# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S211 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) SYNODICAL ADMINISTRATION 211 (4-06) Report of Department of Research and Statistics The Department of Research and Statistics herewith presents the convention report on its activities to the membership of the Synod. In accordance with the pro- visions of the synodical Handbook this is primarily a report on the activities of the department. Every effort has been made to condense the scope and range of the report. However, since this is the first report of the department, background information on its adminis- tration and development is included. Also the final portion of the report presents a brief survey of the plans for the future activities of the department. Administration A Research Department was authorized by the Synod in convention in 1959. This authorization was in response to the recommendation made by the Synodical Survey Commission for the formation of such a depart- ment. The Synodical Survey Commission provided a general description of the objectives of the department and set forth a number of specific functions for the department. (Proceedings, 1959, p. 258) In general this department was established by the Synod as an agency to provide staff services to the boards, commissions, congregations, and other agencies of the Synod. Dr. M. G. Neale Sr., who served as a research con- sultant to the Synod from 1961 to 1963, initiated the formation of the Research Department. The position of Research Director remained vacant from 1963 to 1968, when Rev. Paul R. Picard was appointed as Acting Director of Research and head of the department. In 1966 the Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Research were combined to form a single department. Although these two fields are closely interrelated, there is some logic to a division of the activities of the depart- ment into the areas of research and statistics. Therefore this report will include separate accounts of activities in each of these two areas, Research Almost without exception, the special studies in the area of research are made in order to provide informa- tion to the boards and commissions and to the member- ship of the Synod. In some cases the research studies were made in direct response to a synodical resolution, and in other cases they were made on the request of individual boards or commissions of the Synod. In all cases, however, these studies were designed to provide information that would assist the Synod in dealing with specific and general problems or concerns. Major re- search projects undertaken by the department include a series of extensive studies on the growth trends of the Synod analyzed according to Districts, metropolitan areas, states, and a number of other social and economic variables by Dr. M. G. Neale Sr. These studies were based on comparative statistics on the congregations of the Synod from 1940 to 1960. More recently the department has completed the following research studies: 1. 1963—1964 Congregational Analysis. A report on the membership growth trends from 1940 to 1964 with additional analyses on the 1963 and 1964 statistics. 2. Worker Satisfaction. This study analyzes the sources and results of employee satisfaction and dis- satisfaction among the nonexecutive employees in the synodical headquarters. 3. Backdoor Losses. This study was an investigation of the factors which give rise to membership losses in the congregations of the Synod. It seeks to determine why these members are lost and what steps can be taken to reduce these losses. 4. District Realignment. This report was made at the request of the New York convention of the Synod. It includes a survey of factors relevant to District align- ment and suggests two sets of criteria which might guide future proposals and decisions relating to District realignment. 5. Clergy Salary Study. This report was an analysis of salaries received by parish pastors in the Missouri Synod. The salaries are analyzed according to a num- ber of factors such as pastor's age, size of the congre- gation he serves, and other variables, In addition to these major projects many less ex- tensive studies and reports were made on the Synod’s membership, finances, organization, and administration to the Council of Administrators, the Board of Direc- tors, and the President of the Synod. When the studies made by the Department of Re- search and Statistics were of general interest, sum- maries of the reports were made to the membership of the Synod through the official publications of The Lu- theran Church — Missouri Synod. Statistics A major activity in the department during the past decade has been the conversion of all statistical and biographical records from a manual system to an elec- tronic data-processing system. Since 1968 complete records on all the pastors, teachers, congregations, and elementary schools in the Synod are stored and main- tained on a computer tape system. This automated procedure of record maintenance has greatly facilitated the compilation and publication of information included in the Statistical Yearbook and the Lutheran Annual. This procedure has also resulted in substantial savings to the Synod. such as the photographic reproduction of an IBM printout for the Statistical Yearbook and the elimination of the Elementary Schools and Teachers Yearbook. In the area of statistics and records the de- partment also provides many services to the boards, departments, congregations, pastors, and individuals within and without the Synod.