LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 109

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109

4. ADMINISTRATION

To Transfer Congregations
RESOLUTION 4-01

Overtures 4-16—4-20 (CW, pp. 185—186); 4-83U, 4-
84U (TB, pp. 16—17)

Wuereas, The transfers of these congregations have
been approved by both the transferring and the receiving
Districts or their responsible officials; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
authorize the transfer of: Chapel of the Cross, Milwau-
kee, Wis., from the English to the South Wisconsin
District; Trinity, Hammond, Ind., from the English to the
Indiana District; St. John’s, Onarga, Ill., from the North-
ern Illinois to the Central Illinois District; First, Char-
lotte, Mich., from the English to the Michigan District;
Trinity, Masaryktown, Fla., from the SELC to the Flor-
ida-Georgia District; Faith, Greenfield, Ind., from the
English to the Indiana District; Trinity, Hudson, Wis.,
from the North Wisconsin to the Minnesota South Dis-
trict; Sherman Park, Milwaukee, Wis., from the South
Wisconsin to the English District.

Action: Adopted (2). .

(The Committee added Trinity, Hudson’s, request to the list
in presenting Res. 4-01. After the convention had decided not to
amalgamate English District members with the respective geo-
graphical Districts, the committee withdrew Res. 4-23 and sug-
ested that Sherman Park’s request for a transfer be added to
s. 4-01. The convention gave formal approval to this sugges-
tion in Session 11.)

To Dissolve English District
RESOLUTION 4-02A
(Replacing Res. 4-02)

Report 4-04, III, L(CW, p. 139); N.O. Res. 4-41 (CW, p.
439); Overtures 4-22A—4-32 (CW, pp. 186—189)

Preamble

The Convention Committee on Administration, in
considering the serious question which was laid before it
by the church, is cognizant of the far-reaching implica-
tions of its decisions, and the consequences of its actions
on the life and well-being of the members of Christ’s
Church. It further recognizes that its decisions must
strengthen and support the total structure of The Lu-
theran Church—Missouri Synod and contribute to its
future success and progress. We therefore humbly and
sincerely assure all those affected by our judgments and
actions of our sincere concern as fellow members of the
body of Christ, and of the love which believers must
always demonstrate to their fellow redeemed. It is in this
spirit of submission to the Spirit’s guidance that we
present the following.

The historical relationship of The Lutheran Church
—Missouri Synod and its English District is a long and
interesting one. At the encouragement of our synodical
leaders three congregations organized to form the Eng-
lish Evangelical Lutheran Conference of Missouri in

Harold Hecht, President of the English District

1872, which grew into the English Evangelical Lutheran
Synod of Missouri and Other States in 1888. In 1905 the
Missouri Synod established a committee to confer with
the English Synod so that further understanding be-
tween the two Synods could be achieved. Closer ties were
desired, and the Missouri Synod adopted a resolution in
1908 declaring that union with the English Synod was
desirable. This culminated in the 1911 convention.

At the 1911 convention the English Synod became the
Missouri Synod’s “English District.” The Articles of Un-
ion began as follows:

Resolved, That we regard it as most expedient and as
most salutary for both parties to this union if individual
congregations of the English Synod join the respective Dis-

trict of our Synod, and that we entertain the hope that this
end may be reached in the very near future.

Resolved, That whereas this mode of union cannot be
adopted at the present time, we nevertheless receive our
English sister Synod as a District.

For the first time in its history the Missouri Synod
had established a “language District,” not as a perma-
nent arrangement but as an interim or temporary mea-
sure.

In view of these beginnings, it is not at all surprising
that overtures came to the floor of the Missouri Synod
conventions proposing amalgamation of the English Dis-
trict into the geographical Districts as early as 1923—
only 12 years after the original union. When the Mis-
souri Synod dealt with this memorial, it adopted the
following resolution:

Since all Districts of Synod are becoming more and more

English in their work, we do not deem it wise to reject said

memorial outright, but believe this proposal should come

from the English District and therefore ask it kindly to
discuss the matter.

It is probably from this resolution that the myth has
arisen that the initiative for amalgamation must come
from the English District. This “gentleman’s suggestion”
was not a part of the original 1911 resolutions. There is
no evidence anywhere that the prerogative of amalgama-
tion belongs to the English District rather than to the
Synod.