tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73566292890756958392024-03-13T15:26:26.727-05:00Synodical Conference BreakupFocusing on the history of the Lutheran church from the early 1950s to the early 1960s.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-66866946995416564972019-02-06T20:19:00.001-06:002021-06-07T23:10:39.340-05:001958 Martin Galstad response to Protest CommitteeOn November 10, 1958, Pastor Martin Galstad responded to the Protest Committee's letter from June 27, 1958.
His response is here.
Quotes of Note:"Why discredit the clarity of the Saginaw resolutions? I have never felt the need of asking for further clarity as to what those resolutions say. The interpretation of this Report tells me the direct opposite of what the words clearly say. An Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-73548416184682911272017-06-19T22:34:00.003-05:002021-06-07T23:10:16.956-05:001959 Important Events Surrounding A Call for DecisionThe outline below was taken from P.F. Nolting's letter to WELS President O.J. Naumann. In this letter, Nolting goes into great detail regarding the events surrounding the A Call for Decision memorial at the 1959 WELS convention in Saginaw, MI.
February 8, 1959
A Call for Decision was sent to the proper officials with 30 signers.
It was acknowledged as recieved.
May 1959 - General Synodic Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-23304717486521693312017-06-19T21:22:00.001-05:002019-02-06T20:14:59.222-06:001959 E. Schaller resignationOn October 23, 1959, Pastor E. Schaller wrote to Minnesota District President Lenz and resigned his membership from the WELS.
E. Schaller resignation, October 23, 1959
Quotes of note:
"Confronted with these facts, I see no course by which I can escape the judgment of being 'partaker of other men's sins', other than to suspend fellowship relations with the Synod that has been my life-time Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-36087014008201596672017-06-19T21:17:00.003-05:002017-06-19T21:17:46.429-05:001959 - E. Schaller to District President LenzThis letter is in reply to the WELS Minnesota District President Lenz' general letter to his district's membership. In that letter, President Lenz wrote:
"Should anyone not agree with the resolutions of Synod and, as a result, feel compelled to sever his bonds of fellowship, we especially plead that he first make his position clear to the District President and consult with him."
E. Schaller Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-37094217486639776982017-06-19T20:57:00.001-05:002021-06-07T23:06:53.087-05:001959 - Letter from P.F. Nolting to Oscar J. NaumannThis letter was written by Pastor P.F. Nolting in October of 1959, two months after the WELS convention in Saginaw, MI. This letter is also a reply to WELS President Naumann's general letter to the synod.
It does paint a very interesting picture of the events during the 1959 WELS convention from the point of view of the signers of the "A Call for Decision" memorial.
P.F. Nolting letter to O.J. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-2639461438229429812008-07-29T15:17:00.002-05:002008-07-29T15:32:07.490-05:001961 - Concerning Church Fellowship (CLC document)In 1961, the men who formed the newly created Church of the Lutheran Confession wrote a public statement to clearly articulate their views on church fellowship and practice in thesis and antithesis form.Concerning Church Fellowship: A Statement of PrincipleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-7111525110091179982008-07-19T22:36:00.003-05:002021-06-07T23:04:12.041-05:00Essay - The ELS Background of the CLCNow don't go thinking that I've forgotten about the ELS as a part of the Synodical Conference. I haven't. It's just that I hardly have any documents from that synod at all so if you have some you'd like to share I'd be happy to post them.I don't know who wrote the following essay but it was most likely written by a CLC man some time after 1968.The ELS Background of the CLCQuotes of note:"While Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-846282485281454342008-07-19T20:18:00.002-05:002021-06-07T23:03:17.464-05:001961 Committee No. 2 Report - WELSFinally, enough WELS members were convinced that discussions with the LC-MS were at in impasse and they were able to terminate fellowship because a majority voted for it.Committee No. 2 Report, 1961 WELS Proceedings, p. 197-199Quotes of note:"WHEREAS, Our admonitions have largely gone unheeded, and the issues have remained unsolved...""WHEREAS, The Commission... reports that differences... have Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-14611395583918693392008-07-19T14:31:00.002-05:002021-06-07T23:02:02.395-05:001960 "The Deepening Wedge of Error" - EssayThe Deepening Wedge of Error, Paul F. Nolting, 1960In 1960, Pastor Paul F. Nolting writes about the errors creeping into the Wisconsin Synod. His essay focuses on four areas:1. The Doctrine of Fellowship"If the Synod ever [breaks with the LC-MS], it will be making a long overdue right decision for the wrong reason."2. The Doctrine of the Call"One pastor after another has had his divine call Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-83198633568255980372008-07-18T16:04:00.002-05:002021-06-07T22:59:58.066-05:001959 Report of Floor Committee No. 23 Re: A Call for DecisionFloor Committee No. 23 was set up in order to deal with the memorial called A Call for Decision. Here is their report:Floor Committee No. 23, 1959 WELS Proceedings, p. 211-212Quotes of note:
Not really any quotes except that this committee (and the Synod) disavowed any serious charges made by the memorial A Call for Decision.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-28316130412672943732008-07-18T15:55:00.004-05:002021-06-07T22:58:36.006-05:001959 "A Call for Decision" RevisitedThe 1959 memorial to the WELS convention entitled "A Call for Decision" was circulated to other interested parties to see if they would like to sign it as well.Here it is again, with all 30 signers:
A Call for Decision, 1959 WELS Proceedings, p. 209-211Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-66564454638319869102008-07-18T15:50:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:58:04.869-05:001959 Committee No. 2What follows is the WELS Floor Committee No. 2 (Church Union) report to the 1959 Convention.Report of Floor Committee No. 2 (Church Union), 1959 Proceedings, p. 194-197Quote of Note:"That we instruct our Church Union Committee to continue its efforts... until agreement on doctrine and practice can be reached, or until an impasses reached..."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-72958792847356341122008-07-18T13:10:00.005-05:002021-06-07T22:57:30.717-05:001959 Memorial to the WELS ConventionHere is another memorial urging the WELS to sever fellowship with the LC-MS on the basis of Romans 16:17,18. The signers of this memorial also mention their agreement with a memorial called A Call for Decision.1959, Memorial, Wisconsin Synod Proceedings, p. 181-182Quote of note:"Our failure to [sever fellowship with the LC-MS] has had this twofold effect: <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-12513694880222594942008-07-18T12:23:00.002-05:002021-06-07T22:56:44.934-05:001959 A Report of the Protest CommitteeThe WELS Protest Committee makes its report to the 1959 Convention.1959, A Report of the Protest Committee, WELS Convention Proceedings, p. 177-179Quote of note:"Your committee does not find itself in a position at this time to present a solution to the problem which confronts the Synod.... That is due in part to the fact that the authors of very nearly all the protests consider only one Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-72212756748384511802008-07-17T16:10:00.004-05:002021-06-07T22:56:06.294-05:001959 Rollin A. Reim response to Carl LawrenzRollin A. Reim and the men who wrote A Call for Decision respond to Carl Lawrenz's personal letter to them.April 13, 1959, Reim response to LawrenzQuote of note:"It is the dark genius of unionism that it loves fraternal admonition within the framework of tolerance during continued and unabated divergence in doctrine and practice."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-81484546556766592512008-07-17T15:21:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:55:17.729-05:001959 Carl Lawrenz's letter to Rollin ReimHere Carl Lawrenz (author of A Report To The Protest Committee) writes a personal letter to Rollin A. Reim regarding a memorial called A Call for Decision to the 1959 WELS convention.A Call for Decision takes great issue with Lawrenz's Report. Lawrenz makes the argument that they both "seek to say identical things though we employ different terminiology."March 17, 1959, Lawrenz's letter to Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-5116449707368288732008-07-16T15:19:00.005-05:002021-06-07T22:53:54.803-05:001959 "A Call for Decision" MemorialThis memorial was written in February of 1959 by six protesting pastors in a response to the WELS Protest Committee's letter and especially to Carl Lawrenz's A Report to the Protest Committee.After sending this to WELS President O. J. Naumann and the synod secretary, the signers let them know that they will be circulating this memorial to other interested parties and see if they will want to signUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-2191012762389329012008-07-16T11:45:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:52:32.014-05:001959 WELS Board for Information and Stewardship NewsletterThe WELS Church Union Committee wanted the following statement to be released in its January, 1959 newsletter.January 14, 1959 Board for Information and Stewardship NewsletterQuote of note:"Your Committee wants to reemphasize what it recently stated in its Report to the Protest Committee that the Saginaw resolutions do contain certain unclarities which have made possible a number of conflicting Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-43177488992112931362008-07-15T22:06:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:51:46.429-05:001955 Report of the President (WELS, Oscar J. Naumann)Every convention begins with a report from the synod's president. Sort of a "State of the Union Address" as it were?
Oscar J. Naumann was the newly elected Wisconsin Synod president in 1955 and here is the part of his report dealing with the topic of the Missouri Synod.1955 Report of the President, Oscar J. NaumannQuotes of note:"I believe it can truthfully be said that [the WELS and LC-MS] Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-66351079007141089642008-07-15T21:10:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:50:46.256-05:001957 A Report from the Protest CommitteeThe WELS Protest Committee was "called into existence through [an] election by the General Synodical Committee in October, 1956, pursuant to a resolution of Joint Synod in August of 1956."Here is their first report to the convention in 1957.1957 A Report from the Protest Committee (WELS proceedings, p. 146-148)Quotes of note:"... nor let it be forgotten that in resolutions of earlier conventions Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-49413300833623287892008-07-15T16:25:00.003-05:002009-09-24T22:50:52.210-05:001957 Winfred Schaller Jr. ResignationSince 1953, Professor Winfred Schaller, Jr. had been in a protesting fellowship with the WELS. On the resulting decision of the 1957 Convention, he withdrew from fellowship on the basis of Romans 16:17,18.1957 Winfred Schaller, Jr. ResignationQuote of note:"Since Romans 16:17,18 is a clear passage of Scripture and a sedis doctrinae, the confession of the Wisconsin Synod is wrong, and I cannot Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-69743480776943234532008-07-15T16:13:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:49:35.620-05:001957 Paul Albrecht Statement at the end of ConventionHere is another pastor who served on the WELS Union Committee disagreeing with the Synod's rejection of Committee No. 2's report.1957 Paul Albrecht Statement at the end of Convention.Quotes of note:"I shall never be through with the Wisconsin Synod as little as I can ever be through with any member of my own family. BUT I cannot follow the course which the Synod has chosen...""While I do not Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-28235473979816661582008-07-14T23:44:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:48:43.743-05:001958 Another Response to the Protest Committee (Schaller/Lau)November 11, 1958, A Response To The Protest Committee, by Jonathan P. Schaller and John H. LauHere is another response to the Protest Committee's Report and Carl Lawrenz's Report to the Protest Committee.The two pastors', Jonathan P. Schaller and John H. Lau, chief concern is that the 'official interpretation' is NOT the one that Carl Lawrenz put forth and subsequently the Protest CommitteeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-22243400594283578542008-07-14T21:00:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:46:53.333-05:001958 An Open Letter to the Protest Committee (E. Reim)October 29, 1958, An Open Letter to the Protest Committee, by Edmund ReimAs the WELS Protest Committee in their Letter to the Protesting Brethren shared the view of Carl Lawrenz who said that the Saginaw (1955), Watertown (1956), and New Ulm (1957) judgments of Romans 16:17-18 on the LC-MS were all held in abeyance, there were some of the protesting brethren who did not agree.Professor Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7356629289075695839.post-26047004827029909932008-07-14T20:23:00.003-05:002021-06-07T22:43:36.603-05:001958 A Letter to the Protesting Brethren (WELS Protest Committee)June 27, 1958, A Letter to the Protesting Brethren, by the WELS Protest Committee, Chairman Pastor L. H. KoenigerProfessor Carl Lawrenz had written a Report to the Protest Committee summarizing the thoughts of the Standing Committee on Matters of Church Union on the whole matter of those who were protesting the WELS.
The Protest Committee had also received a "wide variety of communications"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com