LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 231

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HIGHER EDUCATION 231

under the Board for Higher Education.” The establishment of
St. Catharines as an independent seminary has been ac-
complished through a series of actions. Fort Wayne divested
itself of the program, and beginning with July 1, 1980, a
separate budget for this new seminary was approved. Negotia-
tions were carried out with Brock University, and a close
working relationship developed, resulting in an extremely
favorable agreement for lease of a small portion of the uni-
versity property on which a building or buildings of the
seminary could be built. Although a planning committee of the
seminary Board of Directors has been appointed, no plans
have yet been developed for such a structure.

Acting as the Board of Control, the Board for Higher
Education ratified the calls and contracts previously extended
to three instructors by the Fort Wayne seminary. Roger
Humann, who had been serving as dean of the seminary under
the arrangement with Fort Wayne, was appointed acting
president. The faculty is augmented by the services of a
number of part-time and adjunct instructors. After bylaws
governing election of the Board of Control for St. Catharines
are adopted by this convention of the Synod, the Board for
Higher Education will no longer function in the capacity of the
Board of Control.

This arrangement enables the seminary to provide a full
course of instruction patterned after the master of divinity
program in existence at Fort Wayne. A curriculum committee
is now reevaluating the program of the seminary, and when
the committee has completed its work, it will present a program
to the Board for Higher Education for review. The association
with Brock University will be especially beneficial to St.
Catharines as it seeks to upgrade its language requirements.

Attempts to implement Res. 6-04A, calling for the estab-
lishment of a seminary training program in western Canada,
consumed much time of both the Board for Higher Education
and its executive staff during the past biennium. A number of
meetings were held involving representatives of the Canadian
Districts and of the Board for Higher Education. Various
options were considered and detailed studies were made with
listings of costs and advantages and disadvantages of each.

After the meetings and studies, proposals were offered to
the Canadian Districts at their separate conventions. The
result was that no agreement was reached on the course of
action to be followed.

A complicating feature of the negotiation is the possible
development of the Lutheran Church—Canada as an inde-
pendent partner church. In view of this, as well as the inability
to reach a unified decision, the Board for Higher Education did
not believe it should, nor would it be wise, to impose a solution
upon Lutherans in Canada, particularly since the resolution
stated ‘that the Board for Higher Education in consultation
with the Canadian Districts implement a definite plan for
transition toa satisfactory permanent arrangement for educa-
tion of pastoral candidates in western Canada prior to the 1981
convention” (italics added).

The Board for Higher Education has not been able to
complete this assignment. As a temporary measure and in
order to fulfill the directive which states that ‘‘enrollment in
the Saskatoon arrangement be continued only through the
1980—81 academic year,” the Board for Higher Education has
resolved to subsidize travel and other costs of attendance by
first-time enrolling seminary students from western Canada at
one of the established seminaries of the Synod. This subsidy
would, of course, be subject to limitations such as demon-
stration of need. The board will continue its attempts to
implement the resolution in its totality unless directed other-
wise by the delegates at this conventon.

Res. 6-05 has been implemented. As already reported, the
deaconess training program has been begun and isin operation
at River Forest.

Res. 6-12A, which authorized four-year status for Concordia
Lutheran College of Texas, Austin, directed that the move
toward this status be carried out under the guidance of the
Board for Higher Education and the Board of Control. The
Board for Higher Education is maintaining close contact with
the college, reviewing proposed plans and programs. The first
fourth-year class will enroll this fall.

Res. 6-13 directed “that the Board for Higher Education in
consultation with the Commission on Theology and Church

Relations study the various emerging ministries of the church
in order to define and standardize their program of prepara-
tion, the certification and placement of workers, and to
determine their status in the church” (italics added). The board
has made an initial effort to fulfill this assignment but decided
that it could not be completed before a study on “ministry” had
been prepared and accepted by the Synod. When that action is
carried out, the board will consult the commission and will
conclude its assignment.

When the convention adopted Res. 6-18A and amended the
Bylaws relating to initial faculty appointments, it referred to
appointment from a list approved by the Board for Higher
Education. While not specifically stated in the resolution, the
board has taken steps to assist the colleges and seminaries in
developing such lists by requesting through the Reporter the
names of interested and qualified persons for teaching in the
various disciplines. Additional information and names of
potential faculty personnel will be gathered through the
Department of Personnel and Statistics. Through the use of
computer facilities it should be possible to provide a list of
possible candidates for specific positions to the colleges and
seminaries upon request.

In its adoption of Res. 6-20, the 1979 convention placed the
major responsibility for recruiting and funding prospective
church workers upon the congregations and active church
workers. The Board for HigherEducation was asked to “assign
a high priority to the continued provision of materials and
programs to assist in such recruitment.” A three-part study
series relating to vocation and service in the church, designed
for use with teenage groups, continues to be available. Because
of budget constraints, only one new piece of material was
prepared in the last biennium. It consists of asmall pamphlet
entitled “Your Future—Your Decision” and was available for
the youth gathering at Fort Collins, Colo., last summer.
Included in the pamphlet is a listing of all the high schools,
colleges, and seminaries together with a brief description of
each school and its programs. Following the youth gathering,
acopy was mailed to each participant with a request that if one
had already been received at the gathering, it be passed on to
other interested persons. Colleges were also supplied with the
names of young people from their recruiting areas who had
attended the event. Large numbers of requests for this pam-
phlet have been received from congregations, pastors, teachers,
directors of Christian education, and others, and the initial
printing of 10,000 is exhausted. It is in the process of being
reprinted, with revisions, and will again be available.

Personnel and Regular Activities of Board and Staff
Personnel

During the past biennium a number of changes have
occurred in the membership of the Board for Higher Education,
which is composed of three pastors, three laymen, and one
teacher. The board had the good fortune of the continuing
services of four members for the entire two-year period. One
layman, Arthur Brackebusch, head of Forestry Technology
Department, North Idaho College, Coeur d’ Alene, is complet-
ing his final year of eligibility for service as a member of the
board. Serving as chairman, he has provided outstanding
leadership in the organization and direction of the board. The
other members of the board express their gratitude for the
presence of this man of God and for his interest in and
promotion of the cause of higher education in the Synod. Dr.
Alvin Czanderna, vice-chairman, scientist at the Solar Energy
Research Institute, Golden, Colo., is completing his second
four-year term as a board member.

Two of three pastoral members are completing their four-
year terms at this time: Rev. Elmer Moeller, pastor of Mount
Zion, Castle Rock, Colo.; and Dr. Charles Reimnitz, pastor of
Christ, Lincoln, Nebr. The third pastoral member, Rev. Ray
Halm, who was elected to a four-year term in 1979, completed
one year before accepting a call to serve as president of Christ
College Irvine. The board appreciates the contributions
that were made by him during five years of service. Rev. Horace
Garton, pastor of Martin Luther, Pennsauken, N.J., was
appointed with the approval of the President of the Synod to fill
the unexpired term of Pastor Halm.

The two remaining members of the board, teacher Carl