Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1975 · 51st Convention › Page 187
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 187

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

ADMINISTRATION 187

Paul Landahl
Norbert Meyer
E. Wildgrube
M. A. Buerger
E. E. Winters
R. Kaliszewski
Clyde Cress
R. Lillie

J. Brockelman
G. Bornemann
L. R. Haack
W. Bakewicz

Ascension, Riverside, III.
Redeemer, Park Ridge, Ill
Gloria Dei, Blue Bell, Pa.

St. Andrew’s Pittsburgh, Pa.
Capitol Drive, Milwaukee, Wis.
Resurrection, St. Paul, Minn.
Our Savior, Midland, Mich.
Ashburn, Chicago, Ill.

King of Glory, Sylvania, Ohio
Redeemer, Elmhurst, Ill.
Trinity, Swissvale, Pa.

St. Michael’s, La Grange Park, II.

4-23A

To Affirm Right of English District
to Determine Its Own Status

WHEREAS, The English District is not a creation of The
Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod but a corporate body which
existed as a synod before its union with the Missouri Synod in
1911; and

WHEREAS, The matter of dissolving or assimilating the
English District has been a matter of concern for many previous
conventions at which it was declared by the Synod that such
assimilation would be in violation of the terms and spirit of the
1911 agreement: and

WHEREAS, Our Lord has blessed the mission efforts of The
Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod through the role of the
English District: and

WHEREAS, We believe that our English District has worked
with a devotion for the Scriptures, the Confessions, and the
Constitution of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: and

WHEREAS, Our congregation feels that the Lord of the
church has blessed our affiliation with the English District:
therefore be it

Resolved. That The Lutheran Church -— Missouri Synod and
the English District give thanks to God for the blessings they
have shared since their union in 1911; and be it further

Resolved. That the Synod abide by and honor the prece-
dents set by the 1911 agreement and by the action of subsequent
conventions, by affirming the right of the English District to
remain a District until such a time as the District itself deter-
mines through its own congregations to change its status.

Grace Lutheran Church
Broomall, Pa.

Philip Mathias, Chairman
Shirley Zimmer, Secretary
Arthur R. Bruning, Pastor

Identical or similar:

4-23B to 4-23P

Pilgrim, Marysville, Mich.

Holy Spirit, Elk Grove, Ill

Bethel, Evergreen Park, III.

Calvary, Harrisburg, Pa.

St. Mark, Janesville, Wis.

Ramona, Ramona, Calif.

St. John, Wilmette, Ill.

Mount Olive, Chicago, Ill.

Redeemer, Fort Wayne, Ind. (2 sections)

Carl Sangers
Roger Pittelko
John Mau
Thomas Kraus
Eugene Beltz
Kenton Rohrberg
Nicholas May
Norman Bumby
Charles Evanson

St. Paul’s English, Niagara Falls, Ont. G. N. Schaus
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Calif. G. Moore
Trinity, La Porte, Ind. Robt. Elsner
St. James, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. G. E. Kurz

Redeemer, Philadelphia, Pa. Richard Hoyer

4-24A

To Acknowledge Self-Determination
of English District Congregations

WHEREAS, The genesis of the English District is unlike that
of any other District in our Synod: the English District was not

unilaterally created by The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod;
it evolved out of a mutual agreement arrived at in good faith
by two Synods (English and Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod);
and

WHEREAS. Mindful of that unique genesis, The Lutheran
Church— Missouri Synod in convention has consistently held
that any overture proposing. for whatever reason, the dissolu-
tion of the English District should properly be initiated only by
the English District: and

WHEREAS. Support of any overture not proposed by the
English District for dissolving that District —

a) runs counter to the spirit of the good-faith mutual agree-
ment entered into by the two Synods:

b) reverses the position affirmed and reaffirmed in previous
synodical conventions:

c) challenges the acknowledged right of self-government
of some congregations who are members of the English District.
These congregations voluntarily, and without persuasion or
coercion, voted for membership in the English District. If the
right of self-government is to be meaningful, a congregation
cannot be denied the right of choice to elect membership in
the District not unilaterally created by The Lutheran Church
—Missouri Synod (English District) or in a geographic district
which was unilaterally created by The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod (Handbook. p. 83). The right of self-government can
be compromised and even denied when a convention resolution
invades the domain in which a congregation is autonomous;

d) further divides a church when there should be striving
for reconciliation:

e) creates panic and concern about the fiscal reliability and
integrity of our church among the many thousands of its mem-
bers who have invested eight millions of dollars of life-savings
in the Church Extension Fund of the English District: therefore
be it

Resolved. That The Lutheran Church~— Missouri Synod re-
ject any overture or resolution that would deny many congre-
gations their sovereign right to remain members of the District
(English) not unilaterally created by the Synod.

Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer
Oakmont, Pa.
Richard Ingmire, Pastor

Identical or similar:

4-24B to 4-24K

St. Michael. Fort Wayne, Ind.

St. Paul, Washington, Pa.

Redeemer, Fort Wayne, Ind. (2 sections)
Grace, Pontiac, Mich.

Gloria Dei, Detroit, Mich. (5 sections)
Christ, San Francisco, Calif.

Donald Meyers
John Pohanka
Charles Evanson
Dennis Hartmann
Edwin Rehrauer
David Rohrer

Risen Christ, Plymouth, Mich. K. E. Zielke
St. Stephen, Pittsburgh, Pa. O. A. Buntrock
Ascension, Waukesha, Wis. Ronald Daley

Memorial, Toledo, Ohio Ralph Young

4-25

To Recognize Continued Existence
of English District

WHEREAS. The English Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other
States in 1911 became a member body as a District of the
German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and
Other States: and

WHEREAS. Unilateral alteration of the 1911 agreement is
beyond the power of the Synod or the District and their conven-
tions: and

WHEREAS. The Synod in convention repeatedly has recog-
nized the rights of the corporate identity of the English District
by refusing to take unilateral steps to dissolve the English District
and instead has deferred to the English District; and

WHEREAS. The English District is beginning its second cen-
tury in mission as a dedicated, supportive member of The
Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod: and