LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 23

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MISSIONS 23

In 1972 the baptized membership of the Synod began to
decline and has declined every year since. In 1977 the commun-
icant membership began to decline and has declined every year
since (latest figures available are for 1979), although the
amount of the decline has dropped considerably—from 42,268
in 1977 to 16,169 in 1978 to 1,763 in 1979—which could indicate
good news ahead.

To change the downward trend, attention needs to be given
to two areas: adults gained from the outside and “backdoor
losses.” The goal that is suggested (see attached memorial) is to
reduce defections 10 percent a year and to increase gains 10
percent a year, with each District adopting a similar goal. In
addition, the suggested goals encourage congregations to
provide two types of equipping for evangelism: one for those
who may have the gift of evangelism, who should receive
intensive training for evangelism calling, and the other for all
members, so they can witness in their daily contacts with other
people.

Other factors to note from the statistics:

a. The number of juniors confirmed from non-Lutheran
homes continues to drop.

b. The number of reinstatements, former Lutherans who
dropped out and then returned by confession of faith, continues
to drop.

c. The number of children baptized annually has sharply
declined partly due to the decline in the birth rate.

d. The number of junior confirmations continues to decline.

e. The number of transfers between Missouri Synod con-
gregations continues at approximately 55,000 in and 55,000
out, up or down a little each year.

f. The members released to other Lutheran bodies and
received from them continues at about 15,000 each way, up or
down a little each year.

One alarming figure, provided by studies done by the Board
of Parish Education, is that only 50 percent of the children who
are baptized in our churches will ever attend one of our Sunday
schools, only 13 percent will attend one of our Lutheran
elementary schools, and only 58 percent will be confirmed.
These figures strongly suggest the need for strict soul account-
ing and the development of the kinds of programs and
activities that will lead the children from the baptismal font
into the educational agencies of the church so that they can be
growing disciples of Jesus Christ. (See the memorial on goals.)

Of the 6,043 congregations of the Synod in 1979, there were
1,630, or 27 percent, that gained no adults by Baptism or
confirmation. Another 663, or 11 percent, gained one adult by
Baptism or confirmation. Putting those two figures together,

there were 2,293 congregations, or 38 percent, that gained one
adult or none in 1979, which is the same percent as 1977. When
the communicant membership of the Synod (2,034.248) is
divided by the adults gained by Baptism or confirmation
(26,454), it takes about 76 members one year to gain one new
member. If the figure of the total gained from the outside
(38,836) is used, which adds those reinstated and the juniors
confirmed from non-Lutheran homes, it takes 52 one vear to
win one from the outside.

The average size of the membership of a Missouri Synod
congregation continues about the same, 450 baptized members
and 337 communicant members, with 54 percent of them urban
and 46 percent of them rural (using 2,500 or more population as
the urbanized areas). The large congregations of the Synod,
however, tend to continue to get larger. There are 543 with more
than 1,000 baptized members and 14 with more than 3,000. The
seven largest are:

979

Baptized Confirmed
St. Peter, Arlington Heights, Il]. (NID)... 4,922 3,707
St. Lorenz, Frankenmuth, Mich. (MI).... 4,182 3,324
St. James, Shawano, Wis. (WIN) ........ 3,605 2,962
St. John, Orange, Calif. (SC) ............ 3,601 2,400
Holy Cross, Fort Wayne, Ind. (IN)....... 3,593 2,644
Concordia, San Antonio, Tex. (TX) ...... 3,502 2,794
Immanuel, St. Charles, Mo. (MO)........ 3,394 2,651

In 1979 there were 42 congregations of the Synod that
gained 30 or more adults by Baptism or confirmation. In 1977

there were 38. Seven congregations gained more than 100
adults each in the last biennium.

3. The Structure for Discipling

The Board for Evangelism functioned during the biennium
with five board members and two staff persons (see directory
of officers and board members in the front of this Workbook).
During the two-year period. one board member, Mrs. Evelyn
Hartman, resigned for health reasons, and the board appointed
Mrs. Helen Morris to replace her. The board met nine times
during the two-year period. with two of the meetings being held
at synodical colleges, St. John’s, Winfield, Kans.. and Con-
cordia, Portland, Oreg. The remaining meetings were held in
St. Louis.

In 1980 the board’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Erwin J. Kolb,
completed eight vears on the staff, and the board reappointed
him to a third four-year term. The other staff person, Rev. W.
Leroy Biesenthal, has served the board for 2’. vears as
Associate Secretary for District Services.

In a regular meeting of the board on Jan. 27, 1980, the board
passed the following resolution: ‘That the Board for Evangel-
ism call upon the Synod to thank God for the capable and dedi-
cated staffthat He has provided our Evangelism Department.”

The board requested authorization from the Board of
Directors t6 appoint a third staff person as called for by Res.
1-28 of the 1979 synodical convention, but it was denied. The
board has now restructured the position description and is
again asking for a third staff person in order to concentrateon
membership conservation to deal with the annual loss of 0,000
members by defection. This person would study the problem of

‘defection; research the present methods of membership

referral, transfer, and acceptance: and develop new programs
and materials. (See the memorial attached on membership
conservation.)

4. Ministry to Districts

The Board for Evangelism assumes that each District
functions with a board or committee of evangelism (Bylaw
8.47) and seeks to relate to that group by providing services to
assist them in doing the work of evangelism in their District,
both with District, area, and Circuit activities, as well as
assisting congregations in their own parish areas. The chair-
man of the District board or Committee is called the District
Director of Evangelism and provides, in addition to any
District staff person who is assigned a responsibility in
evangelism, the main contact of the Evangelism Department
with the District. During the past biennium the board provided
the following services to the District evangelism leaders:

a. Evangelism Leadership Conferences were conducted for
the District directors and executives:

April 19—22, 1979—in conjunction with the Texas District
Gathering

April 30—May 2, 1980—St. Louis

Nov. 7—8, 1980—St. Louis

June 2—4, 1981—St. Louis

Evangelism Leadership Conferences provide District
leaders the opportunity to share with each other the variety of
programs and materials that are developed and used in the
Districts of Synod. The synodical evangelism staff shares their
plans and programs and seeks the counsel of the District
leaders. Some of the conference time is also devoted to training
District leaders in various methods of evangelism and in
studying new materials.

b. A District Evangelism Newsletter is published eight
times a year to share with District leaders current happenings
and plans related to evangelism, provide reviews of new books
and movies, reprints of relevant magazine articles, and
samples of new materials. The newsletter also provides an
avenue for Districts to share their programs with each other.

c. The board provides a library of current cassettes on
evangelism from published sources and from various work-
shops and conferences. The cassettes are on a free-loan basis to
District and synodical leaders.

d. Individual conferences are held with District directors or
executives or with the District board or committee of evan-
gelism to discuss the evangelism plans of the District.