# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S2 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 2 MISSIONS a. Through Regular Budgeted Offerings for Mission. Through their regular offerings, God’s people make things “happen” in mission—on the congregational, District, and synodical level. Of the money that is sent on to the Synod, approximately 35 percent is used for missions. In 1968, for example, the Synod allotted about $10,000,000 for mission operating costs and about $5,000,000 for capital expenses. We are grateful for the regular giving of God’s people in obedience to the Lord of the mission. b. Through Designated Gifts for Mission. One indi- cator of the extent to which many individuals and groups are personally involved in communicating the Gospel can be seen in the total amount of special funds and designated gifts received by the Board for Missions during the 1968 fiscal year — $801,918.79! The interna- tional and District LWMLs, congregations, schools, Sunday schools, and individuals all over North America were in mission through these gifts. The office of Special Funds and Designated Gifts Secretary was created by the Board for Missions shortly before the New York convention to furnish a personal communication channel from the board to donors. Through this secretary, Mrs. Marion Kretzschmar, information is supplied to potential donors, and gifts are acknowledged. Board for Missions staff periodically prepare a list of mission projects and needs arising in mission fields at home and abroad. Congregations, groups, and individuals have fur- nished a portion or all of a missionary’s salary, making it possible to send out an additional missionary or needed “specialist.” In several instances budget cutbacks might otherwise have severely hampered mission work. Careful accounting of special gifts assures that the request of the donor is carried out. Disbursements are made to the field treasurer (in the case of overseas gifts) with complete information (the donor’s name and ad- dress and the purpose for which the gift is intended). ¢. Through Whole People in Mission Where They Are. While we encournge more people to share in world evangelism by regular contributions and special mission gifts, we believe that money gifts are but a reflection of a fuller involvement of God’s people right where they are, as “‘living letters.” A staff study paper, “Facing the ’70s,” put it this way: As long as we continue to believe and act as if the mis- sion of Christ had been entrusted to a handful of professional workers in the church and fail to understand in its fullest sense the apostolate of all of God’s people and liberate them for their mission, we will also fail to meet the great oppor- tunities the Lord of the church places before us in our time. We have not yet grasped the full meaning of the fact that in every place where we are engaged in Christ's mission we may no longer think in terms of the few who are sent from the church in western lands as the “mission staff” but must realize what it means that there are hundreds and thousands of co-workers in this mission who have the same call and responsibility which we have. The greatest and pri resource for witness is people committed to Christ and His mission. Money, facilities, and full-time staff are an aid to people who understand their mission as members of Christ’s ody ... they are never a substitute for the people of God. 3. Saints in Each Place Seeing the people of God as God’s “words” or “‘let- ters” to other men has led us once again to the Scriptural truth that the fulfillment of Christ’s mission in a given place rests upon His people in that place —because they are people filled with the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:4-6). Where the Spirit is, there is freedom and life and creativity. There too are the gifts necessary to carry out Christ’s mission. The role of the Board for Missions, then, is to stimulate and assist the people of God where they are, as it also reaches out in mission to new areas. The Board for Missions does not mastermind or direct the mission activities “from above” (from St. Louis). As a servant to Christ’s mission, the Board for Missions reflects with Christians in a local area on the mission as they see it, then assists the saints in that place to do what needs to be done. How does this work itself out in practice? a. Overseas. In most of the countries where our church has been in mission, national churches now take the initiative and bear the responsibility for the mission work. National churches have been established or are in process of being established in Mexico, Ghana, Nige- ria, India, New Guinea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. In Central America a Lutheran Council has been formed so that Lutherans together can be God’s church there. b. In North America. In the U.S. and Canada the responsibility and initiative for mission and ministry rests with the people of God in each District. The syn- odical Board for Missions seeks to free the people of God in each District for their ministry by setting broad and flexible policies within which each District can best determine the distinctive shape of its outreach. The board also sensitizes and equips the Districts for more effective witness and ministry through consultative services, cross-fertilization, and occasional special finan- cial grants. Metro Mission Movement, a 4-year pilot project initiated in St. Louis in 1968, is based on the assumption that the people of God in a specific metro- politan area have all the necessary gifts of the Spirit and can develop the overall strategy and the specific forms of witness and ministry needed to fulfill God’s mission in that place. (MMM is discussed in more detail in a later section.) There are many complex problems in the world today; there are many “unknowns” in regard to the church’s mission effort. How long will outside missionary personnel be allowed to enter certain overseas coun- tries? What should be the shape of the church’s mission and ministry in new situations (war-torn Nigeria, for example)? How do the people of God in a particular place begin to make a dent in the terrifying problems of a large metropolis? But in spite of staggering problems, we have “good things” going for us: The living Word, Jesus Christ Himself, is with us. And through the Spirit the people of God at each place become God’s personal letters to be read by men in every place.