# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1956_S721
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS 721

Report of the Department of Social Welfare
(Report 1009)

I. The History of the Department

Established by the Delegate Synod of 1950, the Department be-
gan full-time operations October 1, 1953, less than three years ago.

II. The Board of Social Welfare

A Board of Social Welfare directs the work of the Department.
There are five members who are appointed by the President of
Synod; two of these must be members of the Executive Board of
Associated Lutheran Charities. Present members: Rev. E. B. Glabe,
Minneapolis, Minn., chairman; Rev. Arnold Bringewatt, New York
City, secretary; Rev. Martin H. Ise, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio; Rev.
Karl H. Ehlers, Cleveland, Ohio; Mr. Louis Schwanke, Addison, II.
Advisory members are: Rev. E. J. Mahnke, St. Louis, Mo.; Rev.
Werner Kuntz, Detroit, Mich; Rev. Ruben Spannaus, Seattle,
Wash.; Miss Clara Sletten, Chicago, Ill. Board meetings are held
quarterly.

Ill. The Personnel of the Department

An Executive Secretary and an assistant, serving charitable
agencies and the church at large as social-work consultant, and
two office workers are the personnel. The office is in the Lutheran
Building in St. Louis.

IV. The Purpose of the Department

The functions of the Department are described in Directives
given to the Department by the Board of Directors of Synod.

The Handbook does not seem to reflect these functions cor-
rectly or adequately. :

Therefore the Department has memorialized Synod to simplify
and correct Section XIII, Par.5, which deals with the functions of
the Department.

V. The Work of the Department

The following brief report follows the order of the Directives.
A more detailed report may be obtained from the Department per-
sonnel at the synodical meeting or from the office at 210 N. Broad-
way, St. Louis.

1. General Advisory and Correlating Activities
It is the duty of the Department to attempt to correlate as
much as possible the social-welfare activities of synodical and
District offices and the church’s voluntary agencies, both national
and local.