LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 18

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18 SYNODICAL REPORTS

exceed child Baptisms. As congregations grew by natural increase,
they tended to focus on activities and resources on ministries that
served their members and families. The Lutheran Hour and, for a
while, Lutheran Television may have been regarded as evangelism
outreach, while congregations focused on other ministries.

Nor has evangelism been part of seminary training. For most of
the 20th century, seminaries focused on training students to main-
tain a Gospel-centered ministry that would welcome visitors, but
taught little about proactive evangelistic ministry. Evangelism may
have been regarded as one of those skills that pastors would even-
tually learn “on the job.” (Mission and evangelism courses could
supplement the seminarians’ understanding of reaching people with
the Gospel. Even today, only one of our two seminaries requires a
course in missiology—one course.)

The 1993 Church Membership Initiative found that 20-30 percent
of Lutheran congregations (both LCMS and Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America) were interested in extending their ministry be-
yond their current membership and were succeeding. The researchers
suggested 30-40 percent of congregations expressed interest in ex-
tending their ministry but had no plan for outreach, had not discovered
how outreach can occur, or appeared unwilling to make required
changes. As many as 40 percent of Lutheran congregations were fo-
cused on serving the needs of the current members, trusting that the
Holy Spirit will use their activities within their congregation to ex-
tend faith beyond their congregation.

During the last half of the 20th century, the Synod did make
significant advances in world mission efforts as God exploded op-
portunities to establish missions and grow partner churches around
the globe. As a continuation of that world mission consciousness,
the concept of seeing North Amcrica as a mission field has resulted
in hundreds of multicultural ministries, especially during the recent
Pentecost 2000 effort.

Another positive note from the last three decades is the people
and congregations of the Synod have committed themselves and
their dollars to supporting world relief and human care programs
in the United States and across the globe through World Relief and
Human Care.

Infighting, bickering, controversies

“Stop infighting and become outward, rather than inward, fo-
cused.” Whether they thought the Synod was, or was not, effec-
tively focusing on the Great Commission, respondents to the Task
Force’s Internet survey reflected their concern that the Synod’s in-
fighting was hindering its fulfillment of the Great Commission.
This is true of both broad groups of respondents, regardless of
whether they believed the Synod does or does not have the Great
Commission as its primary focus.

Among those who said yes, they believed “the LCMS, as a
church body, has as its primary focus the Great Commission, that
is, to reach the lost for Christ,” an analysis of their suggestions for
enhancing this focus found 22 percent recommended the Synod
stop fighting and become more outward (rather than inward) fo-
cused. Also, 22 percent of the comments suggested attention should
be given to the Word of God, Sacraments, Law and Gospel, prayer,
and doctrine. .

Among those who said the Synod did not have the Great Com-
mission as its primary focus, 29 percent of the comments empha-
sized the need to stop infighting. politics, and judgmental attitude
and become outward (rather than inward) focused in order to focus
on reaching the lost for Christ. Eighteen percent of the comments
‘recommended that the only focus be the Great Commission with
primary attention on domestic missions.

Comments from survey respondents reflect polarity in the
Synod: “Steer away from church-growth philosophies and concerns
about numbers.” ... “I have a feeling that many want the church to
stay as it is and not grow.” ... “Keep our traditions and practices.”

2004 Convention Workbook

... “I believe it may be time to let go of some of the traditions and
become a church of the 21st century.” ... “It is our faithfulness,
doctrine, and theology that will attract people.” ... “Many churches
and their pastors have focused on defending the truth as their mis-
sion.” ... “Whether we win or lose numbers is irrelevant; we are
simply called to remain faithful to Christ and proclaim Him to all
nations.”

The survey would seem to indicate that our congregations and
pastors may be choosing sides as to whether the Great Commis-
sion says “go” or “baptize.” We have a strong theological heritage
that must be preserved, even as the fields mpen around us—a re-
minder of the words of the late President Alvin Barry: “Keep the
message straight, Missouri; get the message out, Missouri.”

No longer a Christian culture

Understanding changes in American culture is vital to under-
standing both our membership decline and our future mission. A
“churched” culture characterized the first 60 years of the 20th cen-
tury. During the last 40 years of the century, the American scene
evolved into a post-Christian, even anti-Christian, culture—an
“unchurched” culture. Many institutions, including LCMS congre-
gations, have found this change difficult to acknowledge, let alone
find the means, methods, and resources to address it through min-
istries that include outreach.

Postmodernism and the resulting individualism have struck a
devastating blow, not only to the church, but to society as a whole.
Attitudes of “Whatever seems right for you” predominate, and pop-
ular thought is, “All religions lead to the same god.” Society be-
moans degradation of morals and decency, yet expresses power-
lessness at effecting positive change. Divorce rates climb, children
grow up in single-parent families, states recognize gay “marriages,”
and sexually transmitted diseases rise. Amid all this, the church no
longer seems relevant.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is not alone: most other
mainline denominations have experienced membership decline. In
2000 the number of individuals claiming “no religion” numbered
29.5 million, a number exceeded only by those claiming to be
Roman Catholic (50.9 million) and Baptist (33.8 million). One
study suggests that, although 66 percent of American adults iden-
tify themselves with a Christian group, less than half belong to a
Christian church (and only 30-40 percent of them attend regularly).
In effect, the study says, half the U.S. population is unchurched,
and it projects that the “no religion” population will equal the
“Christian” population by 2040. Today, Mormonism and Islam are
growing faster than Christianity.

This is a time of urgency: Where once the people and congre-
gations of the Synod engaged the frontier, they now find the fron-
tier engaging them. Surrounded by threatening, confusing condi-
tions, we could be tempted to seek refuge behind closed church
doors, to protect what we have, and to hope the situation changes.
Or, we can take stock of our strengths—including our theology,
our frontier experience, our successes in foreign mission fields, our
excellent educational tradition, and our commitment to human
care—and move outward with confidence that our God is the
mighty fortress who is with us wherever we go.

To do so will require the people and congregations to address
serious questions:

¢ Do our congregations see themselves as mission outposts?

* Has our training of pastors, teachers, and laity equipped them to
engage the culture?

* Are we prepared to share our theology with different people?

* How will the church of our forefathers be relevant to our grand-
children?

* If we are afraid of change, will we lose a functioning church body
in the 21st century?