# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S53 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) PARISH, YOUTH, AND COMMUNICATION SERVICES a3 rollment of the child and be on hand to welcome the child on the first day in church school. Parents do appreciate the church’s ministry for their young children. We do well to use this opportunity to involve parents and their young children in active fellowship with God's people. churches but who do not later receive the rite of confirmation may indicate that we need to place greater emphasis on [3 b. The significant percentage of children baptized in our —— 7 ministry to persons as individuals. Here we have the example of Jesus, who spent much time in ministering to individuals rather than in “‘mass evangelism.” Our Sunday school workers need to learn to know each student as a person through home visitations, judicious use of the presession, observation of students in their activities, and other means. Existing evidence indicates that people who belong to a fellowship of Christians need at least to be able to identify with some people of the congregation with whom they feel com- fortable, by whom they are valued as persons, and with whom they are able to share their joys, problems, successes, and disappointments. The Sunday school class can fulfill this function. Teachers therefore need to be sensitive to the needs, interests, and experiences of each individual student. Some losses occur for lack of interest in absentees. Every Sunday school needs a system of personal care through which every absentee is contacted and encouraged to maintain regular participation in the life of the church. Once people have lost all interest in the life of a congregation, they likely will not return. c. Usually the Sunday school reflects the ongoing health of a congregation. If we are to have strong Sunday schools, we need congregations that are strong in all aspects of congrega- tional life. Congregations need to assimilate all members in congregational life, involve them in meaningful service, and demonstrate concern for the needs of every member. Healthy congregations produce healthy Sunday schools. 4. The fourth challenge before our Sunday schools is to utilize fully this agency for evangelism to the growing number of unchurched people. For most congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod the Sunday school is the primary agency for the Christian education of young and old. For this reason our congregations are rightly concerned that the Sun- day school meet the spiritual needs of their members. We continue to need to improve our Sunday schools so they fulfill this function. But in serving our own members we dare not _neglect our obligation to those who live without Christ. i nS. Because of our obligation of love to the unchurched, the Board for Parish Services plans to emphasize child evangelism in 1985. But in the meantime we all need to identify the ‘unchurched people in our communities and invite them to join us in the study of God’s Word in Sunday school. B. The Weekday School For many years Christians have recognized the limitations of the Sunday school as the only agency for the Christian education of God’s people. Already in the 19th century our fathers established Saturday and summer schools for more intensive religious instruction than is usually available in Sunday school alone. One fine tradition has been a weekday school for seventh- and eighth-grade students, usually taught by the pastor, in preparation for the rite of confirmation. Also Christians in other denominations have long recog- nized the need for more time for Christian education than that provided by the Sunday school. In 1904 Dr. George U. Wenner advocated a “released time” program whereby public school students would be given an hour or so of the school week for religious education provided by local churches. The first “released time” experiment was conducted in Gary, Ind., in 1913.Some churches in our Synod even today sponsor success- ful “released time” programs of Christian education. However, in most localities public school systems are forbidden by law or public policy to cooperate with churches in providing “released time” programs. Therefore, the churches must creatively plan Christian education programs apart from school hours during the week. This is usually done on a weekday after school hours or on Saturday. Advantages of weekday programs include the added time afforded for Christian education, a more leisurely pace than that often found in Sunday school, and greater opportunities for students to develop friendships with others in their church. Most congregations already have a weekday school in their pastor’s or director of Christian education’s class of seventh- and eighth-graders who are being prepared for the rite of confirmation. It is relatively easy to expand this school by adding additional classes for children in the lower elementary grades, and also by offering study groups for youth and adults. Because of the kind of world in which we live today, it is even more important that we seek to augment the Sunday school program with weekday programs of Christian educa- tion. During the past several years synodical enrollment in weekday programs has been relatively stable. We are chal- lenged to proclaim our Savior to more people by strengthening the weekday programs wherever they are already in existence, and to establish new programs where they do not now exist. Statistics for our weekday programs are given below. ENROLLMENT IN WEEKDAY PROGRAMS, 1979—81 Saturday Schools 1979 1980 1981 Number of Schools ............. 1,121 1,071 995 Preschool ...................... 257 376 208 Grades 1—2 ...........00....... 297 416 250 Grades 3—4 ...............0..... 484 582 461 Grades5d—6 .................... 2,206 2,208 2,050 Grades 7—8 .................... 10,462 10,019 9,109 High School .................... 540 583 431 Weekday After School Classes 1979 1960 1981 Number of Schools ............. 3,563 3,611 3,718 Preschool ...................... 1,631 1,882 2,132 Grades 1—2 .................... 4,083 3,976 3,879 Grades 3—4 .........0..0.0...... 8,524 8,358 7,625 Grades5—6 .................... 17,257 17,252 17,422 Grades 7—8 .................... 41,963 41,249 42658 High School .................... 2,785 2,844 2,819 Released Time Classes 1979 1980) 19K] Number of Schools ............. 432 456 466 Preschool ...................... 746 836 1,156 Grades 1—2 ...........00....... 1,573 1,561 1,647 Grades 3—4 1.00.00... 2,684 2,651 2,461 Grades5—6 .............0.0..... 3.034 3,130 3,322 Grades 7—8 .................... 4.441 4,692 4,551 High School .................... 1,156 1,204 1,051 Total Weekday Schools 1979 1980 1981 Number of Schools ............. 5,117 5,138 5,179 Preschool ...................... 2,634 3,094 3,496 Grades 1—2 .................... 5,953 5,953 5,782 Grades 3—4 ......0....00.0...... 11,692 11,591 10,547 Grades5—6 .................... 22,497 22590 22,794 Grades 7—8 ...............000.. 56,866 55,990 56,318 High School .................... 4,481 4,629 4,301 Total Students, K~12 ............ 104,123 103,857 103,238 Adults in Weekday Programs ... 146,281 155,439 161,777 C. The Vacation Bible School se An educational agency that continues to grow in our Synod is the vacation Bible school. Its attractiveness lies in its ability_ to provide concentrated study of a specific Christian doctrine at a leisurely pace for members of the congregation. It alsoisa significant potential evangelism arm of the church. Because friends of the church can participate for a limited period without committing themselves to long-term involvement in the congregation, they are more ready to enroll in the vacation Bible school than in such agencies as the Sunday school that suggest long-term commitment. In 1981, 4,428 congregations conducted a vacation Bible ,