“Sitting or Serving?” (Luke 10:38-42) The committee brings before the assembly Resolution 10-01, “To Affirm the One Thing Needful”: WHEREAS, The Gospel of Luke in Bylaw 10.38 – 10.42 describes the activities of Mary and Martha; and WHEREAS, In that section we are told that, of their two activities, one thing is necessary or needful; therefore be it RESOLVED, That the Synod in convention select and affirm the one thing needful. Delegates, the resolution is before you. If you wish to vote for “Sitting at the Lord’s feet,” you will press “1.” If you wish to vote for “Much serving,”   More…

In this entry, we complete our tour of the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. We now look at the remaining resolutions (8-27 through 8-34) proposed by Floor Committee 8, Synod Structure and Governance, and we wrap it all up with a Conclusion: 8-27: To Add A New Article XIV This new amendment on the relation of Bylaws and Constitution seems unnecessary. And is there anything lurking in the phrase “binding regulations”? I don’t know. MAYBE. 8-28: To Clarify   More…

We’re nearing the end of our look at the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. (Note that in my previous entry, I have just now changed my comments on 8-06.) We continue with the 34 resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 8, Synod Structure and Governance, this time covering 8-13 through 8-26: 8-13: To Elect the First Vice-President Should the synod president select the five nominees for first vice-president? This moves power away from the Synod in convention and into   More…

We continue with the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. After our previous Introduction and Overview, we now begin a quick look at the actual resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 8, Synod Structure and Governance. We start with the first 12 of their 34 proposed resolutions: 8. SYNOD STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE 8-01: To Amend Article V of the Constitution Compared to bylaw changes, constitutional amendments have a higher bar to hurdle: two-thirds approval at the convention, and then two-thirds   More…

We have been looking at the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. Finally, we come to the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 8, Synod Structure and Governance. Our first column on this committee will be an . . . Introduction and Overview Floor Committee 8, Synod Structure and Governance, is responsible for about one-third of all the proposed resolutions, 34 out of 106. This floor committee is bringing forward virtually all of the recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Task   More…

We continue our look at the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. Here are the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 7, on Ecclesial Matters: 7. ECCLESIAL MATTERS 7-01: To Encourage Task Force on Synodical Harmony I cannot support this resolution, because the task force fails to acknowledge the main problem behind a lack of synodical harmony, and that is that too many pastors, congregations, and synodical officials have strayed from faithful Lutheran practice. That is why there is a   More…

We are looking at the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” To see the previous articles in this series, go to Henrickson’s blog at steadfastlutherans.org. These are the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 6, Human Care: 6. HUMAN CARE 6-01: To Commend LCMS Disaster Relief Work, Particularly in Haiti Yes. Matt Harrison’s crew at WRHC has done a good job. 6-02: To Be a Light for Life Yes. This is a sanctity-of-life resolution. 6-03: To Amend Bylaws to Allow the Extension of Calls to Institutional Chaplains and Counselors This would make ordained or   More…

We continue with the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” These are the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 5, Seminary and University Education: 5. SEMINARY AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION 5-01: To Recruit and Retain Full-Time Church Workers Yes. Sounds good. 5-02: To Celebrate and Support “For the Sake of the Church” An endowment to assist Lutheran students at our Concordias. Fine. 5-03: To Address Lay Deacons Here’s the problem: It doesn’t “sunset” some districts’ “licensed lay deacon” programs, which should have been done when we adopted the SMP program. The “lay deacon” programs for   More…

We’re looking at the 106 proposed resolutions from the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” Here are the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 4, Administration and Finance: 4. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE 4-01: To Lead Districts and Synod in a Stewardship Renaissance I don’t see any big problems with this resolution, as written. It will depend on how it is done, of course. 4-02: To Address Corporate Synod’s Financial Crisis No, I do not want to revisit the recommendations of the BRTF for Funding the Mission. There were too many problems with them (e.g., membership fees, more votes for   More…

We’re moving through the eight floor committees with their 106 proposed resolutions in “Today’s Business.” Here are the resolutions being proposed by Floor Committee 3, Theology and Church Relations: 3. THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 3-01: To Commend ILC and Task Force Statements as Responses to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly Actions Responds to the ELCA actions condoning homosexuality. Upholds our biblical position that homosexuality is sinful. Looks OK to vote for. 3-02: To Support Confessional Lutheranism at Home and Abroad This resolution deals with the “fallout” from the ELCA decisions, by encouraging those who take a biblical stand on the   More…

In this series of articles, I am looking at the 106 proposed resolutions put forward by the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” This column considers the resolutions proposed by Floor Committee 2, on District and Congregational Services: 2. DISTRICT AND CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES 2-01: To Continue to Support Children’s Ministry, Family Ministry, School Ministry, Singles Ministry, Stewardship Ministry, and Youth Ministry This is almost literally a “Mom and Apple Pie” resolution! Who could be against it? Should pass in 30 seconds or less. 2-02: To Assist Congregations and Support Workers in Planning and Implementing “Reduction in Force” Policies   More…

Believe it or not, there will be more business to conduct in Houston than electing a new president and dealing with restructuring proposals. Other elections and other resolutions are on the agenda, as well. So in this series of articles, I plan to look at the 106 proposed resolutions put forward by the eight floor committees, as found in “Today’s Business.” Now I am just one delegate among 1200, and this will be just one man’s take on these many resolutions. It will not necessarily represent how I will finally vote on these things, since I may be missing something   More…

In reading the answers of the candidates for synod president, a number of people have noted how the leading candidate, Rev. Matt Harrison, makes frequent and able use of the Bible, while Rev. Jerry Kieschnick does not. This is not to say that Rev. Kieschnick does not believe the Bible is the Word of God; I’m sure he does. But, based on nine years of observation, I don’t think he is as capable of using the Scriptures–putting them into use, freely, fittingly, and on his feet–as is Rev. Harrison. Instead, for these past nine years under President Kieschnick’s leadership, we   More…

This is the last in a series of excerpts from the writings of the first five presidents of the Missouri Synod–Walther, Wyneken, Schwan, Pieper, and Pfotenhauer–all included in a very interesting book compiled and largely translated by Pastor Matthew Harrison, “At Home in the House of My Fathers” (available through logia.org). Friends, I highly recommend this book! In reading through it, I felt like I got to know these men, and I found their pastoral wisdom and insights to be very helpful–and very timely, applicable to the situation in our synod today! These are the five entries in this series:   More…

This is the fourth in a series of excerpts from writings of the first five presidents of our synod–Walther, Wyneken, Schwan, Pieper, and Pfotenhauer–all included in a book by Pastor Matt Harrison, “At Home in the House of My Fathers” (available through logia.org). Today’s selection comes from Franz Pieper, the fourth president of the Missouri Synod, seminary professor and president, and arguably the most influential dogmatician in our synod’s history. Incidentally, yesterday, June 3, was the 79th anniversary of Pieper’s death in 1931. In his introduction to his translation of this essay, Harrison comments on how timely Pieper’s vision of   More…