Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 352
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 352

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

352 PARISH EDUCATION AND SERVICES

and responsibilities of the family in Christian nurture
and by helping parents develop the insights and skills
they need for this important task.

Two distinct needs have become clearly apparent:
(1) to help the local church embrace home and family
nurture in its philosophy of Christian education, and
(2) to help the parish set up adequate channels and oper-
ation policies that involve parents and help the Christian
home and church to work together as a team in equipping
God’s people for their mission.

c. Meeting the Needs

1) Sex Education Series. To help meet the basic need
for a Christian approach to sexuality the Board of Parish
Education through its Family Life Committee in 1964
brought out an American version of the five British H. C.
Warner sex education booklets and in late 1967 the new
field-tested six-book Concordia Sex Education Series
with filmstrips. It took 6 years to develop and produce
this series. Ten years ago few churches were doing
anything constructive in this area. Now eight denomina-
tions have entered the field. An evaluation of these
materials by a professor at Duke University calls our
series ‘‘the most complete direct approach to sex educa-
tion and ‘an impressive innovation in Christian education
and publication.’” It has been favorably received by
Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox church-
men. It is an integrated and graded approach to four age
levels, with a book especially for parents and another
for pastors and teachers. For introducing sex education
the board’s guidebook for parishes has been widely
distributed.

2) Pastoral Care to Families: In-Service Training
Program for Pastors. Pursuant to a 1962 resolution of
Synod asking for a long-range, adequate program for
pastors in marriage education and counseling, three
pilot training programs were carried out (1967—68) to
test the form, content, and process of more intensive
postgraduate training of pastors for the new demands
made for marriage counseling. Conducted under the
leadership of Charles A. Reichert, these pilots supplied
the experience for a new separate proposal for the
in-service training of one fifth of the clergy in a 4-year
period. This project is jointly sponsored by four depart-
ments of Synod and the Wheat Ridge Foundation, all
of which have a concern in this area of the church’s
ministry to families. (This proposal is included in this
WORKBOOK as a memorial under the above title.)

3) Family Research Series: Vols. HI & IV. To provide
a theological, historical, and sociological foundation in
some depth for the church’s work with families, a re-
search program begun in 1942 has been carried forward.
Volume III, dealing with Family Roles, Relationships,
and Patterns (title not yet selected), is nearing comple-
tion. A study of Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage (Vol.
IV) is also in work. Because we had no special staff for
this task and only fringe time could be given to it, work
on the series has been seriously delayed.

4) The Parent Guidance Series. This series of 14 books

is our extant parent education curriculum; 190,000 copies
of the books have been sold. This undated series is being
revised book by book (five in the past year) as reprinting
is due. This revision process will continue to keep these
unique tools for parents up-to-date.

5) An Inter-Lutheran Study Conference. This confer-
ence of church leaders, including sociologists and theolo-
gians of three church bodies, explored the current con-
cerns in the fields of sexuality, marriage, and family
relations and sought solid foundations for a Christian
approach to modern problems in these areas. Further
work is needed to help pastors and people (1) assess
realistically the existential needs of youth particularly
in these areas, (2) find the Biblical norms in the light of
the Gospel, and (3) supply guidelines for pastors and
parishes in dealing ‘‘redemptively” with problems as
Jesus did with the woman in John 8.

6) Family Camping and the Church's Role. This topic
was explored in an inter-Lutheran workshop to discover
ways in which the church can increase its ministry in
this field. The first All-Lutheran Camp Directory was
compiled and shared with District leaders. Mr. Wesley
Visser made the camping survey, which shows that in
our Synod there are 55 camps operating every year, 40
of them owned by groups in our Synod; 17 of these are
being used the year around. The total number of campers
in 1967 was 30,176. Additional work needs to be done in
this area.

7) Service to Congregations. Twenty-nine of the 35
District boards of education have assigned family life
education to a committee which is to serve as a task
force in fostering home and family nurture through
major and minor projects each year. The major for 1968
was sex education, for 1969 parent education; the minor
for 1968 was orientation of local boards of education, for
1969 couples retreats or seminars. Three Family Life
Supplements a year are issued to communicate basic
materials and specific plans and projects to Districts for
selection and implementation. Regular service to leaders
of the local church is to be given by District committees
in a variety of ways using extant channels. The goal is
to have every congregation assign adult and family life
education to a competent person assisted by two couples,
working closely with the school principal or the Sunday
school superintendent.

8) Materials. The handbook ‘‘Ministry to Families”
has been prepared to guide leaders of the local church.
Four additional guidance bulletins are available includ-
ing a new one “Open Doors for Older Persons,” which
outlines a five-point ministry to senior citizens. The 1968
Family Month theme was ‘Families Need Grace,” the
1969 theme is ‘Together in Christ.”’

9) Some Notable Assistance. The Lutheran Women’s
Missionary League has conducted “Strengthening the
Home” institutes in 17 regions of Synod to enlist the
womanpower of the church for ‘‘mission station number
one,” the family. The National Lutheran Parent-Teacher
League continues to give significant services to parents