ST. LOUIS — With three bangs of the gavel, LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick July 11 opened the 62nd Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The triennial Synod convention is the highest legislative body for the 2.5 million-member church body.
Before Kieschnick formally opened the convention, registration committee Chairman William Klettke reported that 1,229 voting delegates — 613 pastors and 616 laymen — had registered as of Sunday morning.
During a demonstration of the electronic keypads used for voting, the delegates indicated that 1,102 of them are men, 87 of them women. Another demonstration question revealed that 513 have been delegates at previous convention. For 670, this is their first convention.
The convention is scheduled to meet through Thursday morning at America’s Center here.
Posted July 11, 2004
