LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 14

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14 MISSIONS, EVANGELISM. AND SOCIAL MINISTRY

Because of rising costs and limited funding, the Board for
Mission Services has had to cope increasingly with painful
choices between important priorities. The board is determined
to move beyond the thought of curtailment or maintenance of
the status quo. On behalf of the Lord and His church, the board
is committed to implementing the Synod’s mandated goals to
enter into new areas of unreached peoples with the Gospel of
Christ. In plain language it takes dollars to send and support
the Lord's ambassadors to do the convention’s theme: “‘Him
We Proclaim!”

Planning, itemizing. requesting and justifving the thou-
sands of items from North America and around the world
which comprise the multimillion dollar operation of the BFMS
is a complicated, sophisticated business procedure. It requires
the professional skills of people who are competent in financial
planning, international currencies and accounting, and whoat
the same time have a deep love and feel for the Lord's work. We
have such co-workers, and for that we thank the Lord.

In its meeting of June 1981 the BFMS adopted in principle
the following five priorities governing the budgetary decisions
for partner churches, referring them to staff for further de-
velopment and refinement. They are known as “Five Priorities
for Resource Sharing.”

1. New Work—in the world or in countries where partner
churches are already working.

2. Theological Education—programs of all kinds, including
seminaries, Bible schools for evangelists, and theologi-
cal education by extension.

3. Nurture and Education—programs for the strengthen-
ing of the faith of the members, including evangelism
and stewardship training. retreats. literature, Sunday
school materials, vacation Bible school materials. etc.

4. Ongoing Work—direct subsidy to congregations and: or
pastors, emphasizing the necessity of Scriptural self-
support by congregations.

5. Church Adminstration—each church body must gain its
integrity by determining and supporting its own admin-
istrative structure.

From the following budget summaries it is evident that the
funding allocated to the work of the Board for Mission Services
has not kept pace with world-wide inflation.

Requested Allocated
BL 82 eee 314,784,927 $11,041,465
82 83 Le ... $13,776,579 $10,192,559
83 84 ee. $10,991,179 $10,451,159

It is not the intent of the BFMS to paint a picture of fiscal
gloom. The board is convinced that it is not the desire of the
church and certainly not the will of the Lord.

The board is convinced that what is really needed is a
clearer picture and a fuller understanding of what it takes to
move ahead, to reach out, to be fully committed in real life to
our timely convention theme, **Him We Proclaim!”

In the light of the challenging opportunity for moving
ahead in the Lord’s work today. we do not desire to focus on
financial plight. This is the time to see the big picture of the
unfinished task. God's people in Christ. out of love for Him who
first loved us, will respond to that.

Just as a well-known symphony is remembered for refrains
which are repeated in a variety of ways, so in the symphony of
the Lord's mission, the refrains of the “Go ye.” the world of
today. and the Gospel task bear repetition with emphasis to
impress upon our whole Synod the job we are privileged by our
Lord to do.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come’’ (Matthew 24:14 NIV). Since the “end” has obviously not
come, the purpose and mission of Christ’s church on earth, so
clearly and succinctly defined by Christ, is not yet accom-
plished. The degree to which Christ’s goal for the world is not
yet accomplished must. therefore, be the overriding and over-
arching concern of the whole Christian church, dictating and
directing the use of its resources and energy. Acknowledging
this, the World Consultation on Frontier Missions, meeting in
Edinburgh, Scotland, Oct. 27—31, 1980, challenged the com-
ponent parts (all Christian denominations and mission agen-
cies) of the Christian church to direct their energy and

resources toward accomplishing Christ's goal for the world by
establishing His church among every “nation, tribe. people
and language” by the vear 2000. As one of the component parts
of Christ's church on earth, all our planning for the use of our
resources and energy must be directed toward the attainment
of that goal.

In order for our church to plan intelligently and set re-
sponsible goals that will aid the church universal in accom-
plishing Christ's goal for the world, we must be aware of the
magnitude of the task vet to be done. Ina world of 4.373.917, 700
people. made up of 223 nations, 8,993 identified people groups.
16.700 subcultures. and 7.010 languages (all statistics are from
the World Christian Encyclopedia. 1982, as of mid-1980), what
is the status of Christianity? Including evervone that claims to
be a Christian having some official relationship with a Chris-
tian denomination, there are 1,432.686,519 Christians in the
world. This leaves a total of 2.941,231.181—or roughly 3 billion
people—who are outside the body of Christ. Three out of every
four! :
Of primary concern to the church and to us must be these
three startling facts: (1) There are one billion people who live
where Christian churches are well established—where there
are no geographical, cultural, or linguistic barriers (e.g.. North
America). (2) Of the roughly 3 billion people who are outside the
Body of Christ, there are 2 billion people among whom there is
no culturally relevant organized Christian church able to
evangelize them. These people are thus “hidden” from Chris-
tian witness. (3) Of the 7.010 languages spoken. only 1.811
languages have the Scripture or portions of the Scripture in
writing.

In the face of the magnitude of the unfinished task. the
commitment of our church membership to Christ's goal for
world evangelism, the realness of our faith, and the clearness
of our vision will determine the measurable goals toward which
we are willing to commit our energies and resources. The goals
for reaching out bevond our own borders, adopted by the
membership of our church in 1979 and reaffirmed in 1981. are
clear signals that we are a church body walking by faith and
not by sight. with a clear vision of our purpose in mission.

The greatest foes of missions are prejudice and indifference.
and ignorance is the mother of them both. If the goals adopted
by conventions are to be accepted and receive the united
support of the membership of our church, a clear call needs
again to be sounded for a relevant and exciting churchwide
program of mission education that will lead to a churchwide
reawakening of mission consciousness. We must bend every
effort, using all the technology available. to educate the
membership of our church from top to bottom in Christ's
challenge to our church in today’s world and in the joy of
uniting our energies and resources to meet that challenge.
“Him We Proclaim’—at home and abroad!

Albert B. Wingfield. Chairman
Edward A. Westcott, Jr.. D.D., Executive Secretary

1-02
Report of Board for Evangelism Services

HIM WE PROCLAIM!

The theme of the 55th Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, “Him We Proclaim,” points to the
task of the church, her assignment, the work given to her by the
Lord. And when He is proclaimed the church rejoices. St. Paul
says that when Christ is proclaimed, “whether in pretense orin
truth.” then “I rejoice’ (Phil. 1:18 RSV). The purpose of pro-
claiming the Good News about Jesus Christ is so that theSpinit
of God may change the hearts and lives of those who hearit. In
the verse from which the theme is taken, Paul uses this
language: Through “admonishing and teaching everyone with
all wisdom... we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (Col.
1:28 NIV). Today’s English Version puts it in these words, ‘We
warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's
presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.” That
sounds like the Great Commission! Our Lord in Matthew 28:19-
20 said the task of the church is to “baptize and teach” in order
that all nations might become disciples of Jesus Christ.