# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S328
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

528 HIGHER EDUCATION

Wuereas, The one absolute prerequisite in the opera-
tion of ministerial education is competent faculty per-
sonnel, trained in and committed to Scripture-derived
theology. experienced in the Lutheran ministry, and
dedicated to the task: and

Wuereas, The currently growing deemphasis on the
value of a nationally coordinated system of ministerial
education in our church and the simultaneous growth
of competing alternate routes to the ministry are not
conducive to efforts to increase financial support or
recruitment for the colleges and seminaries of the Synod;
and

Wuereas, The persistent lack of sufficient synodical
funds to operate effectively has already generated sub-
stantial efforts and expenditures by individual colleges
and seminaries to produce financial support from non-
synodical sources: and

Wuereas, The history of higher education in the
United States exhibits an unbroken pattern of progres-
sively reduced control and eventual disaffiliation from
the church whenever colleges. by choice or necessity,
have become financially capable of operating indepen-
dently as a result of income gained from nonchurch
sources; and

Wuereas, The continuing inflationary spiral is inflict-
ing increasingly severe personal and family hardships
on our faculty members in the absence of more than
token relief in the salary modifications over the last sev-
eral years; and

Wuereas, The synodical need to operate accredited
colleges and seminaries moves dedicated faculty mem-
bers to qualify for their vital service by acquiring the
necessary graduate training in their teaching fields at
great personal effort and expense; and

Wuereas, Such graduate training also qualifies syn-
odical faculty people for teaching in areas of public and
private higher education where remuneration is gener-
ally very considerably higher: and

Whereas, Current living costs are compelling in-
creasing numbers of synodica] faculty people to supple-
ment their salary by extensive “moonlighting,” to the
detriment of the Synod’s educational program for future
ministers, the personal health of the men involved, and
the time and vigor they can devote to teaching for the
Synod; and

Wuereas, There has been a sharp increase during
the past year in the number of faculty men who have
concluded with the greatest reluctance that they are
compelled to accept other positions in order to provide
adequately for the subsistence of large families, the
preservation of their health, and the education of their
children; and

Whereas, A continuation of these conditions will in-
evitably result in drastic reductions in the effectiveness
of the Syned’s ministerial education program and in-
deed in its eventual tragic collapse if early and effec-

tive steps are not taken to correct this erosion of long
standing; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Board for Higher Education be
instructed to give top priority to developing methods and
procedures for making available more adequate salaries
for faculty members at all of the Synod’s colleges and
seminaries; and be it further

Resolved, That no new schools, programs, or educa-
tional services be developed and that no expansion of
existing schools, programs. or educational services which
involve additional teachers and or the expenditure of
additional synodical funds be approved by the Board
for Higher Education or undertaken by any individual
school prior to the provision of substantial additions to
the salary of all current synodical instructional per-
sonnel; and be it further

Resolved, That the President of the Synod at his ear-
liest convenience appoint seven advisory members with-
out vote to assist the Board for Higher Education in ur-
gent efforts to solve the problem, these appointments to
terminate automatically when methods and means for
improving faculty salaries have been identified; and be
it further

Resolved, That the appointees include one District
President, one parish minister, one layman, and one
representative of each level of synodical educational
operations (seminary, senior college, junior college,
teacher training); and be it further

Resolved, That the Board for Higher Education is
fully empowered to effect any necessary procedural
policy changes in the administration of its assigned sub-
sidy budget if some part of the ultimate salary solution
involves the adoption of formula budgeting instead of
the current “line item” approach or other changes in the
current policy of budget administration: and be it
further

Resolved, That any proposals to discontinue selected
colleges or seminaries, as well as proposals to consoli-
date and or to transfer colleges or seminaries be recom-
mended to the next convention of the Synod for appro-
priate action, in accordance with the provisions of the
synodical Constitution. if such proposals should become
a part of the ultimate solution: and be it further

Resolved, That in the interest of preventing further
interim loss of qualified teachers, the board is encour-
aged to give urgent study to the possibility of immedi-
ately reducing the net total of teachers on the synodi-
cal payroll by accelerating the schedule of closing the
synodical high schools or by discontinuing special pro-
grams or by reducing the number of course offerings
where such action would reduce the number of teach-
ers required without depriving the Synod of adequately
trained graduates or by any other modifications, short
of closing institutions which contribute significant num-
bers of ministerial graduates to the synodical project
in ministerial education; and be it finally

Resolved, That all pastors and congregations are en-
couraged to give renewed evidence of their vital con-