# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S20 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 20 MISSIONS, EVANGELISM, AND SOCIAL MINISTRY to Jewish missions as to their effectiveness and doctrinal correctness, and make this information available to the Board for Evangelism Services. 2. Develop materials (tracts. Bible studies. etc.) for use in congregations. 3. Assist Districts and congregations in conducting work- shops on Jewish-Lutheran concerns. 4. Develop a library of Jewish evangelism missiology, to be housed at svnodical headquarters. 5. Generate occasional articles on Jewish evangelism for synodical publications. 6. Maintain a list of LCMS pastors who have a special interest in Jewish evangelism and make this list available to District Presidents once per year; maintain a list of Lutheran laymen who have interest and aptitude for Jewish evangelism. 7. Mantain liaison with other Lutheran agencies which are doing Jewish mission work, e.g.. Good News for Israel and the Lutheran Institute for Jewish Evangelism. 8. When appropriate, utilize other Christian Jewish evan- gelism agencies as resource helps. 9. Promptly refer requests from the Jewish community for dialog tothe CTCR. as instructed by Res. 1-30(St.. Louis. 1979). 10. Develop other programs which will help our people to bring the Gospel to Jewish people. 11. Study the causes of the increase of anti-Semitism. make our congregations aware of the problem. and seek to provide materials to counteract it. Among the publications released or in the process of being developed are: —A Seder Communion Service —A filmstrip on Jesus in the Passover —A revision of the filmstrip “Bill Brought Them” for children dealing with anti-Semitism and witnessing. —Teaching cassette tapes on Jewish evangelism —Bible study and meditations for Sukkoth —Lenten series of the Bible studies on Jewish concerns Articles which were developed and accepted for publication include: —"The Land and State of Israel in Prophecy and Fulfillment. ‘written by Prof. John R. Wilch (Concordia Seminary, St. Catharines). published in the Cuncordia Journal, September 1982. and “Luther's Seven Point Program,” scheduled for publication in the Lutheran Witness. —aAn article by Rev. John Perling. pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Beverly Hills, Calif., on how Luther's anti-Semitic statements affect his ministry to Jewish people. published in The Lutheran Witness. A special concern of the Task Force on Witnessing toJewish People is the increased publicity given to “Luther's Seven Point Program” for the Jews which he outlined in his book On the Jews and Their Lies, and the increased references to Luther's statements by the Jewish community. An example is Prof. Arnold Ages’ statement relative to Luther's 500th anniversary published in The Jewish Post and Opinion, a national weekly tabloid (Feb. 9, 1983). He called Luther the 16th century's most diabolical anti-Semite. “There is no doubt.” he wrote, “that Martin Luther was the first and among the most powerful of the anti-Semitic pollutants that poisoned German society. The toxic elements introduced by Luther took on a special potency in 1933. For these reasons, Jews will decline. respectfully, to honor Martin Luther, during this his500th anniversary year.” Two ofthe District conventionsofthe Synod dealt with Luther's statements because resolutions had been submitted on the subject by congregations. The South Wisconsin District re- ferred the matter to the CTCR for study. The Florida-Georgia District disavowed the statements by Luther and referred the matter to this convention, asking it to do the same. The Board for Evangelism Services has been asked by the task force to adopt a statement presented to it as a working policy and one which could be used in workshops and by congregations when confronted with the question. The board has deferred action until the CTCR finishes its study of how to deal with the question. and until this convention deals with the issue through the overtures submitted on the subject. The board sees Luther's statement as part of the problem of anti-Semitism. The last convention (Res. 1-13A) instructed the task force “to expand its work and to prayerfully study new avenues for defusing the new increasing anti-Semitism in our land and in the world.” The task force has been exploring with the Board for Parish Services the publication of an adult study guide on the subject. 10. Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ On May 22. 1981. the Board of Directors of the Synod yranted to the organization known as Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ the status of a Listed Service Organization, described in Bylaw 17.03 (since changed to 13.03), designating the Board for Evangelism Services as the “board to handle all communi- cation between the OAFC and theSynod." TheOAFC regularly submits reports to the Board for Evangelism Services and annually submits an audited financial statement. Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ is a youth evangelistic movement. It began in 1970 with 24 people and since has trained thousands of youth and adults in witnessing for their Savior and their church. Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ uses six ways to share faith: singing. drama. door-to-door witnessing. small-group Bible studies, puppets, and testi- monials. They also have developed 10 witnessing methods. As it works in the local parish it discovers prospects, strengthens youth in faith, and helps to motivate them for professional church work as well as for being lay leaders. OAFC challenges vouth to develop and use their witnessing skills daily in life and monthly in OAFC weekends. They also havea week of intensified summer training, summer traveling teams, college-age couples teams that spend a summer in a congregation, college-age teams that spend a semester or two starting and strengthening OAFC programs. Jesus is their hero and the only way to heaven. Recently progress has been made on how to stop the confirmation dropout and turn negative peer pressure into positive. For information write Rev. Fred C. Darkow, 1302 E. Seventh St.. Winfield, Kans. 67156. Telephone: 316 2216473. 11. Other Activities of the Board for Evangelism Ser- vices a. The Board for Evangelism Services continues to work with Concordia Publishing House in the development of a series of books on evangelism, which were recommended in a consultation which was held in August of 1980. The two basic books are: A Theology for Evangelism, by Dr. Robert Kolb A History of Evangelism, by Dr. Milton Rudnick Four other small volumes on practical subjects are in the process of being written and edited. Subjects to be covered are backdoor losses, motivation, various evangelism methods, church growth. b. The Executive Secretary of the Board for Evangelism Services, Dr. Erwin J. Kolb. serves as liaison between the Board of Directors of the Synod and the Portals of Prayer Telephone Ministry. an independent organization which oper- ates a telephone ministry in the St. Louis area. About 65 trained volunteers handle an average of 200 calls a month. c. The Associate Secretary of Evangelism, Rev. W. Leroy Biesenthal, works with the Lutheran Laymen’s League in their Lutheran Hour Rallies which feature the “Added Dimension” of evangelism training and calling. d. The Executive Secretary. Dr. Erwin J. Kolb. serves on the Evangelism Subcommittee of the Coordinating Committee for Cooperative Projects in Congregational Life. made up of the evangelism executives of the four church bodies compnising the CCCPCL, the Lutheran Churchin America. The American Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. e. The board sponsored a Pre-Lenten Retreat for pastors and their wives inJanuary of 1982 at Yahara Center, Madison, Wis., and at Scottsdale, Ariz. Speakers at the retreats were the Rev. Richard Kapfer, Ames, Iowa. and Prof. Dale Mever. St.