prayer. This was
followed by discussion in the small groups of matters
before the Synod under the main emphasis of the day.
After the delegates had been led in the singing of a
number of hymns, Dr. Preus declared the session open in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spriit.

Evangelism

The floor committee on Evangelism continued the
presentation of its resolutions with the introduction of
Res. 1-03 (TB 22). This resolution, which called for the
establishment of renewal retreats for professional church
workers and their spouses and for congregational leaders
and their spouses, was adopted by title by the conven-
tion. It also asked that evangelism objectives be estab-
lished at the District and congregational levels (Res. 1-
04, TB 23). Congregations were urged to maintain con-
tact with members leaving their parishes, and the Board
for Evangelism was encouraged to assist congregations
in developing programs of assimilation for all incoming
members in order to stem the tide of membership losses
(Res. 1-05, TB 24).

Progress Report

President Preus indicated that the time allotted for
discussion of evangelism resdlutions had elapsed and
that the remainder of the resolutions would be discussed
at scattered intervals throughout the rest of the conven-
tion time. At this point a total of 263 resolutions had
been submitted to the convention. Of these, 21 have been
acted upon.

Missions

Dr. Richard Schlecht, chairman of the floor committee
on Missions, introduced the Rev. Alvin Barry, new Exec-
utive Secretary of the Board for Missions, who addressed
the delegates briefly. In his remarks he stated that it was
time to move forward aggressively in our mission pro-
grams according to a number of guiding principles.
Among these were (1) that Christ is the Way, the Truth,
and the Life and that no one can come to the Father but
by Him; (2) because Christ is the only way of salvation,
there is an urgency to our work; (3) we have the power
and potential to do the task; (4) we have the assurance
from our Lord that where we sow the seed He will raise a
crop.

Prior to introducing the resolutions from the floor
committee, Chairman Schlecht made a statement to the
delegates regarding the difficulty of their task and the
spirit in which the resolutions were formed. Resolution
2.01A (TB 233) was introduced as a substitute for Res. 2-
01 (TB 30). This resolution called for a reaffirmation of
our church’s mission. Before reading it Chairman
Schlecht indicated that the word “it” should be inserted
on line 29 (TB 234) between the words “live” and “out.” A
motion to amend the resolution by striking lines 35 and