Synod Convention Exercised Good Churchmanship

 

All in all, the LCMS’s 62^nd Regular Convention acted with responsibility and good churchmanship.  It did not fail to face the significant responsibilities that lay before it. It focused on being about the business that our forebears chartered for us. It centered itself on the Bible. It honored the traditions that are so precious among us. It lifted up the men and women for this triennium who will lead us forward with energy and with Gospel-centered vision.

Certainties

There are certainties at a synodical Convention.  Consider:

• God is always at work through the delegates, putting in positions of leadership those he has chosen.

• Men and women chosen by God through their Circuits prepared themselves for their very important work as delegates, and they tended to the business for which they had been selected.

• Men and women chosen as delegates were surrounded in prayer by their congregations and their Circuits, that God would bless them and their families during Convention time.

• District Presidents took the assignment to chair and participate in floor committees very seriously, approaching their tasks with prayer.

• Executive leaders, presidents of institutions and agencies, and other leaders prepared their reports so the church knew what had been done, who had participated and their plans for the future.

• The Bible studies were insightful, forcefully presented and of enduring quality for the church.

• The devotions led by the presidents of our synodical universities and supported by musicians and choirs from those schools, consistently connected people to Jesus and to the mission to which Jesus calls the church.

Special This Time

What was special, somewhat unusual and noteworthy in this convention included:

• A more determined effort to be in mission, bringing the Gospel to the unknowing and the uncommitted, as evidence in the ABLAZE! resolutions.

• A great many of the resolutions had a positive, forward thinking, gospel-centered tone, rather than one that was defensive, prohibitive, negative and suspicious.

• Those who represented significant interests, for the most part, prepared their materials carefully, presented them attractively, and made their points forcefully.

• There seemed to be more prayer surrounding the Convention, more evidence of prayer in the Convention, more printed prayers in the unofficial material distributed.

• There seemed to be less character assassination than in recent past Conventions, a recognition that while we might disagree with some, we did not question their commitment to the Christ or their love for the Synod.

• The reception and attention given to the greeting from the Presiding Bishop of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was respectful, and the determination to continue conversation with the ELCA forceful and appropriate.

• The Convention was determined to put the event in Yankee Stadium behind it, affirming those who acted with compassion and pastoral care, and calling for pastors and congregations to make more focused responses to significant local and national events.

• The Convention, while sensitive to the responsibilities of the Board of Directors, carefully through Floor Committee #7 determined that the BOD had done more than required by our synodical By-laws and therefore set their conclusions aside.

God grant that those who evidenced such churchmanship in the Convention be the model for the church.  Our mission is to connect people with Jesus, and the mission is urgent!                                                                                   VDG