LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 29

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 29

Objection

At this point in the procedure a delegate once again
stated his objection to the publication of a list of pre-
ferred candidates by Affirm. In response to the objection
President Preus stated that it was difficult if not
impossible to control the dissemination of opinions. This
was especially true since the convention had given
permission to distribute information in a previous
session of the convention. He also expressed 2 wish
that the convention would in some way indicate its
appreciation for the services rendered and its trust in
some of the people who would not be returned to office.
A motion to cast a unanimous ballot for the list provided
by Affirm was not recognized. Pastoral delegate Edgar M.
Kirschenmann at this point declared his protest of the
election. The protest was noted by the chair.

Elections

Chairman of the floor committee, Rev. Marcis, de-
clared the elections closed.

Higher Education

Dr. Ellis Nieting, chairman of the floor committee on
Higher Education, introduced the resolutions of this
committee by referring to the many hours which had
been devoted to the formation of the resolutions. As a
result of the suggestions which had been received, some
of the resolutions were changed. He announced that in
Today’s Business, page 948, letters a, b, c, and d under
the second resolved were to be placed under the first
resolved.

Resolution 6-01A (TB 247), replacing Res. 6-01 (TB
129), honoring professors of our synodical institutions
who have fallen asleep in Jesus during the past bien-
nium, was adopted.

By introducing Res. 6-02 (TB 129) the Synod sought
to clarify the status of Seminex by asking those engaged
in conducting and supporting it to close the institution
and by stating that if it continued to exist it would be
regarded as any other theological school not affiliated
with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. An amend-
ment asking for a delay ef the discussion of this resolu-
tion until after action had been taken on Res. 3-10 (TB
55) was declined. The convention also declined to consi-
der a substitute motion which asked that the discussion
of Seminex, placement of its graduates, and other mat-
ters relating to this not be considered at this time. A
request for a division of the house on 2 motion to
terminate debate at this point showed by a vote of 613—
447 that the % majority had not been achieved. In the
continuing discussion the delegates declined to consider

another substitute motion asking that professors at Sem- |

inex meet with the Board of Control of the seminary to
discuss and resolve certain issues. They also failed to
grant permission to allow a spokesman from Seminex to
speak before the convention to state reasons of Seminex
professors for taking the action which they did. Before
the vote on Res. 6-02 (TB 129) was taken, a motion to
replace the whereas in lines 36—-38 (TB 129) with the
words “WHEREAS, The Synod at this convention has

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determined to dissolve Seminex” was declined as was a
motion to delete lines 40—42 (TB 129). Since the re-
quired 30 minutes for discussion of this resolution had
elapsed, the chair called for a decision on the termination
of debate. The chair ruled that the delegates had agreed
to the termination of debate by a % majority. The
resolution was then adopted as printed.

At the consent of the delegates, Res. 6-03 (TB 130)
was introduced by title. This resolution called for an
increase in efforts for recruitment of professional church
workers. A motion to amend the resolution by changing
the first resolved to read: “Resolved, That the Synod
emphasize for all member congregations and for all their
professional church workers that recruitment for church
ministries is primarily their responsibility and therefore
seriously urge them to: a. Pray more fervently in public
worship for more Christian boys and girls and men and
women willing to enter the church ministries”; and
changing a, b, and c in lines 27 —29 (TB 130) to b, c, and
d was adopted. The amended resolution was then ac-
cepted by the delegates.

The convention revised the Bylaws governing the
Colloquy Board for the Pastoral Office after declining to
strike the proposed wording in lines 34—50 (Res. 6-04,
TB 132) and substituting for these lines the present word-
ing cn lines 34—36 (TB 132). Prior to the presentation
of this resolution the committee had reported several
changes. The word “endorsed” was substituted for the
word “certified” in line 40 (TB 133), and the words “who
completed their vicarages under the Board for Higher
Education auspices” were inserted between the word
“graduates” and “shall” on line 43 (TB 133).

Theology and Church Relations

Chairman of the floor committee on Theology and
Church Relations, Dr. August Mennicke, prefaced the
introduction of resolutions from this committee with a
statement that the resolutions were being offered in
order to unite rather than to separate. He asked the
delegates to consider individually a prayer for a clean
heart, a right spirit, and the joy of salvation, and corpo-
rately a prayer that all the doings and life of the
convention delegates might please God before action was
taken on these resolutions.

Prior to presenting Res. 3-01 (TB 43), asking for
action which would seek to bring about unity in the
Synod, a number of minor changes were noted. Among
them were the following: In line 39 (TB 43) the words
“only come” were to be reversed. In line 47 (TB 48) the
word “to” was to be moved from its present position and
was to appear between the words “forthrightly” and
“express.” A motion was then made and seconded to
adopt Res. 3-01 (TB 43) with these editorial changes.
An amendment calling for an additional resolution which
would have declared New Orleans Resolutions 2-12,
3-01, and 3-09, in addition to 6-02 of the present
convention, null and void, was declined. The proposed
amendment had also asked for recognition of Seminex
as a seminary of The Lutheran Church— Missouri
Synod, together with ordination and installation of
Seminex students and cessation of any oppressive