# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S414 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) tid CHURCH LITERATURE AND PUBLICATIONS; PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Overwhelming Population Growth For the first time in 2,000 years we are technically equipped to fulfill the mandate of the Great Commis- sion: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” Only our Lord could have foreseen the magnitude of the task of reaching all men in a civilization growing by 1,080 human beings per minute, 259,200 a day. Popu- lation is exploding. In 1492, when Columbus sailed to America, world population stood at 250,000.000 (250 million) people. Today. less than 500 years later. it is 3,000.000,000 (3 billion) and, continuing at the present growth rate, will snowball to 6,000,000,000 (6 billion) by the year 2000 just 31 years from now. Latin America alone is growing from 104 million in 1930 to 624 million by 1995, a 600°; growth. In the last third of the 20th century. world population will again double. And 100 years from now it is estimated that an incomprehensible 24.000,000,000 (24 bil- lion) people will populate the globe. It is almost impossible to overstate the sense of urgency attached to the “Great Commission” to preach the Gospel to every creature when the population ex- plosion and electronic mass communication are simul- taneous phenomena of our generation. Six billion people 30 years from now. 24 billion by 2100, and they all must hear of the Savior! With ghettos turning people out, high rises fencing people in: with an increasingly impersonal and with- drawing population in the suburbs; with the incompre- hensible growth of population, there can be no doubt that electronic mass communication must continue to be a prime carrier of the Good News in Jesus Christ. The Television Future With this challenge before it the television board, mindful of the leadership forged by the Synod through the innovating “This Is the Life” and of its commitment to communication, developed a position statement in December 1968 which calls new attention to the chal- lenges of the second threshold, speaks to a unified TV ministry. and outlines a course of action for near- and far-term television operation here and overseas. The Synod's Board of Directors approved the basic assumptions and objectives of that position statement: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS LUTHERAN TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS 1. Definition and implementation of a synodical tele- vision ministry which seeks “to make Jesus Christ, Chris- tian truth, and the Christian way of life known through- out the world” is the assigned responsibility of the Board for Lutheran Television Productions. 2. The “television ministry” consists of providing ma- terials for domestic and international telecasts and of pro- viding materials and consultative services for Districts. congregations, and educational agencies. 3. Television activities at home and abroad are coor- dinated through the television board and its staff work- ing in consultation and cooperation with related agencies. 4. The future potential and the challenge of television necessitate a substantial continuing basic level of synodi- cal support and will require broader and deeper financial commitment to expand this ministry. 5. In carrying out the television ministry, the Synod has the benefits of a joint sponsorship association with, and the valuable cooperation of, the Lutheran Laymen’s League. OBJECTIVES LUTHERAN TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS 1. To confront the unconcerned or uninformed non- Christian, wherever he may be found, with the Word, through which the Holy Spirit calls men to faith in Jesus Christ and gives them eternal life. 2. To dispose viewers toward a favorable reception of additional approaches by the church via media and through local follow-up. 3. To edify the Christian viewer and stimulate func- tional Christian life. 4. To convey to the public mind an image of The Lu- theran Church — Missouri Synod as a relevant church body with a vital interest in people and their problems, thus enhancing the potential of fruitful contact between itself and the unchurched and creating a growing res- ervoir of goodwill and respect. 5. To assist congregations, District media people, edu- cational agencies or projects within the church by pro- viding creative ideas, information, programs, and personal staff contacts. 6. To provide leadership in the research and develop- ment aspects of the television ministry of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. 7. To provide the necessary professional and ecclesias- tical contact with national and international television developments and activities. In order to implement the assumptions and objectives more fully and to give additional focus and direction to its task, the board is reflecting the thrust of these con- cerns in memorials submitted in conjunction with this report to the Synod. Future TV Activity Recognizing the challenge of presenting the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ in such a manner that the Holy Spirit can nourish the heart, generate faith. and sanctify life. the TV board continues to address itself to additional and new ways in which the Word can be presented meaningfully on television in ever more complex and competitive circumstances. In its program development section the TV board, with a view toward entrance into more prime-time peri- ods than those presently available to “This Is the Life” as a public service, looks to the immediate future as a time for experimentation, while at the same time maintaining its present position of leadership with the “This Is the Life’ series. Serious consideration is being given to three ap- proaches aimed at significantly larger national audiences whose complexion is much different from the Sunday morning audience. Research is proceeding on a TV Special for the Christmas season, when the Gospel message is most ap- propriate on TV, a U.S. and overseas children’s program