# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S24 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 24 MISSIONS e. The board assists the Districts in planning and conduct- ing workshops and clinics in different areas of evangelism and provides speakers or resource leaders. 5. Dialog Clinics and Witness Workshops Since the development of the Kennedy-style visitation evangelism program by Dr. D. James Kennedy in the late 60s and the publication of Evangelism Explosion in 1970, many Missouri Synod congregations adopted or adapted this type of evangelism program. Through the years various Lutheran adaptations have been tried in order to be Lutheran in theology but still retain some features of the Kennedy method such as on-the-job training, the use of diagnostic questions, a memor- ized outline for the presentation of the Gospel, and the seeking of a response. Speaking of Salvation was developed by Rev. Stephen Biegel. Presenting the Gospel was developed by Dr. Armand Ulbrich and published by the Board for Evangelism. Dialog Evangelism was developed by Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal together with clinics in order to teach pastors and key laypeople the content of the materia] and the method to begin to implement the program. The Board for Evangelism has now adopted Dialog Evan- gelism as the method they recommend to congregations. Rev. Biesenthal, with the assistance and cooperation of the District evangelism leaders, conducts clinics through the Synod. The demand has been so great that four other teachers have been trained and qualified to teach clinics: Dr. Oswald Waech, Cypress, Calif.; Rev. Robert Scudieri, Spotswood, N.J.; Rev. Ellis Rottmann, St. Louis, Mo.; and Rev. Darwin Karsten, Eureka, Mo. A notebook that contains the complete course has been published for use in the clinics and as the teaching notebook for the 16-week training course in the congregation. Dialog Evangelism is intended for intensive training in making a Gospel presentation, especially on visits to homes in the community. It has been found that approximately 10 percent of a congregation can be involved in this kind of ongoing program since about 10 percent of the members may have the gift of evangelism. In order to provide training for the other members of the congregation who do not take the Dialog Evangelism training, the board has developed materials for Witness Workshops. It began with calling together individuals who had worked with training laypeople or students in Ambassador programs or Lay Witness Workshops. Those who attended were: Rev. Ellis Rottmann, Springfield, II]. Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal, St. Louis, Mo. Rev. Wallace Schulz, St. Louis, Mo. Rev. Gordon Gross, Colby, Kans. Dr. Alan Harre, Seward, Nebr. Rev. Robert Rahn, River Forest, II. Dr. Erwin J. Kolb, St. Louis, Mo. As aresult of the consultation, a pilot manual of guidelines for a Witness Workshop was developed. Leaders from several Districts were then brought together to experience a Witness Workshop led by Rev. Biesenthal and to experiment with the material in their home Districts. These leaders were: Lou Jander, Texas District Rev. Ron Pluger, Iowa East District George Gleichmann, Colorado District Rev. Lyle Muller, Northern I]linois District Rev. Marty Lundi, Northwest District Larry Zenner, Florida-Georgia District The material for the Witness Workshops is now available for all the Districts to conduct Witness Workshops in their Districts, so that finally all the congregations can make it available as regular training for their members. In the goals suggested in the attached memorials the Board for Evangelism is asking the Synod and the Districts to adopt a goal for the next biennium of 60 percent of the congregations providing Dialog Evangelism Training for their evangelism callers and 75 percent of the congregations providing witness training for their members. 6. Open-House Missions The two evangelism thrusts adopted by the 1979 synodical convention were the Great Commission Convocation (Res. 1-09) and Open-House Missions (Res. 1-11). Each District was encouraged to conduct a Districtwide Open-House Mission during the biennium. Twenty-two Districts as of this writing have either conducted a Districtwide Open-House Mission or are planning to do so. Other individual congregations have had Open-House Missions on their own. The percentage of congregations that participated varied in the Districts, usually around two-thirds. The results also varied. A typical District was Nebraska, which tabulated the results from those congre- gations that participated: 6,140 calls completed by 2,382 lay visitors 124 enrolled for the pastors class 136 desired membership by transfer 30 people were ready to return to the church by reaffirma- tion of faith 113 children were reached for Sunday school enrollment 41 were gained for Baptism The Districts that had Open-House Missions are: 1979 1980) 1981 Nebraska Eastern SID Texas Missouri lowa East Indiana Minn.N. Kansas N. Dakota S. Dakota Kansas N. Wis. Man./Sask. N. Wis. Ontario Colorado NID S. Wis. Southern CID Mid-South 7. Equipping the Professional Church Worker The Board for Evangelism continues to have a vital interest in equipping professional church workers during their years at synodical colleges and seminaries so that they are motivated and prepared to lead the congregations in evangelism and know how to motivate and equip God's people. It is a great blessing to the church that now at least one course in evangel- ism is required of each seminary graduate, and most of the terminal schools of the Synod also offer elective courses in evangelism. The Board for Evangelism cooperates with the Board for Higher Education and offers various services to synodical schools that desire them. In the past biennium the board has been involved in the following: a. The board conducted one of its regular meetings on the campus of St. John’s, Winfield, Kans., and another at Con- cordia College, Portland, Oreg. While on campus board and staff members spoke in chapel, conducted student convoca- tions, and spoke with the faculty and student leaders about giving evangelism training and activities on the campus a greater emphasis. b. The board assisted with the annual Student Evangelism Conference at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights on Oct. 26—28, 1979, and Oct. 24—28, 1980. St. Peter continues to host the students from the midwest synodical schools free of charge. The trainers for the two conferences were Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal and Rev. Ellis Rottmann. c. The board offered speakers to campuses under the “Guest Evangelist on Campus” program. An evangelism staff person from the Synod ora District, ora pastoris brought toa campus for a two-to-four day period to speak to classes, to faculty, to dorm groups, or in chapel and generally to be available to talk about evangelism in a variety of situations. During the past biennium, Concordia, St. Paul, Minn.; Christ College, Irvine. Calif.; and Concordia, Seward, Nebr., have used the program. Speakers have been Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal, Rev. Ellis Rottmann, Rev. Charles Mueller, Rev. Darwin Karsten, and Dr. Erwin Kolb. d. The board assisted with evangelism classes. The evan- gelism staff speaks for one class period to every evangelism class at the seminary in St. Louis and conducts a Dialog Clinic for them. Dialog Clinics will also soon be made available to the students at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. The most recent development in equipping professional church workers to be evangelism leaders in their parishes is the director of evangelism program that has been developed at Christ College, Irvine, and at Concordia College, St. Paul. Minn. A student, through a four-year college program together with an internship, is prepared to take charge of the evan- gelism program of a parish. (See the memorial attached on directors of evangelism.)