LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 131

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RESOLUTIONS 131

NILB and its funding of the Indian Desk of LCUSA be
terminated as of March 31, 1982.

Action: Adopted as amended (12).

(The amendment called for omitting “Our Synod’s par-
ticipation in the work of” as the first words of the last whereas
and the deletion of “our” as modifying “social ministry” in the
same whereas. It also called for a new resolved to replace the
final resolved, which called for continued support of the Indian
Desk and participation in NILB. The amendment was adopted
486 to 433.)

To Go Forward in Overseas Missions
RESOLUTION 1-05A
Overtures 1-10—1-11 (CW, pp. 32—33)

WHEREAS, The 1979 synodical convention adopted
some very challenging resolutions (1-03A, 1-04A, 1-05A,
1-06A, 1-07, 1-08, 1-18A, 1-19) to move forward in taking
the Gospel overseas; and

WHEREAS, Our people have opened their hearts to the
Forward in Remembrance appeal and shown that they
are willing to support the work that the Lord has given
us to do; and

WHEREAS, The primary mission of the church is to
spread the Gospel to all the world; and

WHEREAS, God is opening doors for us to enter, as is
plainly evident in the report of the Board for Missions
(CW, pp. 6—18); and

WHEREAS, Three-fourths of the world population
(approximately three billion people) live in the darkness
of unbelief; and

WHEREAS, The Lord has called us to be His “witnesses
to the ends of the earth,” and has commissioned us, “as
the Father has sent Me, I am sending you”; therefore be
it

Resolved, That the Board for Missions be directed by
the Synod to continue its efforts to take the Gospel to
every open door overseas; and be it further

Resolved, That our Districts be encouraged to
increase the percentage of their budget for the Synod;
and be it further

Resolved, That we encourage congregations to
increase their support of the District and the Synod
prayerfully and financially; and be it further

Resolved, That Districts consult with the Board for
Missions before directly funding a synodical overseas
mission; and be it finally

Resolved, That the Synod’s Board of Directors
continue to include mission endeavors as one of the
highest priority items in the budget.

Action: Adopted (4).

To Intensify Membership
Conservation Program

RESOLUTION 1-06
Overture 1-32 (CW, p. 38)

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
continues to lose, on an average over the past 10 years,
50,000 members a year by defections (removed from the
membership list because of lack of participation or
because they moved away and did not transfer or
because they were excommunicated); and

WHEREAS, The various programs that have been
developed by the Synod and the Districts to decrease
this figure have in the long term had little effect; and

WHEREAS, None of the departments of the Synod
have found the time nor have the staff to do the
necessary research to develop new approaches to the
problem; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Board for Evangelism intensity
its efforts to develop a membership conservation
program; and be it further

Resolved, That the Board of Directors of the Synod
be encouraged to fund a staff person to serve as
Secretary for Membership Conservation on a four-year
appointment to the evangelism staff of the Synod; and
be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Research and
Planning assist the Evangelism Department in con-
ducting the kind of studies needed to determine the
effectiveness of such present programs as the Member-
ship Referral System, the transfer procedures, the soul-
accounting systems, and so forth; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary for Membership Con-
servation, on the basis of the research done in con-
junction with the Department of Research and Plan-
ning, develop programs that can be implemented by
both Districts and congregations; and be it finally

Resolved, That the goal for the program be to reduce
the defections by 10 percent each year.

Action: Adopted (14).

To Request Clarification
of the “‘Guidelines
for Regional Planning Consultations”

RESOLUTION 1-07

Report 1-01, Appendix IV (CW, p. 20); Overtures
1-25—1-26 (CW pp. 36—37)

WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
in convention adopted a goal of planting, under God’s
blessing, 1,800 new churches in the decade of the ’80s;
and

WHEREAS, A clear understanding of our consultatory
relationship to our fellow Lutherans which has been
and continues to be expressed through LCUSA’s
“Regional Planning Consultations” will be valuable in
the planting of new congregations; therefore be it

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod in convention affirm its commitment to consul-
tation with other Lutheran bodies as a responsible part
of mission planning and strategy; and be it further

Resolved, That The Lutheran Church—Missouri