# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S12 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 12 MISSIONS, EVANGELISM, AND SOCIAL MINISTRY e. Training in stewardship and evangelism f. Translation of Holy Scripture In a number of places throughout this report references were made to new work made possible by FIR funding, such as in Botswana, Togo, Liberia, Republic of Panama, Guada- lajara, Mexico, new language areas in Nigeria, and soon, God willing, Sierra Leone. One significant FIR grant of $1,500,000 will enable the Board for Mission Services, together with the Board for Professional Education Services through a joint scholarship committee, to administer an endowment fund for “Continuing Education for Clergy of Partner Churches.” Such a committee will coordinate former scholarship activities, such as the STAPOC program (Scholarship Training Assistance Program for Overseas Churchmen) of the BFMS and the Exchange Study Program of the CTCR. The committee plans todevelopa unified set of policies and procedures for selection. support, guidance, and evaluation of scholarship recipients, in con- sultation with the partner church council of the respective scholarship nominee. The board is grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to provide assistance for enriching and broaden- ing the leadership and pastoral ministry skills of partner church pastors. Administration Every believer. baptized into Christ, has entered a new kind of life. In fact. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone. the new has come!"’(2 Cor.5:17 NIV). In Christ we “are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's... household” (Eph. 2:19 NIV). This means that none of us is a private citizen, an island unto self, as it were, but rather each of us is “like living stones, _.. being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5 NIV). Together as Christ's church we are under His gracious rule and under the divine order of His Great Commission. Together, each of us, as individual Christian witnesses. works in the Lord’s church, confident of the Lord's power, presence, and promises as we pray for, plan, prioritize, provide for, and together promote the programs of the church for doing the Lord's mission of proclaiming His Gospel for discipling all nations. The Lord's strategy is simple. It is one of ever widening concentric circles, beginning obviously at the center. He says. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NIV). In other words mission begins in the home, the neighborhood. the town, and the state and moves into neighboring states and all the world. While the Lord's strategy is simple and wise, the actual work on a national and international dimension, across the boundaries of cultures and languages, is complex and difficult. Furthermore. the church's resources are precious. For this reason The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has a nine- member Board for Mission Services, elected by the Synod in convention, to conduct the mission program of the Synod on . behalf of its congregations (cf. 1981 Handbook, pages 66—67). The board has missionaries in 19 fields and supports work in 10 additional fields, making a total of 29. Of these, 14 are partner churches of the LCMS. In order to oversee this work in accord with its policies, the Board for Mission Services has a dedicated staff appointed to the following positions: 1. Executive Secretary for the Board for Mission Services 2. Associate Executive Secretary for Administration 3. Secretary for Finance 4. Associate Executive Secretary for North American Ministries 5. Secretary for American Indian Ministry (vacant) 6. Secretary for Deaf and Blind Ministry 7. Secretary for Campus Ministry 8. Secretary for Campus Ministry Publications (vacant) 9. Secretary for Black Ministry (vacant) 10. Secretary for Hispanic Ministry 11. Associate Executive Secretary for World Areas (vacant) 12. Secretary for Africa Europe Middle East 13. Secretary for Asia 14. Secretary for Latin America 15. Secretary for Personnel 16. Assistant Secretary for Personnel Services 17. Associate Executive Secretary for Ministry to the Armed Forces 18. Secretary for Ministry to the Armed Forces (Program Director) In the interest of greater achievement of planned goals and objectives in mission, the BFMS during the past biennium has revised and refined the position descriptions for each of its staff in harmony with a standardized pattern of descriptions for all synodical staff positions. These are designed for more effective delegation of responsibilities and to provide for clearer lines of accountability and assessment of the work to be done. These position descriptions have been approved by the Synod’s Board of Directors. Standing Committees So that staff and board may benefit from input of profes- sional people with specific backgrounds of experience, the Synod has provided for the appointment of a number of standing committees which meet twice a year, or in certain instances, more if necessary. The standing committees of the Board for Mission Services are 1. Black Ministry, 3 members; they meet with the associate executive secretary for North American ministries. 2. Campus Ministry, 3 members; they meet with the secre- tary for campus ministry. 3. Ministry among American Indians (a majority of whom shall be American Indians), 5 members; until the position of secretary for American Indian ministry is filled. they meet with the secretary for campus ministry. 4. Ministry among Hispanics (a majority of whom shall be Hispanics), 5 members; they meet with the secretary for Hispanic ministry. 5. Ministry to the Armed Forces, 3 members plus the associate secretary for ministry to the armed forces and the secretary for ministry to the armed forces (program director); they meet with the executive secretary of the Board for Mission Services. Note: This standing committee, because ofits relation to the armed forces and U.S. government regulations and procedures for the calling and assigning of LCMS military chaplains, has functions delegated to it by the Board for Mission Services which are not common to the other standing committees of the BFMS. 6. Ministry to the Blind. 4 members: they meet with the secretary for deaf and blind. 7. Ministry to the Deaf. 5 members; they meet with the secretary for deaf and blind. The Board for Mission Services this past biennium adopted a series of policies and procedures as guidelines for enabling its seven standing committees to provide their advisory input to the BFMS. Whenever a standing committee has met, it sends minutes and. or reports to be received by the Board for Mission Services. Missionary Personnel St. Paul's questions, addressed to the Christians in Rome. are still relevant today: “And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14b—15 NIV). An important part of administering the mission program of the Board for Mission Services is the calling, preparation, sending, and supporting of the missionaries and their families who leave their homeland to bring the gospel of Christ to peoples of other lands in their own language and culture. The 1983 Directory of Missionary Personnel, called “Pray for Us,” lists LCMS missionaries in 19 countries in the following categories: Ordained ................. 62 Teachers ................. 33 Deaconess .............--- 1 Medical Doctors .......... 2 aS