LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Sheet 57

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58 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

mittees of the Synod, together with the numerous ad hoc
committees which were created, to all of our faithful and
hard-working staff at 500 and at Concordia Publishing
House, to all missionaries, professors in our schools, to
all pastors and teachers, and to all members of our
church a sincere word of thanks is very much in order.
God has blessed the Missouri Synod with great talent
and with loyal and sincere Christian people.

I would like to make a special word of thanks also to
my own staff, the Reverend Robert Sauer, Miss Jean
Buettner, and Miss Elizabeth Kops, all of whom have
given unstintingly of their time and talents.

Likewise a word of thanks to the Lutheran Laymen’s
League and its president, Mr. Gus Melde, to the Lu-
theran Women’s Missionary League and its president,
Mrs. Florence Montz, and to all of the auxiliary organiza-
tions of the Synod who in their own particular areas of
service have made a signal and important contribution to
the work of our beloved church.

Last but not least, we are sincerely grateful to Al-
mighty God for those faithful servants whose labors in the
kingdom are ended, who now rest in the Lord, and whose
works do follow them.

To say that the past biennium has been an easy
period in the history of our church would be to say
something that is not true, and yet through it all our
heavenly Father has blessed us, and our blessed Lord
Jesus Christ, who has told us that His “grace is sufficient
for us and that His strength is made perfect in weak-
ness,” has stood beside us and helped and guided us.
Truly we know the truth of the statement: “Lo, I am with

you always, even to the end of the age.” We have

endured many tragedies and sorrows. Some of them
could have been avoided, and others could not have been.
I say these things in love for all concerned and in a
sincere desire that the wounds may be healed and that
all of us may leave this convention in joy and happiness.
Some problems do remain, and I believe the convention
can take actions which will go a long way towards
solving them.

It is evident that for the past two decades at least we
have had two opposing theologies, particularly with ref-
erence to the doctrine of Holy Scripture. No church body
can long support two theologies which are in conflict. We
have spoken and set forth clearly our doctrinal position
both at New Orleans and throughout the entire history
of our Synod. The people of our congregations have a
right to be assured and to know that the men and women
who are called to serve as workers in their midst are
firmly dedicated to the Scriptures and the Lutheran
Confessions and that they will teach and carry out the
duties of their office in conformity with our faith and
practice.

We have made some progress in solving our doctrinal
problems. I believe the convocation, which was held a
few months ago, was helpful both in creating a better
climate and in delineating some of the issues. I am
convinced that our church wants to stand firmly on God’s
Word and our Lutheran Confessions, and proposals are
coming from various committees which should be very
helpful in bringing this matter to a happy and Scriptural

conclusion. One of the basic issues that has troubled us
has been the matter of the inerrancy of the Bible. I think
it should be evident to us that to permit people to teach
that the Bible contains errors not only dishonors the God
who has given us His Word but also makes the solution
of doctrinal problems absolutely impossible.

With regard to the Advisory Council on Doctrine and
Conciliation, which was appointed in January of 1974
under the chairmanship of Doctor Arnold G. Kuntz, in
order to delineate the doctrinal issues which have trou-
bled us, I can report that the committee met as recently
as June 26, 1975, in order to attempt to finalize its report
and suggest ways to the church for addressing itself to
the doctrinal problems which have troubled us. The
material is not as yet in, but it will be turned over to me,
hopefully by the end of the summer, and then I will be in
a position to give a more complete report on the work and
activities of this committee.

The experience of the committee indicates that to
address ourselves effectively to doctrinal differences will
require that all of us adopt an attitude which seeks the
service of the whole church and avoids self-serving.

Our doctrinal controversy has produced further prob-
lems which, while not specifically doctrinal, are certainly
vexing to us, and we need to speak briefly of these and
seek solutions to them at this convention. First, we have
the problems of Seminex and uncertified graduates who
are entering the parishes of the Synod.

With reference to the Seminex students and profes-
sors, I believe that the proposals made by Committees 3
and 6 are eminently fair and loving. We want these
young men who have been caught in a difficult situation
to be in the ministry of the Synod. But the Synod has the
right to know that they are doctrinally sound according
to the Scriptures and the Confessions and will conduct
their ministry in keeping with the Constitution and have
been properly endorsed. These difficulties should be
straightened out at this time, for no organization can
permit those who apply for admission to dictate the
terms of their admission. This the Synod reserves for
itself. Likewise with regard to the professors at Seminex.
We want to be fair and loving toward them. We want no
one to be under a cloud of charges of false doctrine who is
not guilty of false doctrine. The proposals made by the
committee appear to present fair and proper ways to
resolve these difficult problems.

I am convinced that the Boards of Control of our
schools and our District Presidents, who recognize the
talents and contributions which these men can make,
will do everything in their power to bring them back into
areas of service in the Synod where they can serve with
blessing and joy, if that cloud is removed by the commit-
tee being proposed in a resolution from Committee 3.

We also have a sad and difficult problem in that a
small number of District Presidents, for reasons which
are well understood and with which one can certainly
sympathize, have found themselves at odds with the
Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod. The Council of
Presidents has discussed this matter at very great
length, and efforts have been made in the Council to
have all of the members take a united stand in regard to