LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 249

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HIGHER EDUCATION 249

6-15
St. John’s College, Winfield, Kans.

St. John’s College, Winfield, Kans., submits this report with
gratitude to a magnificent God, who continues to shower us
with His blessings, and to The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod, which sponsors and supports us in providing a quality
education that is centered in Christ.

During the past biennium, St. John’s College has spent a
great deal of energy pursuing our goal: to become a four-year,
baccalaureate-degree-granting institution of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. God willing, this pursuit will
culminate during this convention with the passage of the
synodical resolution granting this request.

In order to provide the delegates with the necessary infor-
mation to make a God-pleasing decision, the following ration-
ale, prepared by a special faculty committee of St. John’s
College, is submitted. In essence, the report contains all the
supporting data that persuaded the faculty and the Board of
Control of SJC to bring this memorial to the Synod.

Synodical Stance

The stance of the Synod with respect to growth and
advancement in higher education is one of positive support for
the full utilization and development of the colleges that the
Synod maintains; such development is to be fostered according
to the principles of stewardship, the needs for educational
services by the membership of the Synod, and the potential of
the colleges to assume broader roles in Christian higher
education for the Synod’s benefit.

The Synod has stated (St. Louis, 1979, Res. 6-01A), in
adopting ‘planning principles” (see ‘“‘Postulates,” Convention
Workbook 1979, p. 165) for its system of colleges and semi-
naries, that

—schools of the Synod “are gifts from God”’; ‘‘are involved
in a great and joyful work that is vital to the life and
future of the church”; and “need to be used to capacity”;

—‘‘Luther’s definition of vocation and occupation provides
insight and direction in determining the purposes for
synodical schools”;

—each school is “a unique institution living in its own
distinct environment”;

—local faculty and administration should be “deeply in-
volved in giving direction to the future of the institution”;

—capacity use may provide “the opportunities for the
introduction of creative programs not only in the church-
worker category but also for the Lutheran laity, those of
college age and beyond”,

—“‘some junior colleges must become four-year institutions
if they are to remain viable educational choices for our
young people”;

—providing Christian higher education for all its young
people is ‘an appropriate purpose for the synodical
schools.”

—The Synod repeatedly has taken a position of strong
support for the recruitment of students for the pastoral and
teaching ministries.

—The Synod has encouraged the Board for Higher Educa-
tion to make available through the schools of the Synod a
variety of educational programs for the church’s professional
workers, for early childhood education, for elementary educa-
tion, for continuing education of the laity, and for the Christian
education of all its young people.

The Synod has adopted church growth goals for the 80s that
will increase the need for trained professional workers and the
support personnel to serve this increased number of profes-
sional workers. The “‘Challenge for the 80s” sets goals calling
for

—ten new overseas mission stations to be opened;

—six hundred new Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
expatriate missionaries to be serving partner churches
and mission stations;

—thirty percent growth in the number of new churches to be
planted; and fifty percent increase in the baptized
membership of the Synod so that ‘“‘our needs for profes-

sional church workers may increase dramatically by
1990.”

Pioneer in Education

St. John’s College has been a pioneer among the colleges of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in coeducation and
vocational education for both church-vocation students and
laymen.

St. John’s College was founded in 1893 by John Peter
Baden, a successful Lutheran businessman in Winfield, Kans.,
to ‘provide for the training of ministers and to offer opportuni-
ties for young people to secure a higher education under
Christian influence.” Although programs and courses have
undergone changes, they remain consistent with these original
objectives.

From the time of its founding, the college has been a pioneer
within the educational system of the Synod. Examples of
innovation include coeducation; the use of English as the
medium of instruction; general education, business, and secre-
tarial programs; the Parish Worker Program; the Teacher
Education Program for women; the Associate Degree Nursing
Program; and a successful alumni organization. The Parish
Worker Program was the first course of study offered at a
college of the Synod to prepare women for positions of full-time
service in the Synod. The Associate Degree Nursing Program
is the first such program to be offered at any Lutheran college
in the United States.

The Consortium Arrangement

The college has benefited directly from a successful con-
sortium arrangement with Southwestern College in Winfield
and will continue to benefit from this program of cooperation
in education. The arrangement with Southwestern, an
accredited four-year, liberal arts private collége located five
blocks from St. John’s, has been in effect since the 1972—73
academic year.

St. John’s students cross-register at Southwestern College
for selected advanced and specialized courses not offered at St.
John’s. This cross-registration privilege provides a broader
diversity of course offerings on both campuses without the
overhead costs normally associated with such diversity.

The college’s students have the advantage of a rich selection
of liberal arts course offerings for their academic programs; at
the same time, the relationship within the consortium readily
permits that the doctrinal and theological courses required for
church-worker programs are taught at St. John’s, so the
integrity of the heritage of The Lutheran Church—Missoun
Synod is maintained and fostered.

The college reimburses Southwestern College about $12,000
a year for the courses for which St. John’s students cross-
register at Southwestern. At the same time, the college cannot
employ one instructor for the same amount that it pays to
Southwestern for this educational service. The benefit of a
richer variety of course offerings for the college’s students more
than offsets the cost to the college in cross-registration fees.
(Currently St. John’s College students enroll for about 150
semester hours of academic credit at Southwestern for each
term.)

The college also cross-registers students from Southwestern
College on its campus, and from this practice receives revenues
that offset to some extent the cost to the college for its students
to cross-register at Southwestern.

The college has benefited in the consortium arrangements
by being eligible for federal government funds awarded to the
colleges jointly under the provisions of the Title III, ‘“Strength-
ening Developing Institutions Program.” Since the initiation
of the consortium arrangement, the colleges have been
awarded grants totaling $1,358,000, of which $520,234 has
been designated for use at St. John’s College. Such funding for
professional services, equipment, supplies, support for teach-
ing fellows, and other related purposes would not be available
to the college were they not offered through such programs as
those provided under Title III.

The college has realized a savings of its own financial
resources by the processes of pooling funds for meeting certain
institutional administrative needs—for example, equipment