LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 59

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

SYNOD REPORTS 59

the Synod. Individual membership, which includes four issues of .

the CHI Quarterly, four issues of the Historical Footnotes, and re-
duced research rates, is available at the rate of $35 per year. Con-
gregational and organizational membership, with the same benefits,
is available at the rate of $50 per year.

The most economical way for the Synod as a whole to partner
with the Institute and benefit from its services is for each congre-
gation of the Synod to become a member of the Institute. By mak-
ing the Institute’s periodicals available to congregational members
in a reading room or library at the church, and by appointing a
member to be congregational archivist/historian, each congregation
can play an important role in advancing the historical conscious-
ness of our church body. The Institute asks the delegates to this
convention to highly encourage congregations in their-circuit to be-
come Congregational Members of Concordia Historical Institute.
Information about membership is available on our Web site and at
the convention display booth.

The Institute also believes that it is a critical time in our de-
nomination to educate our children and youth in the history of our
Lutheran church. If all that these children and youth receive is
“Christianity in general,” why should they remain loyal to our
Synod when they become adults? They urgently need to learn to
appreciate a “specific Christianity,” i-e., their own church and its
own stories. They need to become aware of our Synod’s accom-
plishments, hard-fought struggles, and founding purposes, so that
they may be better prepared to face the religious challenges of the
twenty-first century. The Institute cares about our young people
and hopes that its new museum at the International Center will con-
tribute to their appreciation for the Gospel we know as Lutherans.

Lawrence R. Rast Jr., President
Martin R. Noland, Director

Board for Communication Services

Introduction:

In all that it does, the Board for Communication Services (BCS)
strives to advance the theme of this year’s convention—that the
unifying, overarching idea of “One Message: Christ” imbues every
facet of our ministry.

The major facets of that ministry include:

* Producing The Lutheran Witness, the Synod’s flagship monthly
features magazine, now in its 126th year of continuous publica-
tion.

* Doing the layout and much of the editing for the 13 monthly dis-
trict publications participating in the BCS-Concordia Publishing
House (CPH) “stitched-in district edition” program.

* Producing Reporter, the Synod’s monthly tabloid newspaper
aimed at professional church workers and congregational offi-
cers.

* Maintaining the Web sites of these official periodicals—the Wit-
ness site at www.lcms.org/witness and Reporter Online at
reporter.lcms.org.

* Disseminating the Synod’s stories and news through other means,
such as LCMS e-News, press releases, and the “LCMS Notes” e-
newsletter.

* Managing the public affairs and media relations of the Synod and
helping with crisis management at all levels of the church.

* Overseeing KFUO, both AM 850 and Classic99 FM.

* Administering the “Point of Truth” television program Web site,
including the video-on-demand and podcasting aspects of this
ministry.

* Protecting trademarked LCMS intellectual property, such as the
Synod’s tripartite-cross logo and the name of the church itself.

¢ Assisting the officers, boards, and commissions of the Synod in
their communication needs.

The Lutheran Witness

During the latter half of this triennium, the BCS took bold steps
to overhaul this venerable publication.

Faced with declining circulation (a problem common to virtu-
ally all denominational magazines across America) and sensing the
need to sharpen the focus of the magazine, the board directed BCS
staff—led by Managing Editor Donald Folkemer—to give The
Lutheran Witness an entirely new look and remold its contents to
reflect a more Christ-centered, instructive, spiritually edifying bent.
More time, energy, and budget were devoted to covers, layouts,
and the recruiting of first-rate authors. A standing committee com-
posed of theologians and communicators par excellence was im-
paneled to help guide the selection and direction of stories and
sidebars. To date, reaction within the church to these changes—
both editorial and graphic—has been decidedly favorable.

The BCS continues to appreciate its partnership with CPH in
producing The Lutheran Witness. We especially are pleased with
CPH’s recent efforts to ramp up the’ marketing and promotion of
the magazine.

One note of concern: The BCS is aware of a certain recommen-
dation in the July 2006 “Report of the Blue Ribbon Task Force for
Funding the Mission.” This recommendation, found on page 15 of
that report, calls for the development of “a new printed communi-
cation piece . . . [to be] put into every home.” The new periodical,
says the report, should not simply be “a rework of The Lutheran
Witness.”

The BCS believes the Synod would err grievously in producing
a publication for mass distribution that was not the Witness. Such a
publication likely would prove ruinous to the Witness, for the
Synod is neither big nor rich enough to sustain two such major pe-
riodicals. In fact, the BCS has to wonder if putting one of the
Synod’s official publications in jeopardy might be a violation of
LCMS Bylaws. In any case, if the Synod wants a “privilege-of-
membership” magazine sent free of charge to virtually every
LCMS household on a regular basis (a wonderful and long-over-
due idea discussed later in this report), then we urge the Synod to
let that magazine be The Lutheran Witness, a publication with five
generations—1|26 years—of tradition, recognition, and equity to its
credit. Many of our great-great-grandparents were readers of The
Lutheran Witness.

If proponents of a new magazine reply that the Synod needs a
more “mission-driven” periodical, then let the BCS, working with
others, explore ways to achieve those ends to a greater degree
within the pages of the Witness.

It’s not as if the Witness has turned a cold shoulder toward
“mission-driven” stories that “reach the world for Christ,” to bor-
row wording from the Blue Ribbon report. To the contrary, the
magazine regularly seeks out and publishes mission-driven sto-
ries—often making them cover stories. The same can be said for
stories dealing with personal and congregational outreach. Late last
year, for example, BCS staff, with their board’s blessing, ap-
proached all the district presidents to solicit leads and anecdotes
that could be developed into outreach- and Ablaze!-related stories.
The response of many district presidents was enthusiastic.

Like its sister publication Reporter, The Lutheran Witness is a
perennially award-winning publication put out by a small but ded-
icated staff. Case in point: This past year, staff writer Paula
Schlueter Ross’s story on mental illness won first prize nationally
in the Associated Church Press’s (ACP’s) “professional resource”
category. That same story took third in the overall “feature story”
category. Lest it be forgotten, even though eight years have since
passed, the ACP in 1998 named The Lutheran Witness “best in
class” as the finest large-circulation denominational magazine in

2007 Convention Workbook