# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1983_S309 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) OTHER REPORTS 309 of His time. The Int’] LLLis working closely with the Board for Parish Services in planning for study materials to accompany “Yeshua” and is investigating ways in which some film footage shot for “Yeshua” might be used in relation to LCMS curriculum materials. Among 10 episodes of “This Is the Life” produced during this 30th anniversary season was “Little Boy of Summer,” filmed in St. Louis and featuring members of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. The Int’] LLL is working with the Board for Parish Services in a special effort to fund production of the episode through the children of the church as their special gift to other children during Lutheran Television's 30th anniversary year. A special 30th anniverary booklet entitled ‘“Celebrate’’ presents the history of Lutheran Television in words and pictures and contains a catalog of Lutheran Television rental films. It was mailed to all Lutheran congregations, and single copies are available on request from League headquarters. An experimental venture into television is the production of three 30-minute programs targeted to young adult audiences, designed for placement by local young adult groups on local cable public access channels. These programs are being pro- duced at the studio facilities of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Placement of the programs will be through LLL-affiliated young adult groups and will also be offered as a “back home ministry” opportunity at the Youth Gathering being sponsored by the Board for Youth Services in August. The programs will be on video cassettes, and will also be available for showing in congregations and on college campuses. Also available to congregations is the League’s “Tension Point” film series which consists of open-ended films accom- panied by Bible study and discussion materials. Special youth discussion guides for these films have been prepared recently, thanks to a generous grant from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Plainview, N.Y. The Lutheran Hour During this 51st broadcast season “The Lutheran Hour” is being aired over more than 1300 radio stations throughout North America and on an additional 116 stations overseas. A total of 77 other Lutheran Hour programs in a variety of formats are being produced by 19 overseas offices and are broadcast in 31 languages over about 700 stations. These programs are heard in about 110 countries, including countries behind the Iron Curtain. Listener response from mainland China received by the Hong Kong Lutheran Hour has increased dramatically over the past few years. In 1982 Lutheran Hour managers from 19 countries met for a workshop in the United States, funded in part by AAL. Following the workshop the overseas managers participated in the Int’l LLL convention in San Diego, Calif. India Lutheran Hour Manager Rev. Suviseshamuthu was awarded an honor- ary doctorate by Valparaiso University in July 1982. Lutheran Hour Speaker Dr. Oswald Hoffmann was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Philippine Christian University in Manila in 1982, and in 1983 was named International Media Clergyman of the Year by Religion in Media. Lutheran Hour offices around the world continue to seek new ways to communicate the Gospel. Besides radio, they are currently using cassettes, film, television, print, and a variety of other media appropriate to their countries and cultures to share Christ with people. The China Lutheran Hour has recently launched a cassette ministry and is sending about 2,000 cassettes each week to people in Taiwan and to Chinese- speaking people in several other countries. Overseas Lutheran Hour offices continue to work closely with partner churches of the LCMS and in many places provide the initial contact for follow up work by LCMS missionaries. Lutheran Hour rallies continue to provide support for the worldwide Lutheran Hour ministry and in recent years have also provided opportunity for local evangelism outreach through the optional “Added Dimension” program. Rally Coordinator Tom Baker and Associate Lutheran Hour Speaker Rev. Wallace Schulz work closely with Rev. Leroy Biesenthal of the Synod’s Board for Evangelism Services in planning and carrying out the activities involved in these “Added Dimen- sion” rallies. These activities provide experience and training for ongoing evangelism outreach in local congregations. Other Radio Programming The League’s daily five-minute devotional program, “Day by Day with Jesus,” is now in its 25th season. Dr. Victor Constien, executive secretary of the Svnod’s Board for Parish Services, has been speaker on the program since 1969. ‘Day by Day with Jesus” is currently being broadcast over about 330 stations, primarily in the United States. In an effort to reach more people with the Gospel, the Int’] LLLis currently test-marketing a new program targeted to the young adult audience. The program, “Crosswalk,” uses con- temporary Christian music and the spoken word in various forms to communicate the Gospel. The Int’] LLL has worked closely with the Board for Youth Services in determining the format and content of the program. Print The League's official publication, The Lutheran Layman, which is sent to all Int'l LLL members and LCMS pastors, has decreased the number of issues published annually, from twelve to eight. Sixteen pages of this 20-page paper are now reprinted under the title BCTN Magazine and sent to contri- butors to the League’s ministry who are not League members and occasionally to non-contributors. Four of these pages designed for young adult readers are also reprinted under the title Rejoice! and sent to individual young adults and young adult groups for distribution to unchurched friends and acquaintances. Both BCTN Magazine and Rejoice! provide new opportunities for evangelism outreach through League publications. The League's official publication for its volunteer leaders, League Leaders’ Lifeline, has been expanded to 16 pages andis published seven times a vear. ServiceLife, previously a bimonthly publication for Int’l LLL-affiliated groups, has now been incorporated into League Leaders’ Lifeline. Several issues of League Leaders’ Lifeline are being sent to all LCMS pastors annually to keep them informed about League activities. Other recent League publications include a book about Christian marriage, And The Two Shall Become One; a Bible study guide, Sharing Our Joy; and a Spanish prayer book, Ensenanos a rar. Hispanic Ministries The League’s 15-minute Spanish radio drama, “Aver, Hoy y Siempre,”’ marks its fifth anniversary this vear. Currently about 125 stations in North, Central, and South America are broadcasting the program weekly. A significant additional number of stations have been carrying Spanish Christmas and Easter radio specials produced by the League. “Esta Es la Vida” is currently being shown over 18 television stations in the United States and in several South American countries, and Christmas television specials in Spanish have been carried over the Spanish International Network. The League has also produced a limited amount of Spanish Christian literature and continues to work closely with other LCMS boards and agencies involved in Hispanic ministry through participation as a member of the LCMS Coordinating Commit- tee for Hispanic Literature. Multimedia A new approach to ministry by the Int’l LLL is through periodic multimedia campaigns in which the League uses all its media ministries for a designated period of time to address the Gospel to a specific problem or concern and to provide a free booklet to those who request it. The first such multimedia campaign, “The Miracle of Aging,’ was conducted during May and June of 1982, and a second campaign, ‘Alone, But Not Lonely,” was conducted in May and June of 1983. These campaigns use Lutheran Hour sermons, radio spots, TV spots, newspaper columns, and a series of “This Is the Life’ and “Tension Point” films offered as a one-time-only series to apply the Gospel to the subject being addressed in each campaign. Materials for conducting a local multimedia campaign during the time the nationwide campaign is being conducted are offered to local congregations and LLL groups.