LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 9

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 9

our church workers has led to misunderstanding and confusion.
The generic phrase “minister of religion’ is used by the IRS to de-
scribe Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu clerics, as well as min-
isters of every other Christian denomination and non-Christian cult
and group in the country. Our committee discovered that our Synod
is the only major church body in the country that uses IRS lan-
guage to describe its church workers. The committee could find no
evidence that other Christian bodies do this, including the largest
two, the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptists. No
other Lutheran churches in our country use IRS vocabulary to de-
scribe their church workers, from the largest Lutheran body, the
ELCA, to smaller Lutheran churches, like the Evangelical Lutheran
Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Thus our
committee believes that it is important for our Synod to use nomen-
clature that is a faithful reflection of our scriptural and confessional
theology, and not merely reflective of governmental tax regula-
tions.

Other Observations

As the NSC did its study several issues came to the commit-
tee’s attention that are important for the Synod to consider.

The NSC’s survey revealed a significant misunderstanding
among some of our church workers. It would appear that many
teachers, and some pastors, believe that God has not instituted a
specific and concrete office of the ministry, that is, the pastoral of-
fice, but merely general functions of ministry, which for the sake of
good order, are handed over to called ministers of various descrip-
tions (pastors, teachers, DCEs, etc.). Although there are smaller
Lutheran bodies in the United States that do advocate this or simi-
lar points of view, this is not the teaching of the Holy Scriptures
or the Lutheran Confessions and thus not the position of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

The NSC was also concerned when it leamed how few courses
in theology our Synod’s colleges and universities require as a min-
imum of those preparing to be teachers and other workers in the
Synod. Unless a student chooses to major in theology, very few
classes are required, and there is only a bare minimum of instruc-
tion in our Synod’s theology required. This is most evident in the
teacher-education programs of our Synod’s colleges and universi-
ties. The NSC found this to be quite troubling. No doubt this will
have an increasingly negative impact on the Synod’s day schools
and congregations, as persons serve who are not thoroughly
grounded in biblical and confessional Lutheran doctrine and prac-
tice. How many of our Synod’s church workers—who are required
to subscribe and pledge themselves unconditionally to the Lutheran
Confessions—are actually required to read and study the Confes-
sions in some depth? Little evidence was found to support the hope
that the Lutheran Confessions are required reading of all
prechurchwork students, and that these are thoroughly tested on the
contents of the Confessions at each of the Synod’s colleges and
universities.

The NSC was deeply saddened by the number of teachers in the
Synod who do not feel adequately appreciated and, as a result, view
themselves as “second class citizens” among the Synod’s church
workers. The NSC was made keenly aware of concerns many
teachers have with pastors who tend to treat them, not as co-work-
ers, but as mere employees of the congregation. Teachers are also
frustrated by the fact that they have no right of vote at synodical
conventions since they, like all college and seminary professors,
District and synodical executives and all assistant pastors are advi-
sory members of the Synod, not voting members.

Although these concerns lie outside the assigned task of the
Nomenclature Study Committee, the members of the committee
believe these to be of serious consequence to the ongoing and God-
pleasing work of our church and therefore respectfully encourages
the Synod to address these concerns in a responsible and timely
manner.

Roger Pittelko, Chairman

R1-8-03

150th Anniversary Celebration

In the written report to the 1995 convention of the Synod, mem-
bers of the 150th Anniversary Committee appointed by President
Barry were listed. In addition, the anniversary logo was described,
and it was emphasized that the anniversary would challenge us to
grow in the Word, grow in outreach, and grow in stewardship, and
that the effort would also include an Anniversary Celebration Of-
fering.

Included in the presentation to the convention itself were a
video titled Standing on the Shores of Tomorrow, encouraging
words from Mrs. Tom (Oanh) Heiser, who was responsible for the
original design of the anniversary logo, and Dr. Barry’s Presidential
Proclamation, designating 1995-98 as an “Anniversary Jubilee Tri-
ennium.” At several points in the convention delegates had the op-
portunity to test their knowledge of synodical history through the
use of trivia questions.

150th Anniversary staff included the undersigned and Dr.
Charles W. Fieker, technical assistant and Ms. Mary Jackson, ad-
ministrative assistant.

Visits with more than 900 people in the Districts of the Synod
indicated that God’s people wanted celebration plans to be:

* congregationally-based—shaped individually by each congrega-
tion to meet its own needs

* simple

* Gospel-centered, Christ-glorifying

* aimed to induce growth in the three areas mentioned above

* focused on celebration—“fun in the Lord”

* directed not only to past blessings but also to present opportuni-
ties and future challenges.

All congregations received an introductory video for local
showing—closed captioned for the hearing impaired and open cap-
tioned for the Spanish-speaking—and six workbooks for parish
leaders. Three of these workbooks (only about 12 pages in length)
gave direction for efforts toward growth in the Word, outreach, and
stewardship. Another, about the same in length, provided helpful
suggestions for the anniversary offering. Another provided more
than 300 suggestions for local celebration, and the final workbook
gave guidelines for the use of the logo in congregational publica-
tions.

National and District staff provided valuable counsel in the
preparation of these materials, which were field-tested by our peo-
ple and were also made available in both Braille and Spanish.

Other materials offered to all churches included
¢ three Bible study courses;

* sermon outlines;

¢ 13 bulletin inserts;

* 52 “Did You Know....” paragraphs for Sunday bulletins;
¢achildren’s song, Here We Are Now;

¢a children’s comic book on our history;

* orders of service for special services;

° “Prayer Partner” materials, with one prayer suggestion for each
day of the month;

* memorabilia, including a beautiful anniversary medallion, de-
signed by Rev. Scott Blazek.

Distribution of these items was handled by District Chairmen
of Congregational Celebration under the leadership of Rev. Nor-
man Groteluschen, President emeritus of the Mid-South District.
The District leaders spent several days in two meetings in St. Louis
and participated in several regional conference calls during the tn-
ennium. We owe these men, as well as the Circuit and congrega-
tional chairmen, a large debt of gratitude for their dedicated efforts.

Among the items most requested, a video depicting the history
of the Synod was prepared for the anniversary. Still available from
Lutheran Visuals (800/527-3211) the video is 24 hours in length
and comes with a study guide for use in Bible classes and confir-
mation instruction. The 12 chapters describe the history and work
of our church from the days of the Reformation to the present.