Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 350
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 350

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

350 PARISH EDUCATION AND SERVICES

grams or models have been suggested to Districts and
congregations whose adults are ready to work, learning
the mind of Christ, developing the skills of spiritual per-
ception, and learning the techniques of group leader-
ship. Among them are the following:

1) Demonstration Churches in Adult Christian Educa-
tion. A project committee of five to seven persons leads
the congregation through a self-study to discover effec-
tive procedures by which to develop and administer a
fruitful program of continuing education. Through 6
months of research and study the congregation becomes
more aware of the face of its membership, the status of
Bible study, the types of classes offered, other adult
education needs and opportunities, the staff that teaches
and administers, financial support and publicity for adult
education, objectives, and suggests plans for the future.

2) Churchmen’s Retreats—‘‘Pastor and People in
Mission.”’ The pastor and five responsible laymen from
one congregation per circuit in an area of a District spend
Friday night and all day Saturday discussing, reading,
and praying about the church in its mission, the role of
the clergy and laity in realizing the mission, and how the
congregation may best plan to express its mission. Re-
treat participants are encouraged to carry through a
year-long continuation in their congregations. This may
include a congregational retreat and other activities.

3) Summer Seminar for Lay Bible Class Teachers. In
the setting of a camp or lakeside motel the teachers
gather from Sunday morning to Saturday noon to ac-
quire insight and experiences for their teaching. The
whole family is invited. Sessions for study, class inter-
action, and practice-teaching are scheduled—4 hours in
the morning, 1 hour in the afternoon, and 2 hours in the
evening.

4) Circuit Training for Leaders of Adults. In the cir-
cuit or area Sunday school conferences a section for all
workers with youth and adults is regularly held under
capable leadership with a 2- to 4-year progressive
program based on the needs of the leaders and their
churches.

5) Bible Institutes. A school of theology to serve a
congregation, circuit, or city. Courses of study designed
to equip men and women for local leadership in the
congregation and community. Six to eight weekly ses-
sions at a central location staffed by the most competent
pastors and teachers in the area. Four to eight courses
offered each evening the institute meets.

6) Introduce The Gate. Offer sample copies of The
Gate to parish education people from the congregations
at the circuit meetings, Sunday school rallies or institutes,
or in their local setting. Demonstrate how the six different
group Studies offered in each issue may be used by adult
groups on Sunday and through the week.

7) Bible Teaching Missions. The congregations of a
circuit ask a guest leader to help them work through a
book of the Bible in evening sessions, Sunday through
Thursday. Mornings the guest leaders meet together
for additional training in how to teach the Bible to adults.

Afternoons are devoted to preparation for the evening
and individual coaching sessions with lay teachers in
the parish. Leaders from other circuits participate and
then initiate teaching missions in their own circuit.

8) Bible Rallies. A congregation invites its members
to a Sunday discussion, film, and question period, 3 to
7 p.m. A guest speaker keynotes the day. Small groups
study a Scriptural theme. A buffet supper is followed by a
movie, e.g., How We Got Our Bible. A question-answer
session concludes the day, with both pastor and key-
noter on deck. A stimulus to the local church.

In 17 District resource conferences in the past bien-
nium these experimental programs or models were
discussed and submitted for consideration by congrega-
tions making long-range plans in adult education.

Those who participated in the consultations also
agreed that certain other elements and goals are neces-
sary for practical planning on the congregational level
for the Christian education of adults. The success of
future efforts will depend to some degree on how well
we are able consciously to keep the following goals
before us.

d. Looking to the Future

1) Congregation, District, and synodical leaders must
become more sensitive to what Christian adults lack and
what the institutional church needs to fulfill the mission
to which God calls it. This calls for more sympathetic
listening and more creatively honest surveys.

2) Christians must reexamine the objectives and goals
of Christian education. This is especially true for those
who work with adults. Every group of Christian adults
from its very beginning should ask itself, ““What is the
purpose of the church of Jesus Christ?” and ‘“‘What are
the deepest needs of man?” Goals in Christian education
should emerge from the answers to these questions. The
overarching goal is that all men and women know God
revealed in Jesus Christ and respond to Him in faith
and love by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in His
Word.

3) A variety of tactics and methods are available to
us. We should help each other to rethink the best educa-
tional means by which to achieve our objectives so that
God’s grace can make up in us what we lack for our work
for Him in the world.

4) More District and congregation leaders should be
equipped for curricular planning for adults. A curriculum
for men and women consists of retreats, workshops,
field encounters, and training for specialized ministries
as well as Bible classes on Sunday and during the week.

5) Better teachers for youth and adults must be iden-
tified, fitted for the task, and encouraged to stay with it
in the face of disappointments.

6) The administration of adult education must receive
more attention in both the Districts and congregations.
At the least, one person as a consultant in or superinten-
dent of adult education should be appointed.

7) Congregations need special help in relating their