Collection › LCMS Convention Proceedings (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1941 · 38th Convention, Fort Wayne › Page 432
LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1941, Page 432

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

432 Two Radio Addresses

Two Radio Addresses
By Dr. Watter W. Van Kirk

I
Red Network, June 24, 1941, National Broadcasting Co.

This is Walter Van Kirk reporting on the convention of the :
Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States,’
now in session here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The delegates to th
convention have just adjourned their afternoon business session,
and they’re assembled as a body in the large Gymnasium of Con-
cordia College. This broadcast is wired into the Convention Hall
and on behalf of the National Broadcasting Company I extend
greetings to the delegates, their families, and their colleagues
of the faith throughout the country.

But just a word about Fort Wayne. The French came to
this Glorious Gateway of the West as far back as 1686. Seventy-.
five years later the French moved out, and the British moved in.
But it wasn’t long before the Indians, led by the brave Chief
Pontiac, made things a bit too hot for the British. Then came the
Revolutionary War and after that the Indian wars. It was in 1794
that General “Mad” Anthony Wayne tacked the Stars and Stripes |
over the fort which now bears his name. First the French, then
the British, then the Indians, then the federal soldiers of President
Washington. One after another they came to Fort Wayne, each,
in turn, building upon the foundation laid by their predecessors.

And now it’s the Lutherans who have captured this fair city
of the Middle West. But it’s a friendly conquest consummated by.
the 816 delegates who have come here to represent the Evangelical
Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States. And they’re
following in a great and noble tradition. One of the most stirring
stories of our pioneer days is the story of the Rev. Frederick
Wyneken, a Lutheran missionary, who put upon himself the whole
armor of God and with the Sword of the Spirit embarked upon
a pilgrimage throughout the wilderness of Northern Indiana and
Southern Michigan. This man Wyneken was a saint if there ever
was one, and a prophet, too. Despite the sharp tongue thrusts
of critics and notwithstanding the opposition of countless foes
Pastor Wyneken laid the foundation of a vast spiritual empire.

The ministers and missionaries of the Missouri Synod have
vastly extended the confines of the Kingdom charted in the wilder-
ness by this man Wyneken until today this Lutheran army of the
Lord numbers more than 4,000 pastors, with 4,359 congregations,
totaling 1,392,000 souls, with a communicant membership of nearly
a million, These bearers of Lutheran banners now assembled
in Fort Wayne come from every State in the Union, from the