About the Convention of the LCMS in Milwaukee… (E-News – July 14, 2016)
“…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Mt 16”18
* Did you ever sit in meetings from a Saturday evening until Thursday noon? Meetings for 10 hours per day, having only a break at noon… plus evening activities for another 2 hours… Wow! Overtures, motions, resolutions, discussions, votes, studies… walking a mile or two to get lunch/dinner… Once in a while I had to check if my brain was turning into mush, especially when some of the delegates overused the microphone and made remarks & said things where the only reaction could only be a “Huh… What did he just say?” or “Duh!” And, if some people were not so concerned about the commas and insignificant details, we could be done with the meetings much earlier.
* All this happened over the last days at the 66th Convention of the LCMS in Milwaukee. 2000 people gathered to discuss & study how the future of our Lutheran Church should look like. But there was also worship… and what a wonderful opening worship we had on Saturday evening… Celebrating the Love of God with 2500 believers…
* Then there was a little bit of time for fellowship… It was joyful for me to see and speak with college friends I had not seen since 1981 (Friends from Concordia University – St. Paul, MN) or 1983 (Friends from Concordia University – Seward, NE). I also had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with some pastors from Brazil.
* Oh, and before I forget, there where Lutherans from all over the world… from South Africa, India, Portugal, Norway, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia… and others I now cannot remember. By the way, did you know that our sister/partner Lutheran Church of Ethiopia (Mekane Jesu) now has more than 8 million members, and is gaining 500.000 new members every year? They want to ordain 12.000 pastors over the next years… All as they face tremendous violence from radicals and terrorists? It is the largest Lutheran church partnering with the LCMS.
* Yeah, it was a loooong convention, but I do have to say that as we are on the road together (that is what the word Synod means) I am very happy that our Church stands firmly on the Rock Jesus Christ. By the way, the theme of the convention was “Upon this Rock.” It was a clear statement that we are firmly anchored on the truth of Jesus Christ and nothing else – not the councils of the past, on the present shifting ideologies or on whatever will show up in the future.
“…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Mt 16”18
* Did you ever sit in meetings from a Saturday evening until Thursday noon? Meetings for 10 hours per day, having only a break at noon… plus evening activities for another 2 hours… Wow! Overtures, motions, resolutions, discussions, votes, studies… walking a mile or two to get lunch/dinner… Once in a while I had to check if my brain was turning into mush, especially when some of the delegates overused the microphone and made remarks & said things where the only reaction could only be a “Huh… What did he just say?” or “Duh!” And, if some people were not so concerned about the commas and insignificant details, we could be done with the meetings much earlier.
* All this happened over the last days at the 66th Convention of the LCMS in Milwaukee. 2000 people gathered to discuss & study how the future of our Lutheran Church should look like. But there was also worship… and what a wonderful opening worship we had on Saturday evening… Celebrating the Love of God with 2500 believers…
* Then there was a little bit of time for fellowship… It was joyful for me to see and speak with college friends I had not seen since 1981 (Friends from Concordia University – St. Paul, MN) or 1983 (Friends from Concordia University – Seward, NE). I also had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with some pastors from Brazil.
* Oh, and before I forget, there where Lutherans from all over the world… from South Africa, India, Portugal, Norway, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia… and others I now cannot remember. By the way, did you know that our sister/partner Lutheran Church of Ethiopia (Mekane Jesu) now has more than 8 million members, and is gaining 500.000 new members every year? They want to ordain 12.000 pastors over the next years… All as they face tremendous violence from radicals and terrorists? It is the largest Lutheran church partnering with the LCMS.
* Yeah, it was a loooong convention, but I do have to say that as we are on the road together (that is what the word Synod means) I am very happy that our Church stands firmly on the Rock Jesus Christ. By the way, the theme of the convention was “Upon this Rock.” It was a clear statement that we are firmly anchored on the truth of Jesus Christ and nothing else – not the councils of the past, on the present shifting ideologies or on whatever will show up in the future.