# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1938_S97
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Action Regarding Individual Institutions 97

Report of the Advisory Committee
(Memorial 701-B-I, 4. Unprinted Memorial 6)

Report of Committee 1:

Your Committee had before it a detailed report of the Val-
paraiso Advisory Committee. From this report we here wish to
mention particularly the fact that the Board of Directors of the
university has definitely decided to abolish all dancing at the in-
stitution. On the basis of the report your Committee joins the
Board of Directors in the statement: “It is, just as definitely as
ever, our conviction, since the university is supported by our people
and gives us the assurance that the spiritual welfare of our young
people is safeguarded in every way according to our Christian and
Lutheran principles, that a close*cooperation between the university
and Synod must be maintained in the interest of both.”

Action of Synod: This report was received.

Coordination of Synod’s Educational Program
" (Memorial 132)

The system of education maintained by the Missouri Synod has
shown remarkable growth in complexity within recent years.
Originally conceived of as embodying the training of children of
elementary school age and pastors and teachers, Lutheran educa-
tion has long ago found inadequate so simple a pattern. As new
needs arose, new means were devised to supply them. The ques-
tion is not whether these means are adequate or even ideal nor
yet how they developed, but merely that they came into being.
The parochial school and the confirmation class were originally the
accepted means for educating children and the seminaries and col-
leges for training church-workers. Deviations from this simple
pattern came into the Church almost unnoticed. For various rea-
sons not all congregations continued to operate parochial schools.
Soon the Sunday-school made its appearance. At first frowned
upon, then tolerated, this institution has now been very widely
adopted. Obviously the Sunday-school failed to satisfy the needs
for Christian training, and other types of school were called into
being: the Saturday-school, the vacation Bible-school, the part-
time week-day religion school. Other institutions are engaged in
religious education: the Walther League and the Lutheran Lay-
men’s League. As a result of this organizational development and
its emphasis on religious education there is an obvious need for
coordination.

The multiplying of educational activities required additional
leadership. Pastors and teachers could no longer satisfy the mul-
tiplicity of functions. From the outset, lay leadership was drawn

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