Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1981 · 54th Convention › Page 15
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 15

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

MISSIONS 15

DISTRIBUTION OF MISSION BUDGET

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In order to be responsive to this trust placed on the Board for
Missions, a new procedure is being established to make it
possible for a better evaluation of the projects needing funding.
This procedure was adopted as one of the tools to be used in
meeting the mission challenges for the 80s and the Forward in
Remembrance program.

The Board for Missions will be initiating a program of
resource sharing on a project basis starting Jan. 1, 1982. All
miission prdjécts will be submitted to the Board for Missions for
review and resource sharing. This will help to pinpoint more
clearly the work supported by the Board for Missions. This
project planning procedure will allow for in-depth planning
and for measurable evaluation of the board’s programs and
objectives. It will also allow the Board for Missions to prioritize
more judiciously the uses of its mission resources and to
exercise greater stewardship of the funds entrusted to it.

We thank the Lord for the some 2.7 million members of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod who as “chosen instru-
ments of the Lord” are dedicated to the mission outreach of the
church. Many of these “‘chosen instruments” continue to give
extra support for personnel and project needs which the Board
for Missions cannot accommodate in the budget. For the calendar
year 1979 and 1980 organizations and individuals have contrib-
uted almost $1,000,000, over and above their regular contribu-
tions, to be used for specific projects and personnel needs. In
addition to this an amount in excess of $50,000 has been
received as undesignated funds to be used for emergencies or
for unforseen opportunities which might arise. We express our
gratitude to God for these very dedicated people and say
THANK YOU to them for sharing their gifts for the mission
outreach of the church.

Forward to Do “The Impossible”’
God is faithful. His promises never fail. Specifically with

reference to being saved and entering into the kingdom of God
our Lord forthrightly declared: ‘‘What is impossible with men
is possible with God’ (Luke 18:27). This is why the 1979
convention of the Synod, remembering the promises of God,
boldly resolved to move forward into a venture of faith in
mission.

To give substance to the “growth and outreach” mission
challenges for the ’80s the 1979 convention of the Synod
adopted two exciting “Implementation Challenges.” With one
voice the convention agreed to:

1. Adopt the mission challenge for the '80s of 600 new mission-
aries from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod serving partner
churches mission fields and new outreach areas (Res. 1-20; Proceed-
ings, p. 95); and

2. Adopt the mission challenge for the 1980s of a 100-percent
increase plus inflation in the mission budget of the Synod (Res.
1-27A; Proceedings, pp. 97—98).

In light of the seriousness and the impact of these challenge
upon the membership of the LCMS, the Board for Missions did
some careful study and evaluation. The board took a hard look
at the past, the present, and the future to determine if indeed
these two challenges are realistic. Out of this study and
evaluation grew a firm conviction that these challenges are
indeed not only realistic but, under the Lord’s blessing, attain-
able. There also emerged a strategy which we now place before
the convention and the membership of the LCMS.

First, the challenge of 600 new missionaries by 1990. Going
back to 1950, the board took a look at the record. How many
missionaries has the LCMS had out in the world in any one
given year in answer to Christ’s mandate to “go into all the
world and preach the Gospel’’? The bar graph below answers
the question clearly.