# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1973_S187 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) $a SYNODICAL ADMINISTRATION 187 Thankoffering To organize the second phase of the anniversary observ- ance, the executive committee of the 125th anniversary ob- servance committee successfully sought. and the Board of Directors of Synod approved, the services of Rickman As- sociates as consultants to give direction to phase two of the celebration: The Thankoffering. On the basis of the studies referred to above and a de- tailed survey by Rickman Associates as to what might be the potential of a Thankoffering effort, the Board of Direc- tors set a broad goal of between $20 and $30 million dollars. The Synod will remember that synodical resolution in Milwaukee in 1971 designated that 25° of the Thankoffering should be retained by the various Districts for promotion of special ministries or missionary expansion within their own territories. Recognizing the validity of the absolute mini- mum requests of the departments and agencies of the Synod and adding to that the expense of gathering a Thankoffer- ing and the 25¢. to be retained by the Districts, a minimum goal of $28 million was established. Since organization of the Thankoffering procedures is in progress as this report is being written, we are asking Rev. Rickman, the financial consultant, to submit a separ- ate report on the Thankoffering, and he has consented to do so. Detailed information must. of course, await the con- vention and will be conveyed orally when the committee appears before the Synod. Acknowledgment and Thanks The 125th anniversary observance committee and staff acknowledge the excellent cooperation of all of the boards, commissions, and agencies of the Synod especially at the time when they were asked to offer suggestions as to their own respective contributions to the anniversary observance. They were also very conscientious in stating the amount of dollars they hoped to receive from the Thankoffering. Nu- merous meetings took much valuable time, but there was no complaint. For all of this the anniversary observance committee and staff express sincere gratitude. May the Good Lord continue to grant _a spirit of “Re- joicing in Mercy” to the members of the Synod for a great future. 125TH ANNIVERSARY OBSERVANCE COMMITTEE Oliver R. Harms, Director Mrs. Ray Hodges. Secretary 4-10B 125th Anniversary Thankoffering Progress Report Esteemed brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord: Introduction Reports of this nature are usually written when a pro- gram has been completed. It. therefore. becomes extremely frustrating to prepare this report for the CONVENTION WORK- BooK at the time when the 125th Anniversary Thankoffering program is just completing the organizational and material production phase and moving into congregational participa- tion which ultimately will determine the success of the pro- gram. Thus we will need to limit this to a progress report with an up-date at the 1973 convention and a final report to the Synod in convention in 1975. The Synod determined to bring a thankoffering as one of the means of recognizing the 125th anniversary and to provide resources for a forward thrust in mission and min- istry to our world. Thankoffering Objectives The Executive Committee set four objectives it felt were interpretive of Milwaukee resolution (11-03) and worthy goals to be achieved by the Synod in the thankoffering en- deavor! 1. By this thankoffering we intend to help one another rejoice in God's mercy to us in our lives and in the Synod’s history; 2. Learn more of the Synod’s mission and ministry and gratefully respond; 3. Discover and develop new resources of support for the Synod'’s work; 4. Recognize the obligation and privilege of cooperative effort in the Synod. In correlation with the thankoffering objectives, the Ex- ecutive Committee also adopted six major “Guiding Princi- ples” for the thankoffering program. This progress report uses that framework to assess and analyze the achievement to this time. Guiding Principle I: The need of our Lord’s people to give thanks — In all of our planning. communication, and training, we have attempted to maintain a profile that would evoke a re- sponse of joyous thanksgiving, as an outgrowth of Gospel motivation, as each of us remembers what He has done: for me personally. for my personal family. for my congregational family. for my District family, for my synodical family in 125 years. We have found an overwhelming acceptance of this prin- ciple. This 1s. of course. as it should be. Whether congrega- tions and individuals will be able to translate the concept of being thankful into responsive “Gifts of Joy” through the thankoffering will probably not be revealed until the end of the effort. Guiding Principle H: The needs this thankoffering can fill quite naturally involve sacrificial gifts. It is the means of undergirding an expansion program for the whole church — an expansion of concern for people and an expansion of concern for the work to be accomplished. A resource needed for effective expansion is, of course, money. We have attempted to portray needs” as strategic and welcome opportunities for rethinking our Christian mission and recommitting our resources in relation to the corporate “need” of the church. Every department of our Synod was asked to present plans for programs that would require beyond-budget fund- ing if these plans were to be realized. Only after projects submitted were evaluated and reevaluated were they in- corporated in the program —— and then in terms of priorities and with specific dollar costs. Program and Project Designations One of the most perceptive decisions made by the com- mittee, as confirmed by Synodwide acceptance, was to pro- pose options whereby advance gifts. special gifts, and whole congregations could identify with one or more of the 115 specific projects or the broad categories of “needs.” If choices are oversubscribed, the remainder flows into the general thankoffering. By agreement with the depart- ments of Synod involved, all programs and projects are clas- sified: Extremely Urgent: Urgent: Critical; Essential. Use of these terms is not an exercise in semantics. While these “needs” are all urgent. there is a difference in these pri- orities. Guiding Principle III: We recognized from the beginning of the effort that while most people have the very nat- ural tendency to measure the success of any offering by the number of dollars received, this does not necessarily measure the depth nor extent of gratitude of individuals or of a group. Therefore, the thankoffering objectives aim at more than (nancial results. The Dollar Goal The dollar goal of $28,000,000 for the thankoffering was arrived at by the committee on the basis of a feasibility study, using factors too intricate for detailing in this report. Ultimately, the goal was based on the challenging. but surely realistically attainable potential over a 2-year period. We hare no reason to change our mind as to the validity of the process which led to the established goal at this time. The need to give thanks — the needs to be filled — the dollars to fill these needs — the strong, capable leadership on all levels to effectively articulate the need for this pro- gram to others — were all available. Where these basic pre- requisites were used in the right “mix,” they provide the vital ingredients for success.