# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S374
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

874. Miscellaneous Matters

The survey made by our Council showed a three-way effect:

on our congregational constituency: "

a) Congregations lost as high as 60 per cent of their resident
membership;

b) Congregations increased up to 800 per cent;

c) Congregations experienced an internal change of mem-
bership as high as 40 per cent, moving in and mov-
ing out. ;

; During the decade between 1930 and 1940 congregations -
of the Missouri Synod had a vanishing membership of about
18,000 a year — 180,000 during the decade. Beginning with 1940,
the annual loss of disappearing members increased alarmingly.
Thus the first big problem that forced itself upon the atten-
tion of the Council was: “How can the moving Lutheran be kept
with his Church?” ;
Surveys in the great war production areas of the Northwest.
showed as high as 30 per cent of Lutheran people in some of
the newly created housing areas. Some of these could be served
by. pastors and missionaries already stationed in these areas. In
other areas, like Van Port, Oreg., a city which mushroomed from
farm land to 30,000 inhabitants within fourteen months, mission-
aries had to be called. In areas such as Richmond and Vallejo,
Calif., with normal populations of 20,000 which grew to 120,000
in the early war years, additional manpower had to be procured —
and enlarged or new worship facilities provided.
In almost all such war-production areas the question of
securing Christian educational facilities presented difficult prob-
lems. A congregation with Sunday school facilities for thirty -
children both in housing and teaching facilities which is sud-
. denly confronted with an enrollment of 120 to 150 children has..
a problem. | , ; s
|. The following recent development illustrates vividly the
opportunities and work of the Emergency Planning Council.
In a certain section of the country an area of 25 miles square
(100 miles around) is acquired by the Government. 80,000 homes.
are already built. 42 trailer camps, averaging 45 trailers to the
camp, are already on the place. 2,500 children have three schools,
which they attend in shifts. Additional prefabricated houses are
being put up at a miraculous rate. Ninety-five per cent of the
population work on shifts. Rumor has it that the enterprise wil!
be one of unprecedented proportions. Our people are among |