To go with this summer’s LCMS Convention theme, Baptized for This Moment: A Bible Study, is being made available for free through the synod’s website, where you can download a pdf file of the study. The study’s five lessons are: 1. Baptized 2. Repent and Be Baptized 3. Baptized for Witness 4. Baptized for Mercy 5. Baptized for Life Together I’m planning to use this Bible study with my own parish, starting later this month, and in our service on May 26 I’m planning to preach on the passages from Acts 2 that form the basis for the theme and   More…

 St. Louis, July 20-25, 2013 The 2013 Convention Workbook is now out! It was posted online yesterday and will be arriving in the mail soon. Over 450 pages from cover to cover! What’s in there? Lists of delegates, floor committees, synodical officers, etc. Reports from various officers, boards, and commissions. Over 250 overtures, organized into seven categories. CCM opinions, CTCR reports, SMP Task Force report. There’s a lot here to absorb! The art is in knowing what to skim over and what to study more closely. Today I’ll give just a brief overview. In succeeding columns, I may focus on   More…

 St. Louis, July 20-25 Today the nominees were announced for LCMS President, First Vice-President, regional vice-presidents, and regional Board of Director lay members. The nominees are those who received the highest number of nominations from congregations and who then consented to serve if elected. (These nominations are in addition to the previously announced nominees for the various boards, commissions, and other offices.) PRESIDENT (To be elected in June, four weeks before the convention.) Matthew C. Harrison: 1,111 Herbert C. Mueller, Jr.: 140 David P. E. Maier: 126 FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT (Of these 22 names, the President-elect will pick five for the   More…

At the 2010 Convention in Houston, there was a proposed resolution, Res. 8-30 “To Amend Article VI of the Constitution,” which would have changed the language of our Synod’s article on “Conditions of Membership.” In my opinion, those changes would have made the article much weaker. And so, as a delegate, I was totally opposed to that resolution. I was not alone. The resolution itself was what was amended. By the end of the week it became Res. 8-30B “To Study Article VI of Synod’s Constitution.” Instead of amending the Synod’s “Conditions of Membership,” the resolution now called for a   More…

[On Sunday the following overtures were adopted, unanimously, both by my congregation and our circuit forum, to be submitted to the LCMS Convention Workbook. CH] To Upgrade the SMP Program WHEREAS, Holy Scripture sets high standards for the theological aptitude of pastors, saying that they are to be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and “able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9), and that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers” (James 3:1); and WHEREAS, the curriculum and standards for the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program are significantly   More…

[On Sunday the following overture was adopted, unanimously, both by my congregation and our circuit forum, to be submitted to the LCMS Convention Workbook.  CH] To Provide Guidance on Participation in Interfaith and Joint Worship Services WHEREAS, the LORD God commanded his people, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3), and judged them severely when they mixed the one true faith with the worship of the golden calf (Exod. 32); and WHEREAS, the prophet Elijah did not participate in any “interfaith prayer service” on Mount Carmel, but rather mocked and condemned the prophets of Baal (1 Kings   More…

 St. Louis, July 20-25 In early October all LCMS congregations were sent a mailing from the Office of the Secretary containing Official Nominations Ballots and return envelopes for the 2013 Elections. These ballots must be voted on, filled out, returned, and received properly, following particular instructions, by the February 20 deadline. My guess is that most congregations that are going to participate in this process will be doing so, now that Advent and Christmas are over, sometime during the next four or five weeks. Each congregation may nominate one or two ordained ministers for President of the Synod, as well   More…

 St. Louis, July 20-25, 2013 SUBMITTING CONVENTION OVERTURES 1. What is an “overture”? An overture would be comparable to a motion made at a congregational voters’ assembly, except that an overture is submitted to the Synod’s “voters’ assembly” (i.e., the National LCMS Convention), and the overture is submitted months prior to the convention itself (to be held in St. Louis, July 20-25, 2013). The definition used in the LCMS Handbook (Bylaw 3.1.6.2) is this: “Overtures are recommendations in the form of proposed resolutions requesting action on the part of the convention.” Overtures adopted become resolutions directing the Synod’s officers, boards,   More…

St. Louis, July 20-25, 2013 This Monday, October 15, Secretary Hartwig will be testing the e-mail system for the LCMS presidential vote in June. The electors who will cast a vote for Synod President–that is, the delegates who attended their 2012 district conventions–will receive an e-mail, “LCMS PRESIDENTIAL VOTE: List Test.” They will have four days to open that e-mail and check the information in it. Also, be sure to keep Secretary Hartwig’s office updated if there have been or will be any changes in your congregation’s presidential voters (the pastoral and lay delegates who attended the 2012 district convention).   More…

St. Louis, July 20-25, 2013 In a previous post, “Convention 2013: Electing delegates, by October 20,” I outlined the steps for electing delegates to the national convention. Those elections have been happening at the circuit forums, and they will all have been wrapped up by October 20. Another convention procedure that has an October 20 deadline is submitting nominations for various elected positions. I’ll explain that procedure now. The convention will be electing dozens of people to many offices, boards, and commissions. While these positions are not as “high-profile” as Synod President or Vice-Presidents, nevertheless, they are important and influential   More…

It’s that time again, time to prepare for the LCMS national convention. The convention will be held in St. Louis July 20-25, 2013, but there are a number of things that need to take place before then, especially these: electing delegates; nominating for various boards, commissions, etc.; nominating for synod president and vice-presidents; and submitting overtures. (Electing the synod president also will take place, oddly enough, before the convention. That’s a new procedure we’ll explain at another time.)

The twentieth convention of the Indiana District convened in Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 28-29, 2012.  This time around 161 pastoral delegates and 159 lay delegates joined with 45 advisory delegates for a total of 365 total delegates.  And for the most part, nothing earth shattering happened while we were there (with the exception of the terrible storm that shattered trees all across Fort Wayne on the 29th). Rev. President Daniel May was re-elected as district president, which did not really come as a surprise to anyone.  President May has done some good things for the Indiana District and is   More…

[I was curious to see how the last of the 35 district conventions was going, so I went to the CID website and noticed this news, dated today. Besides the election news, you can find resolutions that have been passed as well. CH] Election of CID President The first election of the convention was for District President. The four nominees were Rev. David Bueltmann (incumbent), Rev. Mark Miller, Rev. Dr. Daniel Olson, and Rev. Donald Pritchard. After a third ballot, a majority was attained. The Rev. Mark A. Miller (pictured right) was elected as the 16th President of the Central   More…

On Sunday, June 17, the 95th annual convention of the ELS began in traditional fashion, with an afternoon Synod Sunday service, following the “Bugenhagen” order of service, also known as the Danish-Norwegian rite of 1685. It was chanted in a vibrato tenor, typical of pastors of Scandinavian descent. This was followed by a picnic, forced indoors by threat of rain. The late afternoon was highlighted by musical performances of Norwegian folk songs and folk dancing at a replica pioneer log cabin. The proceedings of the convention, starting Monday morning, have brought us out of our idealized past and into these   More…

The MNS Convention started conducting business today.  The elections went to the Mission Vision MNS candidates, with Rev. Dr. Dean Nadasdy elected District President. The convention also approved a plan to provide $2,000,000 from the sale of the ULC building to go to ULC.  That being said the building still has to come down and the congregation will lose it’s historic, beloved, and excellent location. MNS will still receive the 1.25 million from ULC and 900,000 from the CLC sale. What I also want to say is this.  Pres. Harrison rightly says that the actions of the MNS District unleashed   More…