Monday, July 19, 2010

Eleven Final Thoughts on the LCMS Convention in Houston

1) What is the difference between Synod politics and secular politics? One gives the impression of piety, the other doesn’t.

2) Regarding the events that occurred during the convention, there were less political hijinks that occurred on the floor than there were at the Northwest District convention. Maybe that’s because most of the hijinks this time occurred before the convention started.

3) Working to elect a Synod president does not necessarily mean you “trust in princes.” My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

4) Floor Committee 8 sold us a car with shiny chrome wheels and Armor All on the tires, without ever once allowing us to look under the hood.

5) The people who wanted to build a new synodical vehicle didn’t mean to hand the keys to that guy.

6) It was difficult to watch the convention via the live feed and read people’s Tweets knowing that a lot of my friends were in Houston and I wasn’t.

7) If Issues, Etc. hadn’t been canceled, things may have turned out differently. Two years of steam building up in the confessional pressure cooker has to vent somewhere.

8) Calling the question before debate has begun on controversial resolutions breaks the Tenth Commandment.

9) It would be nice to see some of the overtures of Omnibus Resolution A, which included such things as “End Joint Campus Ministry with ELCA” and “Ask CTCR and Seminaries to Evaluate Transforming Churches Network,” come to fruition.

10) It isn’t totally surprising to discover people who are critical of President-Elect Harrison’s acceptance speech, although it’s hugely uncharitable, but it’s more than a little disconcerting when some of those people are people who favored his election.

11) Call me naïve, but I look forward to a time when the Lord will grant the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod a Sabbath rest and a unity around the clear and compelling Word of God and nothing else.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Scott,

Could you elaborate on #10 further? thx. : )

William Weedon said...

Well stated, as usual, my friend! I too hope that #11 is right on the money. May God grant it!

Scott Diekmann said...

David, One group says that President-Elect Harrison isn't missional enough, another, that he's offering forgiveness without repentance. I'd say give him a chance rather than complaining and wringing hands before he's even in office.

Kari said...

Scott,
I missed you being at the convention with us. But I also met new friends and met familiar names/faces from the WT and from listening to Issues Etc. I sat outside and people watched a lot. For names and faces :-)The first two days were mind numbing sad, but then the next several were awesome! Praise be to God! We'll see what happens with all the structure changes. We have to stay on our toes, and keep informing people. More lay people still need to be aware of things happening in the LCMS.

Scott Diekmann said...

I was a little sad about those first two days too Kari, but that turned around somewhat since so many confessional people were elected. I second your last thought, we still need to stand watch.