LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1979, Page 41

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PROARIES ta

MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION 41

that it would no longer be done unless requested by the
convention.

Administration

Since First Lutheran Church of the Trinity, Chicago,
Ill., has resigned from membership in The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, the delegates declined to take
action on the request for a transfer to the English
District by this congregation (Res. 4-13A, TB 252).

Bible Study

Dr. Hoffmann again led the delegates in a study ofa
section of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. This
included group discussion based on a study outline
prepared by him.

Recognition

President Preus introduced Mr. Marshall Nelson,
Executive Secretary of the Commission for Services to
the Mentally Retarded, for the purpose of presenting the
mental retardation award. Mr. Nelson introduced Mrs.
Wilda Peters of Baltimore, who was instrumental in
starting work among the retarded in her local Sunday
school. Prior to the presentation Mr. Nelson also re-
ferred to several other pioneers in this work and asked
the delegates to report the names of similar people to
him. A plaque was then presented to Mrs. Peters
recognizing her work in the area of mental retardation.
In her remarks she pointed out that the honor belonged
to God, not to her. As the delegates reached out their
hands to her, she now asked them to reach out their
hands to the mentally retarded.

Convention Logo

In response to several requests from the floor, Secre-
tary Mueller was asked by President Preus to explain
the convention logo. In his explanation he called atten-
tion to the two doors which are portrayed and pointed
out that when doors confront us we are sometimes
fearful of the darkness which may lie behind them.
However, when God opens doors, there is always sun-
shine behind them, because Jesus is the Light of the
world. This fact is symbolized by the sun in the logo. The
color blue is used for the doors and the lettering because
blue is the color of faithfulness. There is also a feeling of
forcefulness in the thrusting open of the doors. The
letters stating the theme are in italics, indicating move-
ment. When God opens doors, that is only the beginning
of a movement, and therefore the dots following the
theme indicate that we must finish the sentence.

Parish Services

Delegates resumed the discussion of Res. 7-05 (TB
138), on which action had not been completed in a
previous session. In originally presenting the resolution
the committee had substituted the words “President in
consultation with the Vice-Presidents” for the words
“Board of Directors” in line 10 (TB 139). The delegates
declined to consider a substitute resolution which asked,
“That we encourage our brothers and sisters in the other
major Lutheran churches along with ourselves to make

the best translation of Luther’s Small Catechism avail-
able at this time.’ They also asked that the proper
boards and commissions of the Synod be instructed to
make means available to prepare this translation and
that it be presented to the Synod at large for review and
then committed to the Synod in convention. After
further discussion the delegates adopted Res. 7-05 (TB
138—139) as amended by the committee and deferred
participation in a pan-Lutheran catechism, as well as
provision for the approval of other projects of the
Coordinating Committee for Cooperative Projects in
Congregational Life. Before adopting Res. 7-10 (TB
141), calling for observance of the 110 years of Concor-
dia Publishing House’s service to the congregations of
the Synod, the delegates adopted several amendments.
The first, added as a fourth resolved with the necessary
editorial changes, stated, Resolved, That Concordia
Publishing House be encouraged to continue its move-
ment toward multicultural emphases.” The second
amendment placed the words “all parishes be encour-
aged to offer” between the words “that” and “litanies”
on line 28 (TB 141). The resolution was then adopted as
amended.

Presentation

Mr. Harry Bernthal, book sales manager at CPH,
introduced Mr. Max Middendorf, who had purchased
the 31-millionth copy of Arch books from Concordia
Publishing House. In recognition of this, Mr. Midden-
dorf was given a complete set of Arch books, and an
Arch book was presented to everyone in the convention
hall.

Parish Services

By adopting Res. 7-06 (TB 139) the convention
agreed that provision should be made for continuing
education for older persons. They asked the Board of
Parish Education to design short-term Sunday school/
Bible class and other types of courses suitable to them,
encouraged congregations to integrate the aging into
the regular adult Sunday school/Bible classes of the
congregations, and asked the Board for Higher Educa-
tion and Board of Parish Education to explore the use of
Lutheran high schools and synodical colleges and
seminaries for continuing education for older persons.
After changing the number “30” to “36” in line 69 (TB
139), the Floor Committee on Parish Services introduced
Res. 7-07, which commended and encouraged work
among the mentally retarded. The delegates adopted
this resolution, which also encouraged congregations to
sensitize their members and adults by offering religious
programs for the mentally retarded, as well as to use the
printed order of service available in bulk quantities
from Bethesda Lutheran Home in order to offer thanks
and prayers of interecession at a special service mark-
ing the 75th anniversary of the Synod’s many-phased
ministries to the mentally retarded people and their
families. The congregations in the western part of the
country were encouraged to use the materials prepared
by Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of the West to
celebrate the 25th anniversary of that residential faci-