LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 281

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PARISH SERVICES 281

has assumed greater responsibilities for program development
and implementation. Information relative to program, per-
sonnel needs, and resources is shared throughout Synod to
stimulate and support the development of innovative tech-
niques in cross-cultural ministry.

Articles that promote and support multicultural ministries
appear regularly in “Share,” the multicultural newsletter with
acirculation of more than 5,500. “Urban Newsletter,” an inter-
Lutheran publication, communicates and coordinates the work
of community groups and religious denominations. Additional
information that advances ministry to the total church is
published in a number of other church, board, and college
publications.

Special bulletins are developed and multimedia materials
are made available for specific aspects of multicultural min-
istry. Materials are presented in conferences, workshops, in-
service seminars, and college class presentations throughout
the United States. These activities train workers; provide
knowledge, resources, and consulting services; and sensitize
additional church personnel to the total ministry.

In cooperation with synodical colleges, teachers have been
equipped to deal with special instructional needs of inner-city
students. To meet the unique needs of individual congregations
and to analyze the general church needs of urban vacation
Bible school settings, experimental instructional materials
have been developed. Larger grants in support of new and
different multicultural ministries have been received by nu-
merous groups from a variety of funding agencies. In coopera-
tion with the Synod’s seminaries and colleges some in-service
experiences for teachers and pastors are being considered for
the future. Parish partnerships between neighboring congre-
gations will be encouraged.

E. Forward ... Through Mission, Evangelism,
Witnessing Relationships

Lutheran school doors are open not only to children of all
colors, races, and ethnic origins but also especially to the
unchurched. Non-Lutherans have been welcomed into these
classrooms throughout the history of our church. Of the
children enrolled in the elementary and secondary schools
during the 1979—80 school year 92,392 (53 percent) are mem-
bers of the sponsoring LCMS congregations, 9,881 (6 percent)
are members of other LCMS congregations, 7,763 (4 percent)
belong to other Lutheran bodies, 51,782 (29 percent) are
members of non-Lutheran churches, and 13,863 (8 percent)
claim no church membership.

Parishes from Lutheran bodies continue to find that evan-
gelism and mission efforts can be successful in the inner city
with whites and nonwhites. Of the persons gained by these
churches, 80—90 percent were gained through the congrega-
tion’s schools. Some pastors have expressed the conviction
that their schools are the primary means by which new
members are added to their parishes. If survival is the only
objective of a center-city parish, this is not enough. A mission
and evangelism thrust, especially through the schools, must
also be present.

In cooperation with the Synod’s Department of Evangelism,
anew booklet, Lutheran Schools: Opportunity for Mission, has
been published.

The School Department staff coordinates its programs with
the appropriate departments of the Lutheran Education As-
sociation, the Association of Lutheran Secondary Educators,
and the Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools. One
cooperative project with the latter group is developing church-
worker recruitment programs.

Close relationships are maintained with 14 other private
school systems through membership in the Council for
American Private Education. Contacts are continued with
other national groups concerned about education through the
Round Table of National Organizations for Better Education.
A variety of contacts is also maintained with the United States
Office of Education, the National Institute of Education, and
other organizations, groups, and individuals involved in the
legislative and administrative branches of the federal
government.

In coordination with the Synod’s legal counsel and other
departments the Synod’s concerns have been officially ex-
pressed regarding the issuing of a new procedure by the U.S.

Internal Revenue Service. Suggestions were made on how to
revise the guidelines for determining which private schools
deliberately segregate according to race. Protests were also
presented to the U.S. Department of Labor for attempting to
force mandatory participation of all schools in the Unemploy-
ment Insurance Tax program. The Synod objected to the Labor
Department’s defining of a Lutheran school as something
otherthan achurch activity. Other decisions regarding charit-
able contributions when benefits were derived by the donors
were challenged in the courts.

F. Forward... Through the Ministry of Teaching

During the 1979—80 school year, 2,535 men and 5,410
women were teaching full time or part time in the early
childhood, elementary, and secondary classrooms of the
church. This total of 7,945 represents an increase of 364 over
the last two years. During this time, the number of available
candidates from the Synod’s teachers colleges has decreased,
making it increasingly difficult to secure synodically educated
teachers in sufficient numbers. A strong church-worker re-
cruitment effort is still needed, especially among nonwhite
groups. The board continues to serve teachers who wish to
consider the opportunity of a new ministry.

Lutheran teachers bring the Word to children and their
parents. Through their servanthood, teachers have access to
the community and to the church. Their opportunities of
service are many. Lutheran teachers go forward in remem-
brance of Christ, for the Holy Spirit truly works through them
to bring many to faith in Jesus Christ.

G. Forward... Through Special Education

Special education needs for students in Lutheran schools
and congregations were explored in a one-year research pro-
gram of the Synod’s Board of Parish Education.

Begun on Aug. 1, 1979, and using the acronym SERVICE,
the project was supported by a grant from the Aid Association
for Lutherans.

The project director was Dr. Jan C. Case, who received his
doctorate in special education at the University of Texas.

Currently the LCMS operates about 2,000 preschool, ele-
mentary, and secondary schools that have enrollment of more
than 235,000 students. Many of these students have some type
of handicap that requires special support services. The
SERVICE project evaluated services offered for students who
are physically handicapped, mentally retarded, emotionally
disturbed, or have learning disabilities.

Information concerning special education needs was
gathered through survey questionnaires sent to pastors, prin-
cipals, day school and Sunday school staff members, parents
of special education students, Lutheran lay persons, District-
level staff members, college and seminary students, faculty,
and administration.

Data for the project was also collected through on-site visits
to schools and congregations.

The SERVICE project found that there is a great deal of
interest among the synodical membership regarding “special
education.” Thirty-eight percent of the schools and 21 percent
of the congregations in the Synod that presently do not make
provisions for the handicapped in their activities indicated
that a need currently exists to initiate such provisions.

Fifty-five percent of the school leaders and 46 percent of the
leaders of congregations indicated they anticipated a need to
develop special education provisions.

The SERVICE project identified four general types of needs
for special education:

—awareness and familiarization
—education and training
—program

—communication and organization

The SERVICE project has made detailed recommendations
for increasing awareness and sensitivity on all “levels” of
ministry, from individual-member contacts through pastor
and principal and school staffs to ministries in Districts and
the Synod.

The SERVICE project identified as the foremost concern
the equipping of school and parish workers to meet effectively
the needs of handicapped individuals and their families.