LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 57

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PARISH. YOUTH, AND COMMUNICATION SERVICES a7

involved in actually producing various items for publication by
Concordia Publishing House.

The new service books also call for what might be consid-
ered more weighty and lasting spinoffs. The committee is
therefore proposing that the Board for Parish Services prepare
four volumes for publication:

1. A companion or handbook to Lutheran Worship. a
counterpart to W. G. Polack’s The Handbook to the Lutheran
Hymnal.

2. Lutheran Worship, Little Agenda, a counterpart to the
present pocket-sized Pastor’s Companion (1948). Among other
things, this would include the following items from the pro-
posed new Lutheran Worship Agenda: Holy Baptism, Marriage
Services I and II, Consecration of a Civil Marriage, Anni-
versary of a Marriage, Corporate Confession and Absolution,
Individual Confession and Absolution, Ministry to the Sick
and Infirm, Communion of the Sick, Commendation of the
Dying, Burial of the Dead, and Dedication of a Dwelling.

3. Accompaniment, Propers of the Day (tentative title).
This would provide accompaniment for the introits, graduals,
and verses for Sundays and major festivals and for the most
frequently observed minor festivals.

4. Lutheran Worship, Essence, Form, and Celebration
(tentative title). Numerous requests have been received for a
definitive work of this sort, something akin to Luther D. Reed’s
The Lutheran Liturgy (1960) and Philip H. Pfatteicher’s
Manual on the Liturgy—Lutheran Book of Worship (1980).
This volume would be of both practical and theoretical help to
pastors and musicians; it would serve as a textbook for worship
classes at our colleges and seminaries.

Granted the importance of the Synodwide introductory
process of Lutheran Worship in the fall of 1981, this project
represented but the beginning of a broader long-range educa-
tion process in the entire area of worship and music to aid both
pastors and lay people with renewed vitality to voice their
praise and adoration of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Closer contact with District worship committees and
District executives is envisioned. An informative ‘Lutheran
Worship Newsletter” is planned in cooperation with Concordia
Publishing House. The high cost of travel and limited per-
sonnel and financial resources prompt the development and
formation of regional teams of trainers to conduct workshops
and conferences on the Circuit level. The wealth of liturgical
material—not only contained in Lutheran Worship but in-
directly suggested by Lutheran Worship—should afford sub-
ject matter for presentation and discussion for years to come.

It is encouraging to note that the past two decades or so
have led toa more Biblically based discovery of worship as the
life of the church, the public act of God coming and dealing
with His people in Word and Sacrament, and the response of
His people to His love and grace, God acting in both, and both
actualizing the nature of the church as the body of Christ,
which embraces, confesses, inspires, and defines the whole
church, her whole essential nature, her whole life. The Chris-
tian faith is not only a doctrine; it is also public action or deed.
The thrust of worship renewal is more than a new awakening
of and enthusiasm for ceremonial and ritual—the external
aspects. Its thrust is, first of all, closely bound up with a
theological, confessional, ongoing missionary and spiritual
renewal!

XII. Media Resources Which Proclaim Him

In Bylaw 2.223 a the Synod instructs the Board for Parish
Services to “assist congregations in arranging and carrying
out a comprehensive and effective program of Christian
education, so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ may become ever
more effective in the life of the individual Christian and of the
congregation.” In the past biennium the board, through its
editorial services unit staff, has continued to carry out its
synodical mandate by upgrading extant materials and devel-
oping new materials that are Bible-based, true to the Lutheran
Confessions, and designed to lead the learner to grow in faith
and service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this ministry of the published Word the board deeply
treasures its team relationship with Concordia Publishing
House. Although the BPS editorial staff plans and directs the

production of materials and edits all manuscripts. CPH
underwrites the costs of developing and cataloging BPS
curricular materials and contributes the skilled resources of
professionals in graphic services, advertising, and marketing.
The board appreciates this Synod-mandated BPS-CPH rela-
tionship since it provides the kind of healthy “creative tension”
needed to address both theological. educational concerns and
cost profit realities.

The following describes some of the specific projects of the
board, through its staff. in fulfillment of Bylaw 2.223a and
convention resolutions.

A. New Bulletin on BPS Materials

Principles of Christian Education for the Local Parish...as
Expressed in Christian Education Materials of the Board for
Parish Services. A copy of this bulletin was mailed to each
District education executive and is available to congregations
and individuals through the BPS office (Order No. 90582, 75
cents).

The bulletin provides a brief introduction to the curricular
programs and materials produced by the board and published
by Concordia Publishing House. It outlines the theological
foundations and educational principles underlying all the
materials and the particular accents of the materials for each
agency of Christian education. It portrays how all the various
agency curricula interrelate and contribute to an effective,
unified program of Christian education in the local parish.

The bulletin was prepared especially for reading and dis-
cussion by pastors, directors of Christian education, princi-
pals, superintendents, teachers, and parish board members.

B. New Life in Christ

Published by CPH, New Life in Christ is the BPS-designed
and -edited Sunday school curriculum for preschool and ele-
mentary grades. The series builds on the time-tested model of
the former Life in Christ series. It is Bible-story based (chrono-
logical Bible history), uniform (same Bible stories on all levels),
group-graded (each level is for two grades), and correlates its
lessons with the major church-year festivals—Christmas,
Lent/Easter, and Pentecost. It covers the narrative portions of
the entire Scriptures in a three-year cycle of lessons. (Thus
learners deal with the basic Bible narratives approximately
four times in their experience from Nursery level through
grade 8.)

In response to the Synod’s convention Resolution 7-14 (St.
Louis, 1979) and numerous requests from congregations, the
following new features were introduced beginning with the fall
1982 quarter:

(1) Nursery and Kindergarten materials, formerly based on
a two-year cycle of lessons, are now correlated with the
elementary-grade levels. Moreover, the materials feature new
art and new formats. Like the other NLIC levels, NLIC for
Nursery and Kindergarten now features these media items:
Teachers Guide (one Guide for both levels) with center-insert
Bible commentary; Student Activity Packet (one forN, one for
K); Teachers Packet (one for N, one for K). The basic learners
piece is a four-page weekly leaflet (one for N, one for K) rather
than a quarterly booklet, as is the case on the elementary-grade
levels.

Correlation of NLIC Nursery and Kindergarten lessons
with the elementary-grade levels provides the following aa-
vantages: Pastors can discuss the same underlying Bible text
for coming Sundays with all the teachers of N through grade 8
in one teachers meeting. This helps foster a greater feeling of
unity among Sunday school staffs; helps the pastor or super-
intendent in his preparation to lead the teachers meeting; and
provides greater unity and meaningfulness in opening worship
activities for those Sunday schools which are unable or
unwilling to departmentalize. The disadvantage is that some
Bible texts, which are most appropriate for older children, are
very difficult for three-year-olds. (Only BPS/Concordia has, in
the past, dared to tackle as many as 100 Bible stories for three-
year-olds—the number in the ‘‘old” Life in Christ. With the
three-year cycle of NLIC, we are adding another 50.) To
mitigate or eliminate this problem, the NLIC materials for
preschool levels will, when necessary, maintain uniformity by