Collection › LCMS Convention Proceedings (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1941 · 38th Convention, Fort Wayne › Sheet 124
LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1941, Sheet 124

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

General Institutional Matters 123

congregations. A very large number of our candidates has always
been, and still is, not sufficiently familiar with the practical work
in congregations when assuming office. The qualifications of the
candidates are not known as they should be, especially not as to
their practical work. The candidates are not under the super-
vision of a District of Synod.

“Middlers.” —Synod has tried to solve some of these diffi-
culties by insisting that all theological students interrupt their
studies for a year to do supply-work. Many students indeed
received valuable training during this year, but the “middler” lacks
sufficient background to secure the maximum of benefit from this
work. A considerable number of the “middlers” engage in secular
work or attend some other school. In some cases too much was
expected of them; the experience of others was too one-sided.

Mission. ~ One of the greatest mission-fields of our Church
is to be found in the territory of our larger congregations, especially
in the large cities. This work is not being prosecuted as it should
be in many places because the pastors are overburdened with work
in their congregation and can do no more. Ina number of instances
either pastors or congregations or both are not inclined to call
a second worker permanently for fear of causing friction and
other undesirable consequences. Work in a mission-field is far
more difficult and complex than it was even twenty-five years ago,
and blunders caused by the inexperience of the missionary in the
practical work often have more serious results than formerly.
Many important mission-stations are in charge of inexperienced
candidates. Mission boards justly complain of the difficulty of
finding out whether candidates have the required qualifications
for a certain field. In our large Synod we have no central agency
to supply reliable information about men with special abilities;
important places are filled by men with mediocre gifts, whereas
an excellent man in another District was available.

Ministerial Call. — Graduates are expected to preach without
censorship and to perform practically all work of a pastor without
a call, depriving them, during the trying times of their first inde-
pendent work, of the comfort of a call. We are thus introducing
the “temporary call” and “licensing” into our Synod by the back
door. There is a complaint of stagnation in many Districts. Men
with little or no experience are being called to large, important
congregations.

In looking for a solution, we should attempt to keep in mind
all of these and related difficulties and adopt measures that will
meet as many difficulties as possible, although we realize that it
is not possible to attain perfection at once. Let us also seek