Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 307
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 307

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

HIGHER EDUCATION 307

This substitute motion passed, and the period of study
has now been completed by the Board for Higher Edu-
cation.

In our efforts to reevaluate the educational needs of
the Synod we have had several meetings with our breth-
ren on the Board of Control of Concordia, Oakland. Both
boards are in full agreement that the Synod needs to
expand educational facilities on the West Coast.

We believe that the judgment of the Synod expressed
in previous conventions and the recommendations of the
Board for Higher Education have been sound and prac-
tical in recommending a southern California location,
specifically Irvine. as a place for expansion. Our rea-
sons are:

1. Southern California is by far the most populated
area in the western region of the United States. There
are 12,500,000 people who live in the 14 southern Cali-
fornia counties. The five-county area of Los Angeles.
Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura passed
the 10-million mark on Aug. 17. 1968. The County of
Los Angeles has a population of 7,102,000, which is an
increase of 1,060,000 over the 1960 census. Growth in
this area continues twice as fast as the national average.
On Aug. 24, 1968. the Los Angeles Times reported that
the California population was 19,782,000: the population
of the three western coastal states is 24.900,000. The
population of the 11 western states is 32,000,000. These
conclusions are obvious:

40 percent of the people of the 11 western states live in
southern California:

50 percent of the people of the 3 western coastal states
live in southern California;

66 percent of all Californians live in the 14 southern
California counties.

The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod has more
congregations in the southern California counties than
in any other comparable area on the West Coast. Wash-
ington has 180 congregations, Oregon has 88, the 44
northern counties of California have 171, and the 14
southern counties have 223 congregations.

It is generally conceded that the educational site at
Irvine is one of the best that The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod has in the United States. The planned
community at Irvine was featured during the summer
of 1968 in a CBS documentary as one of the best-planned
communities in the United States. Our location is just
a few blocks from the campus of the University of Cali-
fornia at Irvine. which presently has an enrollment of
more than 7,000 and by 1985 will have an enrollment of
27,500, thus becoming one of the major educational insti-
tutions in the United States. Nearness to a major uni-
versity should decrease the need for course offerings on
our part. The Synod-owned Irvine property is on an
incline overlooking the entire academic and residential
community of the University of California at Irvine.

The Present Status at Irvine

The Board for Higher Education holds title to our
property at Irvine. John Carl Warnecke & Associates

of San Francisco has developed full architectural plans
for our educational facility. A model has been prepared.
Working drawings are ready for submission to con-
tractors for bids. The working drawings were developed
for a 2-year college (400 enrollment capacity) at an
estimated cost of $6.6 million. The Cleveland synodical
resolution indicates that 14 permanent faculty members
be initially approved.

The Board for Higher Education has made its final
restudy of educational needs on the West Coast as re-
quested by the convention in New York. During this
2-year period. construction costs in southern California
have risen by 15 percent. This has been an extremely
costly study. The Synod can hardly afford another such
delay. We recommend that special financing be author-
ized so that this project can commence at the earliest
possible moment. Wise stewardship of money indicates
that borrowing of the funds now would save several
million dollars in the future.

Some have suggested that the California Lutheran
College at Thousand Oaks (operated jointly by LCA
and ALC) be used as the Synod’s educational unit on
the West Coast. We would suggest that this is im-
practical because the Thousand Oaks College is poorly
located: to join with them in their present temporary
campus would be to assume heavy financial indebted-
ness; it would be a complete departure from the Synod's
policy of higher education. If fellowship with the ALC
is to have a bearing on our educational policies, we
would suggest that the Irvine site be explored as the
place for cooperation because of its more ideal location.

In summary, then, we recommend to the Synod the
Irvine site for immediate development to meet the edu-
cational needs of the Synod in the West because:

1. It is located where the people are: the area will
continue to grow for many years to come.

2. It is located close to a major university. the Uni-
versity of California at Irvine (27,500 enrollment by
1985).

3. Architectural plans and drawings have been com-
pleted. and construction can begin quickly.

4. Increasing construction costs and inflation demand
action now: special synodical authorization to borrow is
certainly indicated at this time.

5. We have studied and restudied long enough; the
time to act is now! Boarp ofr CONTROL
Victor L, BEHNKEN, Chairman
(6-24)

To Begin Construction at Irvine
Before Next Convention

Wuereas, Southern California is by far the most
populated area of the western region, with 12.5 million
people living in the 14 southern California counties
(40°, of the total population in the 11 western states):
and

Wuereas, The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
has more congregations in the southern California area
than in any other comparable area on the west coast;
and