# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S836
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES 139

- reasons. There are other vital considerations which make such
B. a procedure inadvisable. These are detailed in another section of
f: this report. :
_ Basic Principles
Some of the fundamental principles which became very clear
4 during the past few years of study should be listed here. It is
«perfectly apparent that an approach which hopes for a solution
E of Synod’s educational problems for the next century is unrealistic.
f. However, the fact that it takes at least ten years to train a minister
fF makes it impossible for our Synod to escape the necessity for
f advance planning. Very little progress could be made until the
| Board adopted a point of view which limited the program of study
; to a specific future period. As long as the Church is expanding
f and alive, it will not be able to forget about its problems in pro-
fessional education for any longer period of time without suffering
+ disastrous consequences.
A second basic principle to which the Board adhered involved
’ the examination of every proposal in the light of the question
whether it might be mistaking mere change for progress and
' might thus be liquidating some of the advantages which are
inherent in the present system. In this connection the Board
adhered to the principle that every proposal for adjustment must
contribute toward a more efficient use of our existing facilities in
a manner which would give the Synod greater volume, higher
quality, or an opportunity to evaluate outcomes of experimental
procedures.
A third principle which the Board attempted to apply was the
measurement of any proposal to determine whether it would fit
into the American plan of education as closely as this might be
accomplished without reducing in any way the prospect of reaching
the distinctive objectives of Synod’s system of professional training.
The Board recognized, also, that there is an inherent conflict
between the established need for a large number of ministerial
graduates and the impossibility, at graduate and professional levels,
of achieving the desired results through the large-scale production
methods which are now so popular in the general liberal arts
colleges and universities of our country. In this connection it was
noted that a tremendously complex administrative problem would
be involved if the Church attempted to establish a single seminary
which would be required to produce the required number of
graduates and which would also provide for minor specialties which
are needed by the clergy, while, at the same time, making pro-
vision for a graduate school and a school of missions. On the other