# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1973_S337 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 334 CHURCH LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATIONS cussion by lay people at the community level discussing the issues which face the church and society today. Thousands of letters like the following pour into the TV office each week testifying to the work of the Gospel. Sir: The family and I really enjoy your program, This Is the Life. I’m 30 years old and have watched it with my mother and father since I was about ten (10). I hope my kids can say the same when they're my age. Please send me Hope for Modern Man. (April 1973) Dear Sirs: I like your series very much. I'm only 11 years old but I try to watch it every Sunday morning. Our family doesn't go to church so I try to learn about God in as many ways as I can. Could you please send me your booklet to my address. (April 1973) Dear Sir: Would you please send me the book My Hand in His. I watch your program every chance I get. Since the last time I wrote, my husband, daughter. and I joined the Lutheran Church here and enjoy it very much. The date to be exact was November 26, 1972. (February 1973) Dear Sir: Please send me a copy of Hope for Modern Man as offered on This Is the Life. Your program concerning vengeance and forgiveness on the part of a surgeon made me reconsider studving the teachings of Christ, which I had stopped doing. (March 1973) “Christmas Is” — Effective Our initial family special, “Christmas Is,” was also a leap of faith into the unknown. We didn’t have the necessary dollars to produce it (Concordia Publishing House took a chance on us). The rest is history now: under the blessing hand of God, “Christmas Is’ turned out to be one of the proud moments in the Synod’s 125 year history! Synod’s Christmas Special has been telecast in almost every American TV city 3 years running; and through a cooperative arrangement with the Mission Board, the pro- gram is a runaway hit everywhere overseas, gaining network exposure in Australia, Canada, and Brazil, and other coun- tries. In a 3-year run to date, well over 100 million people worldwide have heard and seen the Missouri Synod version of the Luke 2 Christmas story at a cost below $150,000 and in the long run, we expect the entire original cost to be re- covered through Concordia Publishing House rentals and sales. Rarely can so many people be reached effectively with the Gospel and at such low cost! The cartoon book version of “Christmas Is” has already been printed in five languages: English, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish in almost a million copies. Benji now hears from over 100,000 friends a year, many of them unchurched, and he regularly sends his friends Christian literature. Dear Sirs: I got this address from a girl at school and she told about the letter vou sent her. I saw your Christmas show on TV. It was very good. My little sister loved it. I hope you do another one with your dog Waldo. vou and the other people. Since I've seen your play, I have been going to Sunday School and Church every Sunday. PS: Could I have an extra thing of stickers. My little sister would like some to stick on her clothes, desks, and all those other things. Despre Dear BENJI AND WALDO: I received your letter and Patches vesterday. I want to thank you very much for them. I'm reallv looking forward to seeing your Christmas show this vear again. Christmas Is was really a great show. You know Waldo is right. Jesus is really something to look forward to. I learned about Jesus three years ago and I'm really stuck on Him. Kim Dear BEensT AND YOUR CREATOR: At 72, I hardly think I am eligible for your free gift offer. so this is not a request letter — only one to tell you I enjoyed your show. Many of us never tire of the story of the Christ Child and your animated version was so beautifully simple and clear. (November 27) Dear BENJyY: I received your package of stickers today and I'd like to know if vou could send me the address of the nearest Lutheran Church in County. Please rush them back. I am a regu- lar watcher of This Is the Life and would like to know where a church is so I can go. I live in —————. I asked for the stickers for a wall plaque. Ranpy Dear BENJI: Thank you very much for sending me more of your stickers. I put them on a card and made a storyboard. My favorite sticker is the one that says ‘‘Jesus Lives” be- cause that’s what makes our world such a wonderful place to be. Thank you again. Ju. Dear BENJI: Hi there Benji. How have you been? Ask Waldo how did he enjoy his trip around the world. I know it was hard to talk in Chinese, wasn't it. . . . It was hard to twist your tongue to make the sounds, but I know it was fun. Tell Waldo I wish I could hear him bark in Chinese. I am glad the neatest thing about your trip was to tell everybody about Jesus. Benji, do you know that Jesus is our father and he always will be. I want to thank Jesus for taking good care of you and Waldo while you were taking the trip around the world. ANNETTE A new and fresh approach to child and family evangelism is being developed by Television through Synod’s Evangelism Board whereby continuing contact with homes where Benji is welcome is cultivated through correspondence, with fol- low up almost immediately through computer contact with local congregations according to zip code. A great swell of goodwill and respect for our Synod was generated wherever Benji and “Christmas Is” appeared, and the 125th Anniversary Thankoffering Committee has adopted the characters from “Christmas Is” as a unifying theme after a professional research firm revealed Benji and Waldo to be known and loved by many in the Synod. Children’s TV Spots A very gracious grant from the women of,the LWML has provided the impetus for the development of children’s television “commercials” which we hope will be tied to the local evangelism programs of our congregations. We are currently working on thirty-second announcements which can be tied by local television to an evangelism Sunday, a Thanksgiving service, vacation Bible schools or other evan- gelism projects which have maximum outreach into the community. The project may include purchased and public service television spots combined with newspaper, billboard, and bus ads, using the same theme to call attention to what the congregation is doing. Lutheran Television would pro- vide the production with the congregations purchasing the time and the space for the ads. Our “Christmas Is” charac- ters, Benji and Waldo, will probably be an important part of this campaign and if the initial experiment is successful, we will wish to carry the program forward within our budget. Tension Point The board is in the process of releasing the Tension Point series (mentioned above) for Bible Class discussion and for television. Tension Point is a half-hour panel program using people selected in each community to bring a Christian im- pact to bear on the burning community issues of the day. Other Television Work In addition to national programming through This Is the Life and Specials, the TV Board is concerned about the opportunities our local pastors and lay people have for utiliz- ing television and cable time. As media usage grows, more and more pastors are being approached bv television sta- tions and cable systems with available free and sponsored time. The Television office continues to be a clearing house for local television and cable efforts, and the staff has been asked to increase service in this area as need grows. Beside the Tension Point series, the staff is ready to assist pastors and laymen in planning and developing programs for local public access cable as well as television use. Being in touch with those who are using television locally in various ways to proclaim the Gospel will provide the TV staff additional new ideas and projects which in turn can be recommended to others with opportunity. Cassette, cartridge. and cable television will also afford the Synod fresh avenues for presenting the Gospel and the witness of the church. Very soon programs currently seen on television will be available in cassette form through li- braries. They will be “borrowed” on film much as a library book currently is taken out and returned. Cassettes will make This Is the Life available at the viewer's choice of