# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S2
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Ne eens

1. EVANGELISM

- EXH 2
ade IBIT Members in

1958 —70 Thousands
430

Report of Board for Evangelism

Jesus Christ is Lord!

|_|
the concern of so net on Evangel with your UP as been oa }— 300
gelism—just as it has been rt [| 4 r__| | A _ |
the concern of the Christian church since its beginning. rT fh oe an. 390
St. Paul said to the jailer at Philippi: “Believe in the Lord fdventtist 7 TT] rl 380
Jesus Christ. and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Paul wrote Ty ft 4 bi “| 7G 370
to the congregation of Christians at Rome: “If you declare with ee ae ae
greg y 360
four lips. ‘Jesus is Lord. and believe in your heart that God eee ae ae 5
y Pp y a ; : 350
raised Him from the dead. you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9) ae es 340
There is no question that the members of The Lutheran Fae ee ae 330
Church — Missouri Synod “believe in their hearts.” but there et 7 et 320
continues to be some difficulty in “declaring it with their lips.” ot | rts whet TT 310
especially outside the sheltered arena of the church walls and 4 eee
the circle of Christian friends. This will become evident as we A ey Ae es 300
share in this report the status of evangelism in the Synod and a ae ae 290
offer some recommendations for moving forward. ee Ae 230
‘ rrr 270
1. Church Growth —the National Scene a6 260
“The church is no longer growing.” That's a strong but true a aan
statement that needs explanation. The church membership ee a ee 6
compared with the population of the United States and Canada roe TT r_[_] at
220

leveled off about 1967 and has remained fairly constant since
then. The larger. historic denominations have for the most part
declined in membership while fundamental. pentecostal. and
conservative church bodies have gained in membership. Dean
Kelley suggests that people are searching for a religious mean-
ing to life and the church that provides that will grow.

This was substantiated in the fall of 1974 by 40.000 replies EXHIBIT 3
to a Psychology Today religion questionnaire which revealed 1973. North America
that Americans “still ache to believe. . - _ The editors of the
magazine were surprised at the number of responses which
indicated that while interest in conventional. formal religion
ss still declining, the search for “religious expression and feeling”
is on the rise. Another indication is that in 1974 54° of the homes
of the United States bought a Bible or a religious book. 3.0 M PC fet] TT

Thus it appears that the trends continue to follow the pat- 2.9 a eet ao _| 850
tern presented by Dean Kelley in Exhibits } and 2. One of the
principal indicators as to the future growth pattern of a church 2.8
body is the increase or the decline in the Sunday schoo! enroll-
ment. Exhibit 3 illustrates the pattern in the Missouri Synod
(North America), using the baptized membership compared 26
with the children enrolled in Sunday school. The Sunday school
began to decline after 1965 and the baptized membership after 2.5

Dean Kelly. Why Conservative Churches Are Growtnd, P- 24

Baptized Members — ..-- Sunday School Members
in Millions 1956 in Thousands
‘57 ‘58°59 “60 “61 ‘62 “63 ‘64 '65 “66 67 ‘68 ‘69 ‘70 “71 “72°13

1971.
24 600
EXHIBIT } : 2.3 550
Members In
Membership Comparison: 1958 —70 Millions 2.2 Bene 500

In the United States 58 percent of the population are mem-
3.2 bers of a Christian church according to the studies of Mission
3.1 Advance Research Center (MARC. 919 W. Huntington Dr..
Monrovia. CA 91017) made for the International Congress on

=

ial

r™' he gi0)
Yt World Evangelization:
|_|

cos

-_

a
PEELS

|
LT NI
A
M
1

Ly

28 33¢¢ Protestant 3% Jewish
23¢¢ Roman Catholic 39% Other or no affiliation
ac; Eastern

26 i. Church Growth — Missouri Synod

In this report we are examining church growth in terms of

=

mule |
Wa ra 2.3 growth of numbers. There are other kinds of growth as well.
ms — = = 2.2 growth in faith and love. growth in knowledge and under-
—] 24 standing. growth in commitment and ministry. growth in the
|__| |__| 20 number of trained evangelists. and growth in the ability to wit-
= 19 ness. Here we use numbers as an indicator to help assess the
1958 1960 1962 1964 ‘ situation in the church. God is also concerned with numbers.
both that we account for the individuals that are members of
Dean Kelly. Why Conservative Churches Are Growing. p. 23 our churches and those whom we can add to the membership

1