# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S362 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 361 ministry of membership cultivation so that its congregations can reduce their back-door loses by 50%. 4. By 1985 the Synod has evaluated and improved its system of membership referrals and transfers, enabling con- gregations to strengthen this ministry by which they retain and equip their members for service to Christ. Teaching and Learning Goals 1. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod annually have involved at least 28% of their confirmed members in at least one weekly Bible Class series. 2. By the end of the decade the Synod has involved at least 50% of its couples and families in parish marriage or family life enrichment experiences. 3. By the end of the decade the Synod has published sufficient resources to enable congregations to recruit and train at least two volunteer teachers for each class in its Sunday, weekday, and vacation Bible school. 4. By the end of the decade the Synod has increased enrollments in Lutheran preschools, elementary schools, and high schools to 250,000, up from 182,600 in 1980—81. 5. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod have developed for themselves a five-year plan to evaluate and strengthen the theological content and educational methods used in their curricular materials, at the same time developing a program to increase participation by people of all age groups in their educational agencies. Service Goals 1. By the end of the decade the Synod has involved at least 25% of its membership, age 14 and over, for at least one hour each month in personal service beyond the local parish, through church/community agencies. 2. By the end of the decade 75% of the congregations of the Synod have assessed the social, physical, and economic, as well as the spiritual, needs of people in their congregation and community and have developed an annual strategy to help meet those needs. Stewardship Goals 1. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod have enlisted at least 50% of their confirmed members to invest at least one hour per week of their time and talents in congregational service, witness, and fellowship projects in addition to the time spent in worship, teaching, and learning. 2. By the end of the decade the Synod has enlisted the members of its congregations in a program of spiritual nurture so that they respond to God’s blessings by giving to Him ata level which more closely approaches 10% of their income. 3. By the end of the decade the Synod has prepared and implemented a program of leadership training for board members in at least 75% of the congregations of the Synod. 4. By the end of the decade the Synod has created and implemented a strategy by which all new and renovated buildings owned by the Synod, its Districts, and congregations make efficient use of energy resources for light, heating, and cooling, and which encourages Christian families to do the same in their homes. Youth Goals 1. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed a program which enables at least 50% of its congregations more effectively to minister with single young adults (ages 18—34), integrating them into the life and mission of the congregation. 2. By the end of the decade at least 75% of the congregations of the Synod have enrolled their youth groups in the Synod’s Lutheran Youth Fellowship. 3. By the end of the decade the Synod has trained at least two adult youth leaders for at least 75% of its congregations, enabling more high school age young people to participate in the worship, witness, and service ministries of their con- gregations. 4. By the end of the decade the Synod has created and implemented a program which enables young people of junior high and high school age to discover opportunities for entering professional church vocations and the unique blessings God provides to those whoengage in the public ministry of the Word of God. Communications Goals 1. By the end of the decade 80% of the congregations of the Synod subscribe to the Lutheran Witness for every home in their congregation (blanket subscription) and all congrega- tions of the Synod provide annually the full list of officers who are to receive the weekly copies of the Reporter sent to them by the Synod. 2. By theend of the decade the Synod has developed resource materials and a training program to equip leaders in at least 50% of its congregations to utilize modern equipment and techniques for communicating the Gospel of Christ to their members and to people in their community. Program Administration, Finance, and Support Service Goals The synodical officers and members of boards and staffs are in a servant relationship, functioning in behalf and in support of the congregations of the Synod. In this servant capacity the Synod can offer such support services as planning and coordinating without centralizing any powers. 1. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of its new resource development department and has shaped an expanded program to capitalize on the momentum of Forward in Remembrance and offer new approaches to raising funds for operating and capital expenses. 2. By the end of the decade the synodical administration has developed and implemented a coordinated system by which to serve the needs of Districts, congregations, colleges, and seminaries in the areas of personnel, purchasing, data processing, access to census data, and other administrative tasks. Ecclesiastical Administration Goals 1. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated and strengthened its program of pastoral concern to maintain unity in the Synod’s Biblical, confessional position. 2. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated and strengthened attempts to cultivate the wholesome congrega- tion, Circuit, District/Synod relations which help the people of the Synod to pursue their God-given mission. 3. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated the needs of professional church workers and has developed and implemented a program to support them which enables them to continue to serve in their vocation with both satisfaction and enthusiasm. 4. By the end of the decade the members of the Synod’s Council of Presidents have agreed upon and implemented a program of loving counsel and mutual support in carrying out their roles in the Synod’s ministry of the Word of God. 5. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed a strategy forinitiating and maintaining opportunities to dialog and cooperate, where possible, on asound doctrinal basis, with people in other Lutheran and other Christian church bodies in the areas of worship, witness, teaching/ learning, service, and support. 6. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed an attitude and flexible system of cooperation and coordination among the members of all its boards, commissions, and auxiliaries so that the total mission of the church can be achieved with care, faithfulness, and good stewardship. Viewing Long-Range Syncdical Goals in Context The Synod, its Districts, congregations, and system of higher education function interdependently, both internally with each other and externally with those demographic, socioeconomic, and attitudinal forces which impact all institutions. In more traditional, less complex societies, where individ- uals and entire communities were comparatively self-suffi- cient, the impact of individual or community decisions were relatively self-contained. The extent of our interdependence in