# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1975_S386 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 386 PARISH SERVICES The children of the church will breathe life into this very special special for 1976. Capitalizing on the fact that television provides the Synod's greatest opportunity to witness to the un- churched, the Board of Parish Education approached the Board of Directors requesting permission to develop a unique fund raising program to make ‘Freedom Is” a reality. The children of our parochial schools will have a chance to make it possible for their friends Benji and Waldo to bring a Christian message to the 17 million unchurched children of our land. They will raise the money to produce the special. Of equal importance. we feel. is the opportunity to follow up the witness of “Freedom Is’ with personal evangelism to those who respond. This will afford a further opportunity to identify our church with the special at the community level and to invite people to a local parish. We are planning to make a comic book “Freedom Is” avail- able to hundreds of county fairs and other 1976 celebrations around the country. Our lay people will have great ammunition to begin conversations—a national TV special and a “traffic attractor” in a free comic book and other remembrances to give away at local bicentennial celebrations. We feel this is truly a unique and tremendous evangelism and mission opportunity for God to bless. “And We've Just Begun” Plans are already on our drawing boards for additional specials which may introduce a new set of characters and which may involve additional opportunities to earn back the initial investment of the church. We have made a substantial inroad into evening time television and are now ranked within the “Big 4°—Billy Graham, Oral Roberts. Rex Humbard, and Lutheran Television: The industry welcomes our specials as good family programming and considers us as a wholesome influence in the community and for TV stations. The future is very bright for this aspect of our mission ministry. All of our family specials have been developed through the significant creative talents of a Children's Script Committee. Taking its cue from the advertising world. this group functions as a creative nucleus responsible for the development of scripts and storyboards for animated material. The Television Board is deeply grateful to these volunteers for the many hours of hard work and energy which have meant so much to the suc- cess of “Christmas Is, “Easter Is," and “The City That Forgot About Christmas.” Serving on the committee during this bien- nium were Rev. Eldon Weisheit. Rev. Donald Hinchey, Dan Bulau, Ms. Norma Schroeder, Mrs. Ellen Tjernagel. and Mrs. Sharon Vaughan. Praise God for these talents. “The Glumpf Is Alive and Well" —TV Spots Another generous grant from the women of the international LWML made it possible for the board to experiment in the development of children’s television spots. The Children’s Script Committee settled on the concept of a multimedia campaign which would combine the use of the television spots for children with concurrent radio spots, news- paper ads. television news appearances, stories in print media, and visual banners and materials for churches to produce an impact on behalf of a Lutheran event or Evangelism Sunday. When Pastors Kruse and Doellinger of Grace Lutheran in Waterloo, Iowa, were enthusiastic about the experiment, the committee produced the “Glumpf'’—a clumsy Dr. Seuss-like character easily identified by children. The Glumpf TV spot was central in promoting attendance by nonchurched children at vacation Bible schools all over Waterloo which were sched- uled for the same 2 weeks during the summer of 1974. The primary goal was evangelism: the secondary goal was congre- gational involvement and growth. The Gospel theology projected by the Glumpf, his name, appearance, and message—‘'God loves me even though I'm Glumpfy” —was universally understood by students, teachers. pastors, and helpers. We started with 10 congregations, and as word spread the final list grew to 91! “The Glumpf is alive and well, living in the hearts of children and adults who attended Christian day camp at 91 Lutheran churches in eastern Iowa during June 1974,” is the way Norma Schroeder reported the results to the board. “Children are wearing Glumpf T-shirts and Glumpf buttons. They are singing ‘God Loves Everybody.’ Children in other locations are finding Glumpf helium balloons that were released with special Bible messages enclosed. And teachers are asking. ‘How can we use the Glumpf next year?’ The cam- paign produced a unifying. joyful spirit for congregations par- ticipating in the multimedia experiment. The board would like to develop the TV spots into full-scale service, and with proper financial and staff considerations this project will go forward in 1976. Interest has been shown by several Districts of the Synod for vacation Bible school cam- paigns or Evangelism Sundays during the bicentennial. Local Television By resolution the 1973 New Orleans convention asked the TV Board “to provide assistance in developing regional and local television ministries.” Our television office is becoming a clearinghouse and focal point for various types of local television and cable programs and ideas. We seek out videotape samples of programs pro- duced by pastors and lay people throughout the country. and we are always ready to consult with those who find an oppor- tunity to use television. We provide the videotapes as examples of different formats which might lead to the development of a program locally. We look forward to strong development of this area of our service during the coming biennium. The future for local television opportunities is very bright due to the growing number of cable television stations which are originating programs, on required “public access” channels, religious channels, and in the regular programming cycle taken “off air.’ In 1960 there were 640 cable systems: today there are already 2,991, with 7.300.000 subscribers in 11.1% of American TV homes. That number will grow rapidly! More and more congregations of the Synod will be able to gain time on these cable stations, and our staff stands ready to consult and to provide examples of work currently in progress which will aid local endeavors. A very substantial local program under way now in the Southern California District is “Sunrise Way” for ABC in Los Angeles. The station is providing facilities and crew: the South- ern California District in cooperation with Lutheran Television is producing 13 programs for children. Funding came from the TV Board. the Synod's Board for Public Relations, and the Southern California District. with the hope that a further grant from an outside source will provide the remaining funds necessary for production and for the pos- sible future syndication of the program around the country. “Tension-Point™ The “Tension-Point” series. made possible initially by an outside grant from the members of Aid Association for Lu- therans, has been released in the form of three films available for both television and for Bible class and other church dis- cussion groups. Shortage of staff and funds have prevented us from editing more films for this series. **Tension-Point” can be a half-hour television program using 10-minute films developed from existing “This Is the Life’ episodes which portray only a dilemma combined with a live panel from the local community. Who is it in our society that makes significant and prophetic state- ments about the epic events of our times? Astronauts, artists. nov- elists, newscasters. politicians. but for the most part certainly not ministers. Ministers have undermined their vital role as opinion makers in society. Harried. tired. and ill-prepared. they have become an inarticulate voice in a world seeking purpose and hope. Where are the pastor-theologians. the interpreters of the Word of God within the events of human life? Without such theologizing. the church will wed herself to the culture of the day and be a widow within each succeeding age. always trying to catch up but seldom providing leadership. ‘“Tension-Point” speaks to this issue. The purpose is to bring local Lutheran impact to bear on the burning community issues of the day and/or to provide discussion starters for Bible class and other church groups. AAL Grant The board is grateful to the members of AAL for the grant to initiate this program. The board hopes to make ‘“Tension- Point” self-sustaining through rental and sale to congregations and outside groups. The potential is great!