# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S1075
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

358 YOUNG PEOPLE’S WORK

take an active interest in these gatherings and hel

their success. They also serve on the faculty of Ls. V. ting
7 eV, Cols,

trict conventions.

To be effective, the youth program must i
and release the power of the Gospel, which alone i ri =pply
and hold young péople for Christ and His kingdom. Th oo
of the League is truly Christ-centered, but it can be effect, .
as the theory of it is carried over into practice. To make © only
a Christ-centered program fully effective on a local level 4 Such
one of the chief concerns of your youth leaders, * still

The materials which are produced concentrate a
the necessity of making every activity of the youth gro
or oem alen These materials include the Wa

essenger for Youth, the Workers uarterly,
and reprints. Your Board would omer that , fe net the es
ence of the materials, but the proper use of them which will het,
develop a functional youth program on a congregational level, =“

ttention on

UP @ Process
Ither League

Survey Committee
To be sure that the youth program is serving the best Possible

of youth work are to be studied down to the local iona
level, and it will no doubt tak i bel © the indies
ae ee € some time before the findings
Christian Youth Emergency Action

In the light of what is happening to our young people today
and of what is confronting them tomorrow, every congregation
must be deeply concerned about the effectiveness of its youth
program. Its future depends upon its holding and its winning of
young People. In recognition of this need, the Board for Young
People's Work, in consultation with Dr. J. W. Behnken and in

effort directed the attention of these youth leaders to the resources

of methods and materials which the youth program needs. In co-

YOUNG PEOPLE'S WORK 359

with the Walther League, Pastor Walter Wangerin was
ted as director of this program. He met in conferences with
< and youth counselors all over the United States and Canada
y every synodical District. A number of seminars were
dan up-to-date file was set up of all youth counselors, who
received materials to be of assistance on the congregational-
t was very encouraging to see how the youth leaders rallied
cause and gave their full support so that our youth program
in these times could go forward as effectively as possible.

"Much of this work had to be curtailed since Pastor Wangerin

cepted a call as pastor in Grand Forks, N.Dak. Then also
Dr. 0. H. Theiss, who served the League as Executive Secretary
for almost eleven years, accepted a call to initiate a ministerial
training program in Japan. It is the hope of your Board that this
project will soon be supervised by another full-time director, who
will rally this potential force of youth leaders to ever greater serv-
ice in the Church.

Bible Reading League

One of the new mission endeavors started during the past
triennium was the venture known as the Bible Reading League.
This endeavor has been spearheaded by Pastor A. R. Kretzmann
and Miss Vera Mueller through the Walther League office. The
plan briefly was this: Our young people would enroll in the Bible
Reading League by sending one dollar to the Walther League office.
Through the co-operation of our missionaries in foreign fields
a “Mission Friend” was assigned to everyone who enrolled. This
“Mission Friend” is a native of a foreign country and received
a Testament printed in his language. This offered also a wonderful
opportunity for every enrollee to correspond with this “Mission
Friend.” The results of this project were beyond expectation. Over
16,000 enrolled in the Bible Reading League, and over 17,000 Testa-
ments were sent to “Mission Friends” in 75 countries embracing
41 different languages. So that this wonderful project would not
come to a halt, the Walther League convention in Ottawa adopted
the resolution to continue the project under the heading of “Bible
Reading Advance.” In this way such as previously enrolled could
re-enroll so that portions of the Old Testament (Psalms, Proverbs,
Isaiah) could be sent to the “Mission Friends.”

Closely allied to the Bible Reading League is the Messenger
Mission Project. As part of the 60th anniversary program of the
Walther League, the Messenger Mission Project was designed to
help societies send the Walther League Messenger to foreign
schools, libraries, colleges, and universities. In its. year. and
a quarter of operation, the Messenger Mission Project has sent
2,500 such subscriptions into all parts of the world.