LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 59

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60 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

mary aspect of our church’s life. For this, after all, is
the reason our Lord Jesus has placed us here. With 2
billion people in the world who do not know the Lord
Jesus Christ, and with more than 100 million in North
America who have no affiliation with the Christian
church, we have a tremendous field in which to work.
We have the means in financial strength, in mass media
techniques, in personnel, and in other modern methods
for making the name of Jesus Christ known to the
whole world. This should be a concern of every con-
gregation, every circuit, every District, and of the Synod
itself. The fact that we failed to achieve our goal of
125,000 new members for our church in the past bien-
nium should not deter us from being about this all-
important aspect of the church’s mission.

II. We See a Church Dedicated to Christian
Education

Secondly, when we look at The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod today, we continue to see a church
body that is convinced of the values of a strong Chris-
tian educational program at all levels of its organiza-
tional life. One of the great strengths of our Synod
throughout its history has been its system of parish
and higher education and the many dedicated teachers
and professors who have served us in an effort to teach
our people more and more about our Christian faith
and life. God continues to bless our Synod with a fine
system of parish schools, many outstanding Sunday
schools and parish education programs, some of the
finest religious high schools in the country, and a sys-
tem of colleges and seminaries admired throughout the
world. I hope that you have taken the time to study
the reports in our Convention Workbook that deal with
our educational programs.

But our church body’s commitment to a strong and
vital program of Christian educational needs to be kept
alive as we face the difficult task of communicating the
Gospel in what has been called “the post-Christian era.”
In keeping with our hopes for the continued expansion
and improvement of our work, we need to be continu-
ally concerned about upgrading and improving our ed-
ucational system at the parish, high school, college, and
seminary level. Our Board for Higher Education will
need to make some difficult decisions in the years that
lie immediately ahead. The help, cooperation, support,
and wisdom of all in the Synod will be needed and ap-
preciated in arriving at right and good decisions. An
educated pastoral and teaching ministry continue to be
of primary importance in the mission and work of our
Synod. One particular challenge deserving our atten-
tion is the gift of a great supply of dedicated and highly
motivated young people who have been educated for
the teaching profession. We need to give special thought
to better utilization of these precious gifts of God for
the service of ministry.

Ill. We See a Church Active in Social Ministry

Third, when we look at The Lutheran Church —
Missouri Synod we see a church body that is active in

social ministry; that is, in helping our fellowmen in
all their needs and wants, including the effort to over-
come some of the grave social ills of our time. As I re-
viewed the history of our Lutheran Church — Missouri
Synod once again in connection with this past year’s
observance of our 125th anniversary, I was impressed
with the great compassion for people that has charac-
terized our church throughout our history. God has
blessed our Synod with a large number of people who
heed our Savior’s words, “Whatsoever you have done
unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have
done it unto me.”

But a church body which has been so dedicated to
ministering to the needs of our fellowmen needs to be
particularly sensitive to the grave social problems fac-
ing our world in these days. I am happy that we have
inaugurated a program during the last biennium to
combat racism in all levels of our church’s life. Some-
time during this convention you will receive a report
on this activity. I particularly want to emphasize this
program because of a caucus of some of our black pas-
tors and lay delegates here in New Orleans just prior
to the convention. It is good that we have been able
to give some emphasis to the concerns that we all share
with this large segment of our population, together with
other minority and ethnic groups. We are celebrating
not only the 125th anniversary of Synod here at New
Orleans but also the 95th anniversary of the beginning
of working with our black brethren in the South. It is
therefore encouraging to note that our Synod is under-
taking work on a much larger scale, not only among
the blacks of our country but also among Indians and
people of Latin-American background. During the
convention, you will receive further information on
our needs and challenges in these areas from repre-
sentatives of our mission board and staff.

There are other opportunities and problems in the
social ministry area to which our Synod will need to
give its most serious attention at this convention, and
particularly in its congregations. Serious moral and
ethical questions confront our nation and our world.
While we continue to complain about the high cost of
living and spiraling inflation, people throughout the
world are dying because of poverty and hunger. Large
numbers of people throughout the world live under the
ignominy and pain of injustice and oppression. The
ugly specter of prejudice raises its head even within the
church. One of the most significant movements in our
day is the so-called feminist movement, which has
helped to sensitize many of us in our society, and in
the church as well, to the many instances of injustice
and inequality often suffered by women. Must we not,
as followers of Christ, be concerned to help solve such
problems, particularly as they affect our lives together?

IV. We See a Church Involved in Responsible
Ecumenism
Four, when we look at The Lutheran Church — Mis-
souri Synod, we see a church body that is attempting to
relate itself more and more to other Christians and

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