# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S4
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

4 MISSIONS

Since inter-Lutheran cooperation is consistently a matter
for discussion at synodical conventions, the following informa-
tion concerning inter-Lutheran cooperation in campus min-
istry may be helpful.

It can be stated that cooperation with other Lutherans (and
other Christians) occurs at three levels in the Church: locally,
at the District level, and at the synodical level.

Since local circumstances vary from one section of the
country to the other, there seems to be no consistent pattern. In
some locations an LCMS campus ministry is charged with the
responsibility of serving all Lutherans. In others, because of
the proximity of a National Lutheran Campus Ministry [the
agency which does campus ministry in behalf of ALC, LCA,
and AELC], the LCMS campus ministry serves primarily
LCMS people. Because of the large number of campuses to be
served, and because of limited resources in both money and
staff, in recent years a deliberate effort has been made to avoid
establishing competing ministries or duplicating programs.

In some Districts of the Synod, the level of cooperation with
National Lutheran Campus Ministry and the ALC, LCA, and
AELC is rather extensive. In others it is almost nonexistent.
Historically the Synod has not interfered with the admin-
istration of campus ministry at the District level but sought
only to encourage the Districts to conduct all of campus
ministry in keeping with synodical policies and practices.
While not a necessary mandate for conducting campus ministry,
it would appear that some form of consultation with other
Lutherans is helpful in achieving our common purpose.

Because the Synod is a participating member of the
Lutheran Council in the U.S.A., and because campus ministry
is one of the major divisions of the council’s programs, the
secretary for campus ministry is appointed by the President of
the Synod as one of the 10 LCMS representatives to the annual
meeting of the Lutheran Council. He is also appointed by the
President of the Synod as one of three representatives to the
Standing Committee for the Division of Campus Ministry and
Educational Services (DCMES) of LCUSA. This division of
LCUSA, with offices in Chicago, offers a total of seven
programs for the participating church bodies, under the direc-
tion of its executive director, Rev. Reuben Baerwald. The seven
programs are—

Support Services in Theological Education

Support Services in Campus Ministry

. Support Services to National Lutheran Student
Organizations

College and University Services (church-related Schools)
Division Management

National Lutheran Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry Communications

NOOO WN

By decision of the Board for Missions, the Office of Campus
Ministry participates in a ‘‘purchase of services” agreement for
two of the seven programs, Support Services in Campus
Ministry (No. 2), and Campus Ministry Communications (No.
7).

Support Services in Campus Ministry is, in reality, the
Synod’s share (approximately one-third) for the support of the
office of the executive director of DCMES. It “purchases” the
coordinative services of the executive director as these relate to
inter-Lutheran cooperative agencies and campus ministry
programs of mutual benefit to the four participating Lutheran
bodies.

Campus Ministry Communications was created in 1969 to
provide publications and materials jointly for National
Lutheran Campus Ministry and LCMS. The Commission on
College and University Work of the Synod, which was ter-
minated in 1968, employed two full-time staff persons, Dr.
Reuben Hahn, executive secretary, and Dr. Rudolph Norden,
editorial assistant. With the termination of the commission,
the publication of campus ministry materials was made the
responsibility of Campus Ministry Communications. The pro-
gram employs a full-time editor in the Chicago office who
prepares campus ministry materials in behalf of all four
church bodies. Since 1969 no materials have been published by
Synod’s Office of Campus Ministry.

Since 1969 the Division of Campus Ministry and Educa-
tional Services of LCUSA has also coordinated an annual
Campus Ministry Conference for all campus ministry staff

persons serving in full-time LCMS, ALC, LCA, and AELC
campus ministries. The conference is held each year in August.
A five-day orientation program for new full-time campus
ministry staff persons was also formerly coordinated by
DCMES. However, LCMS participation in this program was
terminated in 1978.

In summary, it is a joy to call to mind the favorable response
in the LCMS to the “Word and Sacrament” approach in
campus ministry. College and university people do respond;
they grow in Christ; they do dedicate their lives to Him. This is
what we can and should expect, for the Word of the Lord does
not return empty (Is. 55:10-11). The ongoing fulfillment of
God’s promise encourages us to go forward.

Forward in Deaf Ministry

It was an historic day for deaf people when the 1896
convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod assumed
the responsibility for the fledgling ministry to the deaf that
had been begun two years earlier in Chicago. In this 85th
anniversary year of deaf ministry, the challenge remains for
the church to reach out to deaf and hearing-impaired people
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The 1979 convention adopted the mission challenge to begin
20 new deaf ministries during the 80s, adding tothe 53 already
in existence in North America. Several such new starts are
currently under study. Of special need are deaf ministries
among sizable ethnic minorities—Hispanics in the southwest
United States, Florida, and New York City; and Blacks in the
southern states. In these ethnic groups the number of Christian
deaf ministries are few, and the number of unchurched deaf
people are many.

Even while the church remembers with thanksgiving the
blessings of God given through the model of deaf ministry used
for 85 years—viz., establishing congregations of deaf people
and reaching out to neighboring communities in “circuit rider”
fashion—the church also continues to explore new methods in
the effort to move forward inthis ministry. What role can local
“hearing” churches play in reaching deaf children and adults,
expecially in smaller communities with few deaf people? Can
deaf people and their families be reached effectively and their
needs served by integrating deaf ministry into “hearing”
churches? Can lay people in these churches be equipped to
assist their pastor and other professional church workers in
ministering to deaf people? Nine lay people were given basic
training to be such pastor’s aides through Project Brothers
Keeper, a four-week course taught at Concordia, Seward,
during the summer of 1980. Another such program is planned
for this summer at Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Mich.

The second major mission challenge is to recruit, train, and
place 50 workers in deaf ministry in this decade. During 1980
six pastors and one director of Christian education began their
ministries with the deaf following graduation from seminaries
and other synodical schools. A grant from the Lutheran
Friends of the Deaf enabled Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, to
establish the John of Beverly Chair of Deaf Ministry. Concor-
dia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne likewise has an
instructor (part-time) for deaf ministry.

In addition to training men and women for full-time deaf
ministry, these programs at the seminaries and similar pro-
grams at other synodical colleges provide future church work-
ers with a greater awareness of deaf people and their needs.
Some will seize the opportunity to serve deaf people as part of
their total ministry in the community, thus utilizing the sign
language skills they have acquired. This form of deaf ministry
is strongly encouraged.

Forward in Ministry to the Blind

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Most of the 1.7 million Americans who are legally blind or
function as if they were legally blind would recognize the above
(if they were raised dots) as Is. 35:5—“The blind will be able to
see.”’ For more than 50 years the Board for Missions has been
helping blind people see Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

The mission challenge for blind ministry in the ’80s is
certainly appropriate—“to effect a 300-percent increase in the