LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 12

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12 MISSIONS, EVANGELISM, AND SOCIAL MINISTRY

e. Training in stewardship and evangelism
f. Translation of Holy Scripture

In a number of places throughout this report references
were made to new work made possible by FIR funding, such as
in Botswana, Togo, Liberia, Republic of Panama, Guada-
lajara, Mexico, new language areas in Nigeria, and soon, God
willing, Sierra Leone.

One significant FIR grant of $1,500,000 will enable the
Board for Mission Services, together with the Board for
Professional Education Services through a joint scholarship
committee, to administer an endowment fund for “Continuing
Education for Clergy of Partner Churches.” Such a committee
will coordinate former scholarship activities, such as the
STAPOC program (Scholarship Training Assistance Program
for Overseas Churchmen) of the BFMS and the Exchange
Study Program of the CTCR. The committee plans todevelopa
unified set of policies and procedures for selection. support,
guidance, and evaluation of scholarship recipients, in con-
sultation with the partner church council of the respective
scholarship nominee. The board is grateful to the Lord for this
opportunity to provide assistance for enriching and broaden-
ing the leadership and pastoral ministry skills of partner
church pastors.

Administration

Every believer. baptized into Christ, has entered a new kind
of life. In fact. “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the
old has gone. the new has come!"’(2 Cor.5:17 NIV). In Christ we
“are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with
God's... household” (Eph. 2:19 NIV).

This means that none of us is a private citizen, an island
unto self, as it were, but rather each of us is “like living stones,
_.. being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ” (1 Peter 2:5 NIV). Together as Christ's church we are
under His gracious rule and under the divine order of His Great
Commission. Together, each of us, as individual Christian
witnesses. works in the Lord’s church, confident of the Lord's
power, presence, and promises as we pray for, plan, prioritize,
provide for, and together promote the programs of the church
for doing the Lord's mission of proclaiming His Gospel for
discipling all nations.

The Lord's strategy is simple. It is one of ever widening
concentric circles, beginning obviously at the center. He says.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NIV). In other
words mission begins in the home, the neighborhood. the town,
and the state and moves into neighboring states and all the
world.

While the Lord's strategy is simple and wise, the actual
work on a national and international dimension, across the
boundaries of cultures and languages, is complex and difficult.
Furthermore. the church's resources are precious. For this
reason The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has a nine-
member Board for Mission Services, elected by the Synod in
convention, to conduct the mission program of the Synod on

. behalf of its congregations (cf. 1981 Handbook, pages 66—67).
The board has missionaries in 19 fields and supports work in 10
additional fields, making a total of 29. Of these, 14 are partner
churches of the LCMS.

In order to oversee this work in accord with its policies, the
Board for Mission Services has a dedicated staff appointed to
the following positions:

1. Executive Secretary for the Board for Mission Services

2. Associate Executive Secretary for Administration

3. Secretary for Finance

4. Associate Executive Secretary for North American
Ministries

5. Secretary for American Indian Ministry (vacant)

6. Secretary for Deaf and Blind Ministry

7. Secretary for Campus Ministry

8. Secretary for Campus Ministry Publications (vacant)

9. Secretary for Black Ministry (vacant)

10. Secretary for Hispanic Ministry

11. Associate Executive Secretary for World Areas (vacant)

12. Secretary for Africa Europe Middle East

13. Secretary for Asia

14. Secretary for Latin America

15. Secretary for Personnel

16. Assistant Secretary for Personnel Services

17. Associate Executive Secretary for Ministry to the
Armed Forces

18. Secretary for Ministry to the Armed Forces (Program
Director)

In the interest of greater achievement of planned goals and
objectives in mission, the BFMS during the past biennium has
revised and refined the position descriptions for each of its
staff in harmony with a standardized pattern of descriptions
for all synodical staff positions. These are designed for more
effective delegation of responsibilities and to provide for
clearer lines of accountability and assessment of the work to be
done. These position descriptions have been approved by the
Synod’s Board of Directors.

Standing Committees

So that staff and board may benefit from input of profes-
sional people with specific backgrounds of experience, the
Synod has provided for the appointment of a number of
standing committees which meet twice a year, or in certain
instances, more if necessary. The standing committees of the
Board for Mission Services are

1. Black Ministry, 3 members; they meet with the associate
executive secretary for North American ministries.

2. Campus Ministry, 3 members; they meet with the secre-
tary for campus ministry.

3. Ministry among American Indians (a majority of whom
shall be American Indians), 5 members; until the position of
secretary for American Indian ministry is filled. they meet
with the secretary for campus ministry.

4. Ministry among Hispanics (a majority of whom shall be
Hispanics), 5 members; they meet with the secretary for
Hispanic ministry.

5. Ministry to the Armed Forces, 3 members plus the
associate secretary for ministry to the armed forces and the
secretary for ministry to the armed forces (program director);
they meet with the executive secretary of the Board for Mission
Services.

Note: This standing committee, because ofits relation to the
armed forces and U.S. government regulations and procedures
for the calling and assigning of LCMS military chaplains, has
functions delegated to it by the Board for Mission Services
which are not common to the other standing committees of the
BFMS.

6. Ministry to the Blind. 4 members: they meet with the
secretary for deaf and blind.

7. Ministry to the Deaf. 5 members; they meet with the
secretary for deaf and blind.

The Board for Mission Services this past biennium adopted
a series of policies and procedures as guidelines for enabling its
seven standing committees to provide their advisory input to
the BFMS. Whenever a standing committee has met, it sends
minutes and. or reports to be received by the Board for Mission
Services.

Missionary Personnel

St. Paul's questions, addressed to the Christians in Rome.
are still relevant today: “And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless
they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14b—15 NIV). An important part of
administering the mission program of the Board for Mission
Services is the calling, preparation, sending, and supporting of
the missionaries and their families who leave their homeland
to bring the gospel of Christ to peoples of other lands in their
own language and culture.

The 1983 Directory of Missionary Personnel, called “Pray
for Us,” lists LCMS missionaries in 19 countries in the
following categories:

Ordained ................. 62
Teachers ................. 33
Deaconess .............--- 1
Medical Doctors .......... 2

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