The Challenge Is To Be Both Faithful and Fruitful

Perhaps the best news out of the 2007 Houston Convention of the LCMS is that the middle is widening.

Votes that win elections or pass resolutions by very thin margins suggest two sides about equally matched. Votes that win by two thirds or three quarters, as so often happened this past July, don’t necessarily mean that one side has overpowered the other.

They suggest that the middle has widened. More delegates are willing to consider the merit of issues. In July this meant resistance to many efforts to end a discussion early on by calling the question. Strong majorities mean that the trust level is up. Delegates had greater confidence in the synodical leadership that shaped the convention agenda and resolutions.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the 40 years of sharp conflict in the LCMS are finally over? Dare we hope that future LCMS conventions will be boring?

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