# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S23 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) MISSIONS 23 In 1972 the baptized membership of the Synod began to decline and has declined every year since. In 1977 the commun- icant membership began to decline and has declined every year since (latest figures available are for 1979), although the amount of the decline has dropped considerably—from 42,268 in 1977 to 16,169 in 1978 to 1,763 in 1979—which could indicate good news ahead. To change the downward trend, attention needs to be given to two areas: adults gained from the outside and “backdoor losses.” The goal that is suggested (see attached memorial) is to reduce defections 10 percent a year and to increase gains 10 percent a year, with each District adopting a similar goal. In addition, the suggested goals encourage congregations to provide two types of equipping for evangelism: one for those who may have the gift of evangelism, who should receive intensive training for evangelism calling, and the other for all members, so they can witness in their daily contacts with other people. Other factors to note from the statistics: a. The number of juniors confirmed from non-Lutheran homes continues to drop. b. The number of reinstatements, former Lutherans who dropped out and then returned by confession of faith, continues to drop. c. The number of children baptized annually has sharply declined partly due to the decline in the birth rate. d. The number of junior confirmations continues to decline. e. The number of transfers between Missouri Synod con- gregations continues at approximately 55,000 in and 55,000 out, up or down a little each year. f. The members released to other Lutheran bodies and received from them continues at about 15,000 each way, up or down a little each year. One alarming figure, provided by studies done by the Board of Parish Education, is that only 50 percent of the children who are baptized in our churches will ever attend one of our Sunday schools, only 13 percent will attend one of our Lutheran elementary schools, and only 58 percent will be confirmed. These figures strongly suggest the need for strict soul account- ing and the development of the kinds of programs and activities that will lead the children from the baptismal font into the educational agencies of the church so that they can be growing disciples of Jesus Christ. (See the memorial on goals.) Of the 6,043 congregations of the Synod in 1979, there were 1,630, or 27 percent, that gained no adults by Baptism or confirmation. Another 663, or 11 percent, gained one adult by Baptism or confirmation. Putting those two figures together, there were 2,293 congregations, or 38 percent, that gained one adult or none in 1979, which is the same percent as 1977. When the communicant membership of the Synod (2,034.248) is divided by the adults gained by Baptism or confirmation (26,454), it takes about 76 members one year to gain one new member. If the figure of the total gained from the outside (38,836) is used, which adds those reinstated and the juniors confirmed from non-Lutheran homes, it takes 52 one vear to win one from the outside. The average size of the membership of a Missouri Synod congregation continues about the same, 450 baptized members and 337 communicant members, with 54 percent of them urban and 46 percent of them rural (using 2,500 or more population as the urbanized areas). The large congregations of the Synod, however, tend to continue to get larger. There are 543 with more than 1,000 baptized members and 14 with more than 3,000. The seven largest are: 979 Baptized Confirmed St. Peter, Arlington Heights, Il]. (NID)... 4,922 3,707 St. Lorenz, Frankenmuth, Mich. (MI).... 4,182 3,324 St. James, Shawano, Wis. (WIN) ........ 3,605 2,962 St. John, Orange, Calif. (SC) ............ 3,601 2,400 Holy Cross, Fort Wayne, Ind. (IN)....... 3,593 2,644 Concordia, San Antonio, Tex. (TX) ...... 3,502 2,794 Immanuel, St. Charles, Mo. (MO)........ 3,394 2,651 In 1979 there were 42 congregations of the Synod that gained 30 or more adults by Baptism or confirmation. In 1977 there were 38. Seven congregations gained more than 100 adults each in the last biennium. 3. The Structure for Discipling The Board for Evangelism functioned during the biennium with five board members and two staff persons (see directory of officers and board members in the front of this Workbook). During the two-year period. one board member, Mrs. Evelyn Hartman, resigned for health reasons, and the board appointed Mrs. Helen Morris to replace her. The board met nine times during the two-year period. with two of the meetings being held at synodical colleges, St. John’s, Winfield, Kans.. and Con- cordia, Portland, Oreg. The remaining meetings were held in St. Louis. In 1980 the board’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Erwin J. Kolb, completed eight vears on the staff, and the board reappointed him to a third four-year term. The other staff person, Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal, has served the board for 2’. vears as Associate Secretary for District Services. In a regular meeting of the board on Jan. 27, 1980, the board passed the following resolution: ‘That the Board for Evangel- ism call upon the Synod to thank God for the capable and dedi- cated staffthat He has provided our Evangelism Department.” The board requested authorization from the Board of Directors t6 appoint a third staff person as called for by Res. 1-28 of the 1979 synodical convention, but it was denied. The board has now restructured the position description and is again asking for a third staff person in order to concentrateon membership conservation to deal with the annual loss of 0,000 members by defection. This person would study the problem of ‘defection; research the present methods of membership referral, transfer, and acceptance: and develop new programs and materials. (See the memorial attached on membership conservation.) 4. Ministry to Districts The Board for Evangelism assumes that each District functions with a board or committee of evangelism (Bylaw 8.47) and seeks to relate to that group by providing services to assist them in doing the work of evangelism in their District, both with District, area, and Circuit activities, as well as assisting congregations in their own parish areas. The chair- man of the District board or Committee is called the District Director of Evangelism and provides, in addition to any District staff person who is assigned a responsibility in evangelism, the main contact of the Evangelism Department with the District. During the past biennium the board provided the following services to the District evangelism leaders: a. Evangelism Leadership Conferences were conducted for the District directors and executives: April 19—22, 1979—in conjunction with the Texas District Gathering April 30—May 2, 1980—St. Louis Nov. 7—8, 1980—St. Louis June 2—4, 1981—St. Louis Evangelism Leadership Conferences provide District leaders the opportunity to share with each other the variety of programs and materials that are developed and used in the Districts of Synod. The synodical evangelism staff shares their plans and programs and seeks the counsel of the District leaders. Some of the conference time is also devoted to training District leaders in various methods of evangelism and in studying new materials. b. A District Evangelism Newsletter is published eight times a year to share with District leaders current happenings and plans related to evangelism, provide reviews of new books and movies, reprints of relevant magazine articles, and samples of new materials. The newsletter also provides an avenue for Districts to share their programs with each other. c. The board provides a library of current cassettes on evangelism from published sources and from various work- shops and conferences. The cassettes are on a free-loan basis to District and synodical leaders. d. Individual conferences are held with District directors or executives or with the District board or committee of evan- gelism to discuss the evangelism plans of the District.