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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 314

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

314 HIGHER EDUCATION

Whereas, The Cleveland convention in 1962 autho-
rized the development of a new junior college in the
greater Los Angeles area: and

Whereas, The Detroit convention in 1965 encouraged
the Board for Higher Education to proceed in the de-
velopment of the new junior college at Irvine in south-
ern California and also made the Lake Chabot property
“available to the Synod for such educational uses as
future developments in the Synod's higher education
needs may indicate’: and

WuereEas, The New York convention in 1967 resolved
“that the matter of a new junior college at Irvine be
deferred to the 1969 Denver convention of The Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod for action and that in the
interim the Board for Higher Education make a final
restudy of the entire matter of higher education on the
West Coast’; therefore be it

Resolved, That in view of the current and future
population growth potential of the West, the Synod
needs to expand greatly its educational programs in the
West; and be it further

Resolved, That the immediate priority is a terminal
college meeting the Synod's needs for preministerial,
teacher- and other-training programs to fulfill the mis-
sion of the church; and be it finally

Resolved, That this convention take definitive action
in authorizing the financing and construction of this
terminal college. (Further reflection on this may be
forthcoming in an unprinted memorial depending on the
recommendations of the Board for Higher Education to
the Denver convention.)

BoarRD OF CONTROL

CALIFORNIA CONCORDIA COLLEGE
Paut E. Jacoss, Chairman
BOARD OF CONTROL

IRVINE

Victor L. BEHNKEN, Chairman

(6-41)
To Establish One 4-Year College
in California (Bay Area)

Wuereas, The trends of modern life indicate increas-
ingly a popular attitude of indifference toward the
church, and the youth of our Lord's body are exposed
to and threatened by these trends as evidenced by the
staggering statistics of attrition among the young people
from the church: and

Wuereas, The deteriorating social condition in the
world suggests that the church focus its primary atten-
tion on new and imaginative programs of serving the
leaders of tomorrow; and

Whereas, The Commission on Lutheran Lay Higher
Education, appointed by our synodical President to
study this matter, included in its recommendations to
the convention in New York (CONVENTION WoRKBOOK,
Report 6-02, Recommendation 3a): “The Synod should
give her immediate attention and actively focus her con-
cern on Lutheran lay higher education”: and

Wuereas, The synodical convention at Detroit had
already resolved that this matter, as it pertained to the
central West Coast (cf. Detroit Proceedings, Res. 6-43)
“be referred to the Board for Higher Education for con-
sideration in the light of the long-range study now in
progress of the synodical education system”; and

Wuereas, The continued growth of population on the
West Coast includes an increasing need for the estab-
lishment of a Christian college which would become
a viable alternative to the existing and expanding system
of state colleges in California — 22 university and state
college campuses and 103 junior college campuses; and

Wuereas, There continues to be a 1,200-mile vacuum
of Lutheran higher education at a 4-year college level
between Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland.
Wash., and California Lutheran College at Thousand
Oaks in southern California (40 miles from Los An-
geles), the approximate distance between Concordia
Teachers College at Seward, Nebr.. and Concordia Col-
legiate Institute in Bronxville, N. Y.; and

Wuereas, Responsible membership in the broader
Lutheran community through our affiliation with the
Lutheran Council in the United States of America
(LCUSA) would seem to suggest strongly that The Lu-
theran Church — Missouri Synod should assume the
initiative for development of a 4-year program of higher
education in the central West Coast area (the ALC and
LCA, as responsible members of the same Lutheran
community, have already developed 4-year college pro-
grams in the northwest at Parkland, Wash.. and in the
southwest at Thousand Oaks, Calif.): and

WHEREAS, It is increasingly apparent that our church
in the future will need lay leadership which is not only
skilled in various secular disciplines but has also been
exposed to the deeper theological insights available at
such church-related colleges: and

WueEREAS, The advantages of a college which trains
professional church servants (pastors, teachers, deacon-
esses, etc.) as well as students preparing for secular
vocations would prove mutually beneficial to all stu-
dents: therefore be it

Resolved, That we respectfully request The Lutheran
Church — Missouri Synod, convening in Denver, Colo..
in July 1969, to respond favorably to the memorial sub-
mitted by the Boards of Control of the existing Cali-
fornia Concordia College in Oakland and the college
under consideration for the property at Irvine, Calif.,
regarding the establishment of one 4-year college for all
students preparing for a career of professional church
work: and be it further

Resolved, That the site for this 4-year college be
located in the San Franciseo Bay Area, since the ini-
tiative for higher education has already been assumed
by the other Lutheran bodies in the northwest at Pacific
Lutheran University in Parkland. Wash., and in the
southwest at California Lutheran College in Thousand
Oaks; and be it further

Resolved, That the convention be encouraged, in its