LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1979, Page 35

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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 35

160), which called for the development of a master plan
for responding to the challenge for the ’80s. Prior to
discussing and voting on the resolution, the delegates
were referred by committee member G. Tagge to a
supporting exhibit found on page 270 of Today’s Busi-
ness. After hearing an explanation of how the master
plan would be developed, the delegates adopted the
resolution as presented. By approving Res. 12-05 (TB
161) they also changed the fiscal year of the Synod and
designated July 1 as the beginning of the new fiscal
year. After a delegate stated his belief that the motion
had not been made and seconded, the delegates proceed-
ed to approve the resolution through a motion, second,
and vote for adoption. They also agreed to a proposal for
the establishment of a new method of preparing budgets
and work programs through the adoption of Res. 12-06
(TB 161), and then adopted Res. 12-07 (TB 162), which
would change Bylaws 9.01—9.06 of the Handbook in
order to allow for their implementation. The convention
agreed to dispense with the reading of this resolution
and to adopt it by title even though it contained Bylaw
changes.

Closing Devotion

Dr. Gerhardt Nitz, chaplain for the convention, led
the delegates in the singing of a hymn and in the
common table prayer as a closing devotion for this
session.

Session 7
July 10, Afternoon
Opening Devotion

Opening devotion for the session, led by Dr. Paul
Michael of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of
Denmark, consisted of the singing of the hymn “Oh, for
a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” the reading of Psalm
119:97-112, with a devotion based on these words, and
prayer.

Recognition

President Preus called the attention of the delegates
to the presence of Dr. William H. Dau, a longtime
servant of the church, who graduated from the sem-
inary in St. Louis in 1917.

Theology and Church Relations

Prior to resuming the discussion of Res. 3-03, which
called for continuing fellowship in protest with the
ALC, the delegates were led in prayer by Chairman
Schlecht of the Floor Committee on Theology and
Church Relations. Dr. Ralph Bohlmann, president of
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and a member of the
CTCR, pointed out that we are agreed that we have
problems, but the question is, “What do we do?” He
stated that in his opinion many of the delegates felt that
there were only two choices, either to suspend fellow-
ship or to declare full fellowship. He pointed out that the
resolution as presented provides a third possibility. By a

resolution of the delegates Dr. Robert Preus, president of
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, was
granted equal time to that used by Dr. Bohlmann in
addressing the delegates. He indicated that he did not
believe the resolution stated clearly the depth of dis-
agreement, particularly at the seminary level, between
the two church bodies. At this point President Preus
stated that it should be understood that the time taken
by any of the remarks of the previous speakers would
not be considered as part of the 30 minutes allowed for
debate. A substitute resolution was presented to the
delegates:

WHEREAS, The concept “protesting fellowship” is mean-
ingless to most people and puts everyone into a state of
confusion about the issue of fellowship; and

WHEREAS, The issues that surround the fellowship issue
will not change in two years; therefore be it

Resolved, That Res. 3-03 be removed from consideration
at this convention; and be it further

Resolved, That Committee 3 be directed by this conven-
tion to come forward with a resolution either favoring: or
opposing fellowship with the ALC.

The delegates, however, declined to consider it. Another
substitute resolution proposed from the floor was de
clared out of order because, in effect, it proposed suspen-
sion of fellowship, an action which had previously been
rejected by the convention. The chairman declared that
if the matter was to be reopened, a delegate voting on the
prevailing side in the previous session in which the
resolution for suspension had been rejected, would have
to move that the motion be reconsidered. Although the
ruling of the chair was challenged, the ruling was
sustained by convention vote. When a delegate voting
on the prevailing side moved that the motion for
suspension previously offered be reconsidered, the dele-
gates declined to do so by a vote of 352 to 632. After the -
time for debate of Res. 3-03 (TB 96) had expired accord-
ing to the standing rules of the convention, the delegates
agreed to cease debate and adopted the resolution. A
division of the house which was called for showed a vote
of 861 for the resolution and 147 opposed. Dr. Schlecht
thanked the delegates for the churchmanship which
had been exhibited during the discussion of the resolu-
tion. By adopting Res. 3-04 (7B 98) the convention called
for a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Book of
Concord and the 450th anniversary of the Augsburg
Confession, inviting partner churches to join in the
celebration and encouraging the congregations of the
Synod to give special attention to the ongoing education
of their members in the content of the confessional
writings. During the discussion of the resolution the
delegates declined an amendment which would have
called on Lutherans other than partner churches to join
in the celebration.

Presentation

Following the adoption of the previous resolution Dr.
Suelflow presented to President Preus a copy of a medal
which was struck at a similar celebration 100 years ago.
The medal is one of the few remaining from that
celebration.