Delegate Report: 

Southern Illinois District Convention

(The following report is part our ongoing effort to accurately report the proceedings of the District Conventions. This report was filed by The Rev. Bruce Cameron of St. John Lutheran Church in Sparta, Illinois.)

I can summarize the Southern Illinois District Convention, Feb 27-March 1, in one sentence: It was a very fine and uplifting meeting with a hopeful beginning and a terrible concluding act.

 

In January, the SID Pastoral Conference was filled with fruitful discussion. We found many areas of agreement and even disagreed without becoming disagreeable. Heading into the district convention, our floor committees did a good job of de-fanging the most partisan of the proposed overtures: replacing words of accusation and outrage with concern and hope for the outcome of the process -- that kind of thing.

 

A late overture came in wanting to overturn the recent CCM opinion (which says that a synod member (e.g., Dave Benke) who consults with his/her DP or Synod President can not be expelled from the Synod for following that advice) and wanting to have the CCM members elected by the synod in convention; this overture went to the floor committee.

 

The convention started well. Some of my congregation members came to join us for the opening service and to hear Dr. Kieschnick preach; I heard several positive comments. The service and music and brass choir were very good. Not all the pastors present communed, which is a change from the past. Also, there were conversations and laughter that could be heard from the hallway, just outside the meeting room where worship was being held. I don't remember that happening before.

The next morning, during Pres. Kieschnick's report, the same division---between those in the convention hall and those in the hallway outside---continued. There were many empty seats (and a moment of humor when a second ballot for District VP's came up during a break in the report and the delegates outside had to rush in to cast their ballots). To my mind, Dr. Kieschnick presented the state of the Synod and handled the questions well.

The next day of conventioning, from midday Friday to midday Saturday, was very good. We rejoiced in our mission partnership with the Lutheran Church of Southern Africa, celebrated 100 years of Prison and Jail Ministries [the SID, with Federal & State prisons, county jails, etc., has more prison ministry per capita than any other LCMS District], and had the delight of a tour (complete with slides) of the mission journeys of St. Paul, led by Paul Maier.

The good feeling of the overall convention was all but erased by the final hours of business. The floor committee, responding to the late anti-CCM overture, came in with two resolutions: one to change how the CCM is elected, the second to state our opposition to the CCM ruling and calling on the Synod to overturn it. The discussion on the first resolution was brisk, but not overly painful. Right before lunch we voted (voice vote, then standing vote) 63-61 NOT to call for the election of the CCM at Synod Conventions. There was a call to count the votes again, this time by ballot. We had a protracted standing vote again in order to decide (66-62) NOT to have a recount. I go into these details to try to give you a sense of the good humor of the convention disappearing. You call too often for a division of the house and you can feel the house dividing.

We then went on to the resolution on the CCM ruling on expelling a member from the Synod. The SID voted (69-39) to call on the Synod to overturn this opinion. (To some, it seems, it is impossible to hold a person "accountable" for his or her actions, if you're not allowed to kick them out of the Synod.) This was unfortunate, but it'll be resolved next year at the Synod Convention.

The final order of business was a substitute motion presented by the floor committee on theological/synodical stuff. They had originally taken synodical concerns and summarized them in a motion to "acknowledge that there is great sorrow and distress in our synod that must be addressed" and that "our Synod is engaged in a process that seeks to resolve the issues that have led to this sorrow and distress" [and that therefore we don't need a special convention of the Synod this year].

They withdrew that motion and came in with one entitled: "That we as Christians may Walk Together in Peace," a motion of accusations against Presidents Kieschnick and Benke for violation of the First Commandment, worshipping false gods, giving false testimony, participating in syncretism, holding devotions in an ELCA non-orthodox church, etc., etc. The motion calls on the District Pres/VPs/Circuit Counselors to address Dr. Kieschnick and "if there is no resolution of the matter . . . memorialize the Synod in Convention to address these issues."

Now, the final result of this resolution, which passed by about 10 votes (59-49), will ultimately do little damage, since any action of the District will be referred to the processes we have agreed to as a Synod for resolving these kinds of disputes.

The immediate result of the resolution was to remove any good will that had built up during the convention time. There were speeches calling Pres. Kieschnick someone to avoid and shun, a causer of divisions and offences whom the Scriptures tell us to avoid. The convention ended with delegates lining up at the microphone asking to have their negative votes entered into the minutes. At least two lay delegates ended the convention with the statement: "It's the first time in my life that I feel ashamed to be a Lutheran."

 Looking back at the convention, some people have suggested that conventions coming up might well adopt a rule that no new motions may be presented on the last day of the convention, unless they have been given to the delegates in writing before that day. Others have mentioned the Synod bylaws about resolutions that deal with individuals or with cases still under consideration. These things might be good to consider, but what we really need to do as a Synod is to figure out a strategy, placing it before the Lord in prayer, that will get the people out in the hallway and those inside the convention hall back together. The SID convention, sadly, was not a model of that process.