Letter to Detroit Conference - October 3, 1918
Transcript
[October] 3, 1918 Detroit Conference [ms illegible: 2 wds] Detroit Gentlemen,- I am in receipt of your lines of recent date, requesting cooperation in the matter of Camp Pastorships. Needless to say, the Lutheran Witness will support this move. If nothing was said in our columns about the matter heretofore, it was because we did not want to discourage the
Transcript
er our Boards fail to get results because of some flaw in the system, or they are obtaining results but find no means of letting the brethren know even the most elementary facts about their work. I do not mean that they are to take the whole Synod into their confidence on matters of detail, but such lack of cooperation as now exists in regard to the various problems which the war has called into being should be avoided by maintaining proper channels of information. It is a most unusual thing that a conference has to call on the rest of the Synodical body to take action in so very important a matter as the Camp Pastor Work. It has been my experience in the last nine months that our Synodical machinery breaks down whenever a strain is placed upon it by war conditions. The General School Board which should have been the sheet-anchor of our perishing schools in the West, faild utterly even to unify the policy of defense against oppressive measures. Our War Bureau at Springfield has been unable to get the information which is absolutely essential for its proper functioning. I have had correspondence with both Boards, and such are conditions. Are these men inefficient? No, they are capable. But our Synodical system has proven inefficient because we have a habit of piling work on men that are already overloaded, and then do not supply the essential element of success, publicity,- either by bulletins or in the Church Papers. If we needed anything at this time, it was a School Boar composed of two or three men with no other obligations, and a similar War Council. The Synod should have long ago been stirred into action with reference to the Camp Pastor matter, and there should have been definite counsel and direction in the language question and other issues arising out of the war. If there had been petitions from all congregations, signed by the parents of the boys under the flag, requesting the repeal of the Order of July 24, there would have been some hope of relief. But to organize such campaigns and to give purpose and direction to the measures counteracting the abominable treatment our churches have received in many quarters, we need strong Boards, with hands unfettered by other business.
Transcript
In writing this I do not want to reflect upon the ability or faithfulness of any officer of Board of Synod. But it does not appear that the full gravity of the situation has been grasped nor has the importance of energetic action, in the effort to cope with altogether new and unusual conditions, been realized. Even in sections where our people are a strong element in the population, conditions have been permitted to pass beyond control, simply because direction and counsel were lacking. Some of us have seen the evident drift of events and have sounded notes of warning. Because the conditions which caused these words of warning were so distressing that they could not be published, we had to bear the approach of being
Details
| Title | Letter to Detroit Conference - October 3, 1918 |
| Creator | Unknown |
| Source | Unknown. Letter to Detroit Conference. 03 October 1918. Graebner, Theodore Collection. Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Letter to the Detroit Conference concerning the raising of money for camp pastors at military camps. The letter explained that the Lutheran Church Board for the Army and Navy was raising money to help soldiers and sailors continue to cultivate their faith. To accomplish this the Board was sending camp pastors to military training camps, sending prayer books to soldiers as well as monthly bulletins. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--Public opinion; World War, 1914-1918--Religious aspects; Lutheran Church |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Contributing Institution | Concordia Historical Institute |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Concordia Historical Institute: 314-505-7900 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Date Original | October 3, 1918 |
| Language | English |