On his third day in office as president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, I was summoned for some remedial counseling. It was gracious of President Harrison to take the time to offer me words of wisdom and encouragement.

For old time’s sake, I took a seat in my office where I served as assistant to The LCMS president from 1992 to 2001, now enhanced and improved with the presence of Rev. Jon Vieker, Senior Assistant to the President of The LCMS.

Here is a photo of President Harrison with Rev. Vieker:

Rev. Dr. Al Collver kindly took this photo, I regret I did not shoot any of him, but…next time. Here I am admiring one of President Harrison’s wonderful rare books. The one I’m looking at is the first volume in the Jena edition of Luther’s Works [German edition]. The Jena edition was the collection of Luther’s Works commissioned by Elector Johann Friederich the Magnanimous.

And here is Rev. President Harrison at his desk. The old book on his desk is a copy of the “Apology of the Book of Concord.” I am encouraging President Harrison to work at translating it, even as Dr. J.A.O. Preus worked at translating the works of Martin Chemnitz during his years in office as Synodical President. Dr. Preus once told me, “I always found Martin Chemnitz to be the most delightful companion at the end of a long day. He and I never had any disagreements.”