LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Sheet 370

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PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION 361

ministry of membership cultivation so that its congregations
can reduce their back-door loses by 50%.

4. By 1985 the Synod has evaluated and improved its
system of membership referrals and transfers, enabling con-
gregations to strengthen this ministry by which they retain
and equip their members for service to Christ.

Teaching and Learning Goals

1. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod
annually have involved at least 28% of their confirmed
members in at least one weekly Bible Class series.

2. By the end of the decade the Synod has involved at least
50% of its couples and families in parish marriage or family life
enrichment experiences.

3. By the end of the decade the Synod has published
sufficient resources to enable congregations to recruit and
train at least two volunteer teachers for each class in its
Sunday, weekday, and vacation Bible school.

4. By the end of the decade the Synod has increased
enrollments in Lutheran preschools, elementary schools, and
high schools to 250,000, up from 182,600 in 1980—81.

5. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod
have developed for themselves a five-year plan to evaluate and
strengthen the theological content and educational methods
used in their curricular materials, at the same time developing
a program to increase participation by people of all age groups
in their educational agencies.

Service Goals

1. By the end of the decade the Synod has involved at least
25% of its membership, age 14 and over, for at least one hour
each month in personal service beyond the local parish,
through church/community agencies.

2. By the end of the decade 75% of the congregations of the
Synod have assessed the social, physical, and economic, as
well as the spiritual, needs of people in their congregation and
community and have developed an annual strategy to help
meet those needs.

Stewardship Goals

1. By the end of the decade the congregations of the Synod
have enlisted at least 50% of their confirmed members to invest
at least one hour per week of their time and talents in
congregational service, witness, and fellowship projects in
addition to the time spent in worship, teaching, and learning.

2. By the end of the decade the Synod has enlisted the
members of its congregations in a program of spiritual nurture
so that they respond to God’s blessings by giving to Him ata
level which more closely approaches 10% of their income.

3. By the end of the decade the Synod has prepared and
implemented a program of leadership training for board
members in at least 75% of the congregations of the Synod.

4. By the end of the decade the Synod has created and
implemented a strategy by which all new and renovated
buildings owned by the Synod, its Districts, and congregations
make efficient use of energy resources for light, heating, and
cooling, and which encourages Christian families to do the
same in their homes.

Youth Goals

1. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed a
program which enables at least 50% of its congregations more
effectively to minister with single young adults (ages 18—34),
integrating them into the life and mission of the congregation.

2. By the end of the decade at least 75% of the congregations
of the Synod have enrolled their youth groups in the Synod’s
Lutheran Youth Fellowship.

3. By the end of the decade the Synod has trained at least
two adult youth leaders for at least 75% of its congregations,
enabling more high school age young people to participate in
the worship, witness, and service ministries of their con-
gregations.

4. By the end of the decade the Synod has created and
implemented a program which enables young people of junior
high and high school age to discover opportunities for entering

professional church vocations and the unique blessings God
provides to those whoengage in the public ministry of the Word
of God.

Communications Goals

1. By the end of the decade 80% of the congregations of the
Synod subscribe to the Lutheran Witness for every home in
their congregation (blanket subscription) and all congrega-
tions of the Synod provide annually the full list of officers who
are to receive the weekly copies of the Reporter sent to them by
the Synod.

2. By theend of the decade the Synod has developed resource
materials and a training program to equip leaders in at least
50% of its congregations to utilize modern equipment and
techniques for communicating the Gospel of Christ to their
members and to people in their community.

Program Administration, Finance,
and Support Service Goals

The synodical officers and members of boards and staffs
are in a servant relationship, functioning in behalf and in
support of the congregations of the Synod. In this servant
capacity the Synod can offer such support services as planning
and coordinating without centralizing any powers.

1. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated the
strengths and weaknesses of its new resource development
department and has shaped an expanded program to capitalize
on the momentum of Forward in Remembrance and offer new
approaches to raising funds for operating and capital
expenses.

2. By the end of the decade the synodical administration
has developed and implemented a coordinated system by
which to serve the needs of Districts, congregations, colleges,
and seminaries in the areas of personnel, purchasing, data
processing, access to census data, and other administrative
tasks.

Ecclesiastical Administration Goals

1. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated and
strengthened its program of pastoral concern to maintain
unity in the Synod’s Biblical, confessional position.

2. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated and
strengthened attempts to cultivate the wholesome congrega-
tion, Circuit, District/Synod relations which help the people of
the Synod to pursue their God-given mission.

3. By the end of the decade the Synod has evaluated the
needs of professional church workers and has developed and
implemented a program to support them which enables them to
continue to serve in their vocation with both satisfaction and
enthusiasm.

4. By the end of the decade the members of the Synod’s
Council of Presidents have agreed upon and implemented a
program of loving counsel and mutual support in carrying out
their roles in the Synod’s ministry of the Word of God.

5. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed a
strategy forinitiating and maintaining opportunities to dialog
and cooperate, where possible, on asound doctrinal basis, with
people in other Lutheran and other Christian church bodies in
the areas of worship, witness, teaching/
learning, service, and support.

6. By the end of the decade the Synod has developed an
attitude and flexible system of cooperation and coordination
among the members of all its boards, commissions, and
auxiliaries so that the total mission of the church can be
achieved with care, faithfulness, and good stewardship.

Viewing Long-Range Syncdical Goals in Context

The Synod, its Districts, congregations, and system of
higher education function interdependently, both internally
with each other and externally with those demographic,
socioeconomic, and attitudinal forces which impact all
institutions.

In more traditional, less complex societies, where individ-
uals and entire communities were comparatively self-suffi-
cient, the impact of individual or community decisions were
relatively self-contained. The extent of our interdependence in