1958 Martin Galstad response to Protest Committee

On 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 interpretation that denies the clear language of the passage it is illuminating is repugnant. We deny this very thing to Rome. The preamble is not figurative language. Semantics has a work to do, but it must obey the Aristotelian law that 'A' and 'not-A' cannot both be said of the same thing at the same time and in the same connection."

"The premise that 'termination of church fellowship is called for when you have reached the conclusion that admonition is of no further avail and that the erring brother or church body demands recognition for their error' imports factors into Rom. 16:17f. which are not there."

"This tardy interpretation which says that 'A' is 'not-A' is, as I have said, repugnant on the face of it."

1959 Important Events Surrounding A Call for Decision

The 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 Committee meetings
No one bothered to inquire about the memorial or point out any error in it.

Conference of Presidents were not going to print the memorial in the book of reports available for the members of the GSC. This was averted by President Siegler.

August 1959 - Saginaw Convention

• Wednesday, August 5 - A meeting was arranged between the signers and the Standing Union Committee with the Floor Committee sitting in.
• Purpose seemed to be to convince the signers of A Call for Decision that there was no difference between our proposition and the "Lawrenz" proposition, hoping they would withdraw their memorial.
• Result was to refer the memorial to the Floor Committee on Church Union.
• Thursday, August 6
• 1:00 pm - Signers met with Floor Committee on Church Union.
• Signers were lectured by Chairman Nitz on the propriety of our obtaining additional signatures to the memorial.
• Atmosphere was that the signers were being politely listened to but that their argumentation was not being heard or perceived.
• They were unable to get the Floor Committee to understand the point of difference between the "Lawrenz" proposition and their position.
• 2:15 pm
• Signers were dismissed.
• Committee resolved to recommend to the President that a special committee be appointed to consider the memorial.
• Friday, August 7 - President Naumann appointed the Protest Committee to appoint a committee of five to sit in on our memorial.
• The Protest Committee was the very group that was most directly involved in this whole matter to begin with.
• They would be the people that chose the committee to sit in judgment of A Call for Decision.
• Saturday, August 8 - Names of Committee #23 were announced.
• Monday, August 10 - Committee #23 started their work.
• 10:30 am
• Chairman Franzmann said to the signers that his committee was not interested in the procedure used in distributing the memorial nor in the language used in it.
• The signers were able to get the committee to see that there was a difference between their principle for terminating fellowship and the principle that the Synod was following in line with "The Report to the Protest Committee."
• Tuesday, August 11
• Evening
• Report of Committee #23 was brought up for discussion for one hour. No action was taken.
• President Naumann used his position in the chair to reject the proposal of Pastor Buenger that a temporary moratorium be declared in regard to the discussions with Missouri and that the same time and energy be used to heal the breech in our own midst.
• Wednesday, August 12
• Morning
• Committee #23 came to the floor again.
• President Naumann asked Second Vice President Krause to take the chair.
• Professor Lawrenz was given 25-30 minutes to refute A Call for Decision.
• First Vice President Habeck came in with a lengthy prepared written substitute motion. It was made and seconded. A motion for referral followed and debate was cut off.
• The signers were not given an opportunity to rebutt Prof. Lawrenz.
• Evening
• Committee #23 came back to the floor with a completely changed report.
• They abandoned their own report in favor of the substitute offered by President Habeck.
• This second report did not refer to the statement of fact that there is a difference in principles between the Synod position and the signers position in the matter of terminating fellowship.
• The committee asked the convention to disavow our "charges" on both counts with no attempt to prove from Scripture or history that they were wrong. The report finally called for the case to be studied.

1959 E. Schaller resignation

On 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 association. It would be unwarranted on my part to repeat, as a member of Synod, the admonition and exhortation which the Synod has so roundly condemned."

1959 - E. Schaller to District President Lenz

This 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 replied, "... It is far from my desire or purpose to leave the fellowship of the Synod. The Synod, on the other hand, has withdrawn from me by open and determined adherence that which I recognize as a false principle of termination of church fellowship and by persisting in the exercise of fellowship relations with a church body that continues despite admonition to cause divisions and offenses in the Church."

"When the original report of Floor Committee No. 23 was set aside by as coarse, as brutal a parliamentary maneuver as I have ever witnessed on a convention floor, when all debate on the true issue was thus effectively cut off, when the Floor committee was somehow induced to defer to the opinions, and, I might add, to the prejudices of the Standing Committee on Church Union, thus violating without warning the undertaking which the Floor Committee had given to the signers of the memorial under consideration, I heard and saw no sign to indicate that my District President spoke in my defense or protested the violence done to the earnest pursuit of the Truth."

E. Schaller to District President Lenz, September 7, 1959

1959 - Letter from P.F. Nolting to Oscar J. Naumann

This 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. Naumann, October 17, 1959

Quotes of note:

"Pastor R. Reim reminded our Delegate Conference last June that our testimony over against the Synod was contained in our memorial[A Call for Decision], but not a whisper of either reproach or commendation was forthcoming. But now there is an uproar in our area and elsewhere because of our memorial. If we erred in doctrine or manner of expression, certainly it should have been called to our attention long before Saginaw."

"A pastor from Dakota put it quite well when he said, 'The Synod seems to have more concern for its cousins than for its own brethren.'"

"Despite all that has happened and despite the fact also that I sometimes express myself forcefully, and at times I freely confess unwisely, I assure you that I bear neither you, President Naumann, or anyone else involved ill will. Nor do I harbor any bitterness against you or anyone in my heart. The matter is much too serious for such pettiness. What is involved is the loss of the Truth that has now made our beloved Synod a heterodox Lutheran Church. What saddens me even more than the Saginaw Convention is the pitiable manhandling of the Romans 16, 17 text in the frantic effort to justify Synod's disobedience of that passage."

1961 - 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 Principle

Essay - The ELS Background of the CLC

Now 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 CLC

Quotes of note:

"While relations were suspended with the LC-MS, no direct action was taken to withdraw from the SC. But there were indications in the suspension resolution that this was intended in the near future."

"The ELS position of long standing has been this, very briefly, that when a person or church body with whom we are in fellowship causes divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which we have learned, we mark them immediately, then admonish, and if this proves fruitless, avoid them."

1961 Committee No. 2 Report - WELS

Finally, 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. 197-199

Quotes of note:

"WHEREAS, Our admonitions have largely gone unheeded, and the issues have remained unsolved..."

"WHEREAS, The Commission... reports that differences... have brought us to an impasse..."

"WHEREAS, ... we see no avenue leading to the removal of the difference in regard to church fellowship principles..."

"Resolved, a) That we now suspend fellowship ... on the basis of Romans 16:17,18..."

Is it not interesting that the WELS charged the LC-MS with divisions and offenses way back in 1955? The justification for suspending fellowship at this point in 1961 is because a majority believed that discussions were at an impasse.

1960 "The Deepening Wedge of Error" - Essay

The Deepening Wedge of Error, Paul F. Nolting, 1960

In 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 terminated in one of two ways: either by direct vote on a motion to terminate said call or indirectly by rejecting the Scripture-based ministry of the pastor... In no case ... has any pastor been accused of false doctrine, scandalous life, or willful neglect of duty... Official representatives of the synod have ... been assuring [congregations] that they agree perfectly with the men who have left ... 'only they were a bit hasty!'"

3. The Doctrine of Scripture

"... in recent years [Rom. 16:17,18] has suddenly become most difficult and unclear..."

"... Satan used a very pious question to destroy the authority of the Word in the Wisconsin Synod. That question is: 'When is the time, the right time, to begin to obey?'"

4. The Doctrine of the Church

"The false proposition has been permitted to stand that withdrawal from the synod includes resignation of the call. Thus the synod is undermining both the right of ordination and and the rite of installation - both of which bind the pastor to the Scriptures and the Confessions, not to the Synod."

1959 Report of Floor Committee No. 23 Re: A Call for Decision

Floor 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. 211-212

Quotes 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.

1959 "A Call for Decision" Revisited

The 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. 209-211

1959 Committee No. 2

What 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. 194-197

Quote 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..."

1959 Memorial to the WELS Convention

Here 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. 181-182

Quote of note:

"Our failure to [sever fellowship with the LC-MS] has had this twofold effect: The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has been encouraged to continue in the offenses, and we have grievous dissension in our own midst. This dissension can only become more serious unless we implicitly obey the Word of God."

1959 A Report of the Protest Committee

The WELS Protest Committee makes its report to the 1959 Convention.

1959, A Report of the Protest Committee, WELS Convention Proceedings, p. 177-179

Quote 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 solution to the intersynodical problem, namely a break with The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod."

1959 Rollin A. Reim response to Carl Lawrenz

Rollin 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 Lawrenz

Quote 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."

1959 Carl Lawrenz's letter to Rollin Reim

Here 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 Rollin A. Reim.

1959 "A Call for Decision" Memorial

This 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 sign as well. Many would.

February 8, 1959, A Call for Decision, a memorial for the upcoming convention in August.

Quotes of note:

"Termination of fellowship is called for when Scriptural correction has been offered and rejected and the erring brother or church body have continued in their error despite admonition. This is the persistence which distinguishes an errorist (Romans 16:17-18) from an erring brother (Galatians 2:11-14)."

"We affirm that the document entitled A Report to the Protest Committee is in its nature and content divisive, despite its conciliatory tone, becaue it does violence to clear Scripture."

"In its historical presentation, the Report distorts plain, documented facts relative to the action of the Saginaw Convention of 1955. We consider this distortion of historical facts to be a lesser offense, however, than the abuse of Scripture upon which it is based."

1959 WELS Board for Information and Stewardship Newsletter

The WELS Church Union Committee wanted the following statement to be released in its January, 1959 newsletter.

January 14, 1959 Board for Information and Stewardship Newsletter

Quote 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 interpretations as to how Rom. 16:17,18 was applied to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod..."

1955 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. Naumann

Quotes of note:

"I believe it can truthfully be said that [the WELS and LC-MS] have been growing apart instead of being drawn closer together."

"The differences that have arisen between us... have not been removed. They have increased."

"For those of us who have been closest to these problems, it appears quite definite that we must now obey the Lord's Word in Romans 16:17."

"Yet I am sure that each of us diligently and fervently prayed that some ray of hope might appear."

"...whether the Lord would now have us apply His definite command 'Avoid them!' or whether we still have an unpaid debt of love to those whose fellowship we cherished for so many years."

1957 A Report from the Protest Committee

The 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 our Synod did speak the kind of language concerning the gravity of the issues involved and concerning the interpretation and application of Romans 16:17,18 which gave the protesters reason to expect final action at Saginaw."

"... yet we would plead that hte protesters in charity trust that there was an honest uncertainty at Saginaw concerning Missouri's having received ample opportunity in convention assembled to react to the testimony which our Synod had given since Missouri's 1953 convention..."