# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S120
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

116 SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES

to Dr. A..C. Stellhorn’s estimates, only about 10 per cent of :
women teachers in our parochial schools today have receiyg
two years or more of formal training in Synod’s teachers’ collegs
This is a shocking situation which could eventually lead to a cop
plete fading out of the real objectives of our parochial schools, 4
The Board believes that we must prepare now to increase
production of professional workers. Our available data make J
perfectly clear that the Missouri Synod will continue to g e
unless either of two things happens: a) it disintegrates thro ’
internal strife, b) it declines to do the work which lies beforea
to do. Only a defeatist could assume that either of these
bilities could become a reality. The only defensible assumpti
that the organization will hold together and that it will do its wo
Over the past 20 years, Synod’s communicant membership }
been increasing fairly uniformly at the rate of 2.42 per cent
year. There is, of course, no absolute proof that this rate of incre
will continue in the future, but the only proper assumption is
under the blessing of God a continued rate of increase not greatly
different from the rate of the last decades must be assimed
a basis for our human planning. E
Even without the well-established need for a higher level g
education for our ministry, this growth factor alone would
it necessary to choose between an extensive expansion of th
present seminary facilities; the establishment of a third semi
or the alleviation of excessive crowding at St. Louis by establist
ment of a senior college. The removal of the Graduate School at
the School of Missions from the physical plant of the preset
campus would also have to be considered, since this last devi
plus the establishment of a senior college would increase
capacity of the St. Louis Seminary to turn out regular graduat
by 33% per cent. ’
Benefits to the Church F
The proposed reorganization and the establishment of #
senior college should eventually bring many additional advantag
which are not immediately apparent: j
1. There will be a new opportunity for greater emphasis ond
primary requirement of greater spiritual maturity as a cd
comitant of the mental and physical growth which shot
result from the program. :
2. At the high school level our future professional workers ¥
have an opportunity to secure broader general educat
than they have under existing conditions, which requ
that extremely large portions of their high school work:
devoted to the study of professional languages.