LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 302

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PARISH SERVICES 283

Share with teachers Sunday school ideas that they can take
back and use in their home congregations;

Offer teacher-training models that can be adapted for
subsequent teacher-training events in congregations, Circuits,
and Districts.

Further assistance to Sunday schools is offered through
bulletins published by the Board of Parish Education. Current
bulletins include No. 37077, “Evangelism for Sunday School
Growth”; No. 37177, “Organizing and Maintaining the Sunday
School”; No. 37277, “Measuring Sunday School Strength’; No.
37377, “The Small Sunday School”; No. 37479, “Sunday School
Teacher Selection, Training, and Support’; No. 57580,
“Annotated Bibliography for the Sunday School Teacher’s
Library”; and No. 57680, “Sunday Schools of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod on the 200th Anniversary of the
Sunday School Movement.”’ Twice each year Program Re-
sources for Church School Conferences is published for circuit
Sunday school associations and other teacher-training events.

Weekday Schools

As indicated in another part of this report, new materials
for Lutheran weekday and day schools will be published over
the next several years.

Many congregations have had a weekday school for
seventh- and eighth-grade youth (confirmation class). The
challenge is to broaden this time-honored weekday school to
include younger children as well as youth and adults. Weekday
learning groups might be held after school hours, in evenings,
or on Saturdays. Through the weekday school, Sunday school
students can obtain a richer understanding of their Christian
faith ina relaxed setting and with more time for learning than
is usually possible on Sunday.

Weekday programs of Christian education need renewed
attention. Until 1973 weekday schools in the Synod enjoyed
steady growth. Subsequently they have experienced a decline.
The following enrollment figures are of interest:

Year K-12 Adult Total
1968 ........ eee, 109,101 34,729 143,830
1969 ..........00.. 123,863 33,985 157,848
1970 .............. 135,381 93,184 228,565
1971 oo... eee 141,706 87,275 228,991
1972 1.0... ee. 146,393 96,683 243,076
1973 wo... cee eee 148,021 104,985 253,006
1974 wo. eee 142,390 116,499 258,889
1975 J. ee 136,509 122,246 258,755
1976 .............. 130,195 133,373 263,568
1977 eee ee 118,966 140,967 259,933
1978 ...... eee 110,255 145,957 256,212
1979 2.0... 104,123 146,281 250,404

This tabulation suggests that we have the challenge to
continue to involve adults in weekday Bible study and to
interest many more youth and children in weekday programs
of Christian education.

Resources from the Board of Parish Education for the
promotion of weekday schools include No. 55076, ‘Planning
Weekday Programs in the Parish”; No. 55179, “Successful
Weekday Schools” (tract for educational] leaders in the parish);
No. 55278, “Weekday School Plus” (promotion tract for con-
gregational distribution); and No. 55374, ““Weekday Schools
That Succeed” (filmstrip and cassette tape).

Vacation Bible Schools

As might be expected, vacation Bible school enrollment
trends closely parallel those of the Sunday school. Since 1965
our vacation Bible schools have experienced a steady enroll-
ment decline, but in 1979 this trend was reversed as the
following statistics demonstrate:

Year Number Pupils Nonmembers Teachers
1977 ........ 4,145 299,892 100,566 37,831
1978 ........ 4,156 292,040 97,323 37,420
1979 ........ 4,228 299,070 105,828 37,956

Approximately one-third of our VBS enrollments consist of
nonmember students—an indication of the potential of the

vacation Bible school as a potent agency of the church for
reaching out to the unchurched and for sharing the Gospel
with those who may not have heard it. For this reason alone it
would seem that all churches would want to sponsor a VBS.
Another important reason is that the VBS provides the
congregation with the opportunity to expand the Christian
education program held on Sunday morning. Several weeks of
sustained learning during the summer offer an excellent
opportunity for nurturing and deepening the faith of God’s
people.

Yet more than 30 percent of our congregations still fail to
conduct an annual vacation Bible school. All congregations
need to be encouraged to conduct creative summer programs
for adults and youth as well as for children.

The synodical Board of Parish Education seeks to support
congregations in this important ministry in several ways.
During the spring of each year, personnel from the Board of
Parish Education and Concordia Publishing House conduct
vacation Bible school workshops in Districts requesting this
service. In addition to the fine promotional materials offered
by Concordia Publishing House, the Board of Parish Educa-
tion offers several helpful publications: No. 50179,
“Evangelism Through the Vacation Bible School” and No.
50279, ‘“‘Creative Summer Programs in Christian Education.”

Every congregation is encouraged to employ this time-
tested agency for the Christian nurturing of members and for
evangelistic outreach to nonmembers.

Directors of Christian Education

A growing ministry of Christian education in the Synod is
that of the director of Christian education. Churches withouta
Christian day school, as well as many with a school, find the
director of Christian education a useful staff person for
providing leadership for the congregation’s educational and
youth ministry. Within the past decade the number of directors
of Christian education in the Synod has increased from less
than 100 to nearly 400.

The Board of Parish Education, in addition to supporting
DCEs in their ministry, also seek to assist Districts and
congregations as congregations explore the possibility of
engaging a director of Christian education. Current publica-
tions that may be helpful include No. 14078, “The Director of
Christian Education”; No. 14275, “Have You Considered
Sharing a Director of Christian Education?”; No. 14375,
“Sharing a Director of Christian Education through Multi-
parish Cooperation”; No. 14475, “‘General Qualifications fora
Shared Director of Christian Education”; and No. 14580, “1980
Salary Survey.”

To support the director of Christian education in his or her
ministry, the Board of Parish Education publishes a quarterly
journal, The Directors of Christian Education Bulletin. In
cooperation with the Coordinating Committee for Cooperative
Projects in Congregational Life, the Board of Parish Education
sponsors seven regional Conferences for Professionals in
Education and Youth Ministry each year. These conferences
involve 200—250 professionals annually.

VII. Adults Move Forward in Remembrance

More adults are studying the Bible together in groups
sponsored by local congregations than ever before in the
Synod’s history. That means that more men and women are
getting the help they need to work through the difficult
situations they face. As Christians trying to communicate to
others the meaning of God’s love in Christ, they are receiving
from God’s Spirit at work in His Word new insights into God,
themselves, and their mission in the world. They are building
on what they have learned in the past so that they are
becoming better equipped to witness in the future. In the
process they are learning that adult Bible classes deserve a
high priority on the list of activities in their congregation.

To assist congregations in strengthening their adult educa-
tion program these information bulletins have been published
by the Board of Parish Education in the past two years: “Eight
Steps Toward Better Adult Bible Classes,” “Ministry with
Older Persons,’ “A School of Religion for Adults,” “A
Diagnostic Instrument for the Adult Bible Class,” and “16
Ways to Distribute and Use the Bible.”