LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 25

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MISSIONS 25

8. The Evangel-Gram Tabloid

In order to reach the congregations and professional church
workers in the most efficient and effective way, the Board for
Evangelism eliminated one of its annual envelope mailings in
order to launch an eight-page tabloid newspaper called the
Evangel-Gram, which shares news of new materials from the
Evangelism Department and stories of how congregations are
conducting evangelism in their own styles and programs. The
paper also incorporated a student.tabloid, the Ambassador.
which exchanged among the colleges and seminaries what is
happening in evangelism on their. campuses. So the Evangel-
Gram is also distributed on the campuses.

The Evangel-Gram has been well received, with congrega-
tions and Districts providing news and examples to share. It is
mailed free to the congregations and schools of the Synod and
to the chairman of the evangelism committee or board of the
congregations that have sent that name to receive the Reporter.
Additional copies, either single orin bulk, areon asubscription
basis.

The Editorial Committee for the Evangel-Gram is Rev.
Wallace Schulz, Rev. Paul Devantier, and Dr. Theodore
Raedeke. Assisting Dr. Kolb, who is the managing editor, are
volunteers from the St. Louis area: Matt Welser, layout and
design editor; Joyce Pranschke, campus editor; and Rev. Joel
D. Heck, District and congregation editor.

9. Consultation on Bible Correspondence Course
for Unchurched

A good number of the congregations of the Synod continue
to use the material of the World Home Bible League for Bible
study for the unchurched, either the original course of four
lessons called ‘“The Bible’s Answer” or the newer course, “The
Touch of His Hand.” In order to provide some Lutheran
theology of the sacraments, the Evangelism Department has
published two courses that can be used with the World Home
Bible League material: “No Greater Jewel” (on Baptism) and
“One Bread, One Body” (on the Lord’s Supper). There continues
to be a desire fora Lutheran Bible Study correspondence course
for the unchurched.

To explore the question further, the issue was discussed by
Synod’s Task Force for Planning and Coordinating, which
appointed a special committee to study the need and explore
the question with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League,
and the Lutheran Laymen’s League. The result was a consulta-
tion of people who had experience with conducting correspond-
ence courses for the unchurched. The consultation was spon-
sored by the Board of Parish Education and the Board for
Evangelism.

The consultation was held on Nov. 13—14 in 1980, in St.
Louis with the following:

Rev. Eldor W. Haake, Moline, III.

Rev. Ellis Rottmann, Missouri District, St. Louis

Mr. Leonard Dresser, Enid, Okla.

Rev. Robert Matej, Lakeside, Ohio

Rev. Theodore Schroeder, Board of Parish Education
Dr. Erwin J. Kolb, Board for Evangelism

The recommendation from the consultation to the Task
Force on Planning and Coordinating was that there is a need
for a Lutheran course and that one should be developed by the
task force and published by Concordia Publishing House.

10. Consultation on Evangelism Books

The need for Lutheran books on evangelism for use in
courses on evangelism at synodical colleges and seminaries, as
well as by pastors and interested laypeople, continues to
surface. No such books reflecting Lutheran theology are
presently available, so Lutherans read materials from other
sources with other theologies. In order to further explore the
need and develop proposals for publications, the Board for
Evangelism and Concordia Publishing House jointly spon-
sored a consultation Aug. 12—13, 1980, at St. Charles, Mo.
Present were:

Dr. Kent Hunter, Detroit, Mich.

Dr. Alan Harre, Seward, Nebr.

Dr. Milton Rudnick, St. Paul, Minn.

Rev. Bruce Lieske, N. Fond du Lac, Wis.

Dr. Paul Foust, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Mr.Charles Sauer, Concordia Publishing House

Mrs. Ruth Ann Johnson, Concordia Publishing House

Dr. Erwin J. Kolb, Board for Evangelism

The consultation recommended the publication of a two-
volume series on a theology for evangelism and a history of
evangelism followed by a shorter series of practical books on
such subjects as ministry to inactives, church growth, Great
Commission mentality. and asurvey and evaluation of various
methods of evangelism. Concordia Publishing House and the
Board for Evangelism are in the first stages of carrying out
these recommendations.

11. Consultation on World Evangelization

In 1974 an International Congress on World Evangeliza-
tion was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, which brought
together 4,000 evangelism leaders from around the world for 10
days of sharing and learning. After the congress a Continua-
tion Committee continued to coordinate evangelism concerns
from the different denominations and countries.

In July 1980 a followup Consultation on World Evangeliza-
tion was sponsored by the Continuation Committee in Pattaya.
Thailand, where 630 leaders in evangelism from around the
world participated in a study to develop strategies for evangel-
ism in various areas of need in order to reach the three billion
people in the world who do not claim Jesus Christ as their
Savior and Lord. Attendance was by special invitation. Those
participating from the Missouri Synod were:

Dr. Roland Miller, Regina, Sask., Canada

Rev. James Uhrinak, Brainerd, Minn.

Dr. Elmer Matthias, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. Theodore A. Raedeke, St. Louis, Mo.

Dr. Erwin J. Kolb, Board for Evangelism

Participants joined in study groups before the consultation,
and at the consultation spent most of their time developing
strategy papers on reaching people in various categories. The
results are now published in separate booklets on reaching
Buddhists, Chinese, city dwellers, Hindus, Jews, Marxists,
Muslims, mystics and cultists, nominal Christians among
Protestants, nominal Christians among Roman Catholics,
secularists, traditional religionists, and refugees.

12. Retreats

Some congregations and Districts continue to conduct
Renewal Retreats, which were begun by the Evangelism
Department in 1976. During the past biennium, Districts that
conducted District Renewal Retreats for Circuit Counselors
and their wives were Northern Illinois, Northwest, Kansas,
and Indiana. The Board for Evangelism published the second
small-group Bible-study manual on Philippians, “On the
Grow,” to be used in repeat retreats. Together with the Youth
Department an adaption for youth retreats was developed and
material published both for the leader and the participant
under the theme “Share Life.”
Another type of retreat that continues to be promoted by
both the Youth Department and the Evangelism Department
is the Gospel Communication Clinic under the title of “The
Gospel According to You.” Leaders who can conduct the
retreats on a regional or area basis, as well as in local
congregations, have been trained in Districts. A participants
and a leaders manual have been jointly published by the Youth
and Evangelism Departments.
A special kind of retreat, just for pastors and their wives,
has completed its third year, the Pre-Lenten Pastors Retreat.
The congregation sends the pastor and his wife to a retreat for
rest, relaxation, and study before the busy Lenten season.
Presenters provide devotional material and help for the pastor
to prepare a special Lenten series, and a representative of the
Evangelism Department discusses Lenten evangelism. The
retreats of the last two years were:
Jan. 8—10, 1980, Camp Allen, Navasota, Tex.
Jan. 22—24, 1980, Franciscan Renewal Center, Scottsdale,
Ariz.

Sermonic Studies: Dr. Gerhard Aho, Concordia Theological
Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Worship: Rev. Richard Kapfer, Ames, lowa