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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 302

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

302 HIGHER EDUCATION

intent: the promotion of Christ and His kingdom. To
this activity we bend all our efforts now and in the

days to come. Boagp of ContROL

ARTHUR G. WAHLERS, Acting President
ERwin A. GERKEN, Chairman

(6-18)
Alabama Lutheran Academy and College
Selma, Ala.
Introduction

From the vantage point of students, faculty, and
board, the militant cry of “black power,” with the ac-
companying shift of both emphasis and strategy in the
freedom movement, has brought Alabama Lutheran
Academy and College from a position of relative ob-
scurity to the cutting edge of what must surely be one
of the major issues facing the Missouri Synod in 1969.
As the frontiers of Negro achievement are moved for-
ward day by day, black youth are learning to stand
proud and tall — as men. And having thus proved them-
selves, they are ready to challenge the gamut of un-
solved human problems.

As surely as culturally deprived black youth are
rightfully insisting that they have a part of the total
history of America, so the students at Alabama Lu-
theran Academy and College. nearly 150 strong, are
rightfully insisting that they have a genuine part in the
life and history of the church and this Synod. Here too
they wish to be proud and tall.

If the Synod will honestly read its own history, it
must soberly face the fact that black Lutheranism has
its roots in central Alabama. Nor should it be necessary
to remind ourselves that the overriding percentage of
all Negro churchmen in the Missouri Synod have at
some time attended or in some way been associated with
Alabama Lutheran Academy and College.

That black Lutheranism has survived to this day,
struggling as it has in a near totally hostile environment
and against almost insurmountable odds, the church
should acknowledge to be a miracle of God’s grace and
the results of dedicated efforts by black people them-
selves. The Synod would do well to examine carefully
and in a spirit of repentance its role in Selma’s history.
The commitment of Alabama Lutheran Academy and
College to a biracial student body, faculty, and Board
of Control has not been easily maintained in a society
which at times seems determined to fulfill the prediction
of greater separateness and even greater inequality.
But we would live the Gospel and be the church in this
place, and accordingly the challenge. as we see it, is not
to live with remorse over past failings but to look with
faith and determination to the future.

Three years ago the students and faculty of Alabama
Lutheran Academy and College proclaimed to the Synod
that they wished their institution to be opportunitas ad
excellentiam — “an opportunity for excellence.” The
Denver convention of The Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod is hereby challenged to commit a generous por-

tion of its afluence to the continuing development of the
educational program of Alabama Lutheran Academy
and College and thus participate creatively in the
achievement of its high goal. By providing adequate
facilities and a well qualified staff the Synod will be
living the church through actions thoroughly consistent
with New Testament theology.

The following specific information is herewith re-
spectfully submitted to guide the convention in its de-
liberations.

Purpose

The chief purpose of Alabama Lutheran Academy
and College remains what it has been throughout its
history. It is committed to providing, in quality, a por-
tion of the educational experiences of young men and
women preparing for the preaching and teaching min-
istries of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. Ala-
bama Lutheran Academy and College seeks to give
these young men and women at the high school and
junior college levels an appropriate foundation neces-
sary for the building of the Christian faith and an ade-
quate foundation in the liberal arts on which profes-
sional understandings and skills may later be built.
Communication skills, a widening awareness of past
thought and action, a basic understanding of the nature
of the physical world, a growing appreciation of the
fine arts and the humanities, and above all, a working
knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures and a growing un-
derstanding of the body of Christian doctrine — these
are among the chief educational goals of the school.

Board of Control

The Board of Control is made up of seven men.
Those whose terms of office expire in 1969 are: Rev.
Albert Dominick, secretary, Mobile, Ala.; Mr. Grover
Dixon, Montgomery, Ala.; Mr. Percy Herzfeld, Minter,
Ala. Those whose terms of office expire in 1971 are:
Mr. Arthur E. Gaines, New Orleans, La.; Mr. Walter H.
Moeller, vice-chairman. Winter Haven, Fla; Rev.
Wayne A. Dittloff, Houston, Tex. Rev. Edgar W. Hom-
righausen. President of the Southern District, is member
ex officio and chairman.

Enrollment

Enrollment figures during the past 4 years are as
follows:

High Junior Teacher Mints- Gen. Social

School College Training terial Ed. Work
1965—66 . ... 109 28 56 21 32
1966—67 ....... 109 32 51 20 38
1967—68 ........ 99 24 45 19 59
1968—69 ........ 101 34 40 17 78 3

Curriculum Expansion

In an effort to expand the academic offerings and at
the same time utilize the unique gift of both faculty and
students, two new courses were added to the junior
college curriculum in the spring semester of 1969. They
are: Afro-American History and Culture, a study of
the present-day culture of black Americans by tracing