# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1981_S371 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 370 OTHER REPORTS identifying sites for the development of future Lutheran con- gregations has concentrated in recent years on the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino in California. The LCMS, ALC, and LCA are in the process of each buying five sites in those counties. Under consideration as the next area of concentra- tion is either Denver or Seattle. Office of Communication and Interpretation The Office of Communication and Interpretation is directed to ‘‘publicize the objectives, scope of interest and activities of the council; supply information concerning the Christian faith and life as reflected by the Lutheran Church; assist the cooperating churches by providing a means for furthering cooperation among them in the work of public relations and communications; and supplement, at the request of the cooperating bodies, their activities in this field and interpret their faith, objectives and programs.” In carrying out this mandate OCI works closely with reli- gious and secular print and broadcast media and communica- tion agencies; the council’s offices, divisions, departments, and related units, including Lutheran World Relief and the Luther- an World Federation; and the communication offices of the church bodies. OCI provides staff services to the separate corporation, Lutheran Film Associates. A cooperative project carried out in 1980 with funding from Lutheran Brotherhood brought together at two duplicate con- ferences decision makers in the communications industry who are Lutherans and communication professionals who work for the LCMS, ALC, LCA, AELC, and Lutheran Council. The thinking about vocation and dialog between industry and church colleagues begun at the conferences is expected to lead to acontinuing ministry. As one participant expressed: “Just as we need to have our faith shored up through worship, we also need to be reminded as God’s people that we need to practice our religion in our day-to-day work. A good example is often contagious. The conference rejuvenated me in thinking about my work and my religion.” Lutheran audiovisual specialists were convened in January 1981 for a consultation as part of the annual convention of the National Audiovisual Association. Sponsors included Luther- an Film Associates and Lutheran World Ministries. During the biennium the OCI news bureau issued more than 100 editions of its print news service. The editions carried 400 stories plus nearly 50 commentaries. The bureau assembled semimonthly summaries of its stories plus those put out by the church bodies in the service, ‘““News Now,” aimed at Lutheran leaders. Facsimile equipment was installed in the spring of 1979 in the news bureau in New York City and the LCMS and ALC communication offices in Saint Louis and Minneapolis respec- tively. This makes possible the transmission ofthe printed text of stories via the telephone. The hope is to add the LCA and AELC to the network. Office for Governmental Affairs The Office for Governmental Affairs monitors governmen- tal activities which would affect the life and ministry of the church; communicates the information gathered to interested Lutherans through its monthly publication Focus on Govern- mental Affairs, occasional research memoranda, and other ways; provides a common channel for the council and church bodies to express their concerns about public issues to congres- sional committees and regulatory agencies and to inform governmental officials of Lutheran positions; serves as an “ombudsman’”’ for Lutherans in solving church-state prob- lems; and works with other church offices and voluntary organizations in Washington, D.C., in addressing legislative issues. These groups include WISC, the Washington Interreli- gious Staff Council; IMPACT, an ecumenical advocacy net- work; and the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations. The office’s “brightest glow” during the biennium came from a three-session consultation which dealt with the growing encroachment by the federal government on the church’s life. The resulting document, officially adopted by the 1979 annual meeting of the council, set a ‘‘policy issues’’ agenda for the 1980s. Among issues to be watched are the process by which governmental units establish regulations and legislation requiring charitable solicitation disclosure. Also to be chal- lenged is the government’s extremely narrow definition of reli- gious mission, and among church agencies already serving as “guinea pigs’ in this challenge is Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Other followup actions are establishing a commit- tee of legal consultants to deliberate on the legal aspects of church-state relations and planning an interreligious confer- ence on church and government. The Aid Association for Lutherans funded the consultation. The office has continued its pastoral service to Lutherans in the federal government in three formal ways: monthly break- fasts on Capitol Hill, an annual spring dinner, and an annual fall weekend seminar. Themes considered at the past two seminars were ‘“Caesar’s Role vs. Church Rights: Are the Church and State on a Collision Course?” and “‘Power and Government.” More than 500 church leaders, including 50 Lutherans, spent three days in Washington in March 1979 and again in March 1980 for in-depth briefings and discussions with members of Congress and governmental officials. These events were sponsored by WISC and IMPACT. Division of Campus Ministry and Educational Services The Division of Campus Ministry and Educational Services is mandated to provide the church bodies with the means for consultation and coordination in campus ministry, church college education, and theological education; to undertake requested programs to accomplish this; and to conduct campus ministry on behalf of one or more of the churches. The division administers National Lutheran Campus Ministry, an agency of the ALC, LCA, and AELC which is funded separately by these church bodies and their districts and synods. The division provides staff services to the Center for the Study of Campus Ministry located at Valparaiso (Ind.) University, with the Aid Association for Lutherans funding the center’s programs, and to the Lutheran Educational Confer- ence of North America. Campus Ministry Common Work General support services provided by the division to “common work” in campus ministry currently center on the 14 campus ministry agencies which are fully cooperative and unified for the administration of ministry on 30 campuses and on another dozen coordinated ministries. “Common work” includes conducting studies of pertinent issues in cooperation with the center at Valparaiso University and through task forces. Subjects addressed during the biennium have included: the meaning of metropolitan campus ministry; the self-image, ministry models, professional stand- ards, and contractual concerns of the laity and women in campus ministry; a pastoral perspective on homosexuality; resources relating to world community in campus ministry settings; international student ministry; parish-based ministry to community colleges through trained volunteers; student-to- student peer ministry models; and Lutheranism as a confes- sional resource in campus ministry today. All full-time campus ministers related to NLCM and the LCMS Board for Missions were convened by the division for their 10th and 11th continuing education conferences in 1979 and 1980. They studied “Ethics and Ministry in Higher Education” and “Faith, Science and the Future of the World Community.” An orientation week for all newly appointed campus ministers, previously a common activity, was carried out separately those years by NLCM and Missouni. Campus Ministry Communications, a ‘common work” project administered by the division with funding from the LCMS Board for Missions and NLCM, produced, distributed, and promoted these and other items during 1979—80: 14 issues of Circle, a packet of campus ministry news and resources; specially designed calendars for each school year; Bible study booklets on Micah and Daniel and on “Seeds of the Kingdom: On Being a Christian in the University”; a tract on “Readings on Vocation”; an abridged version of the classic, Our Calling, by Einar Billing; a folder on “Beyond Boring: Working Your Way to a Better Newsletter”; and a resource packet on cults, which has become CMC’s “most ordered” item.