This work remains the classic and formative study of the development of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's system of church organization and governance. The analysis in this volume has proven over the years to be of ongoing interest and the cause even of controversy and disagreement, as The Missouri Synod continues the task of understanding how best to organize itself for work in a country where there are no regulations and forms imposed on it by a central governing or ecclesiastical authority. It is as timely, if not more so, than ever before.