Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 87

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Lutheran Synodical Conference, 1958 87

By way of general principle, the Lutheran Hour is prepared
to meet the expenses that are incurred in connection with the
program production and related operations.

We are thankful for the fact that you are operating on the
basis of an indigenous mission policy. We realize, keenly, how-
ever, that the amount of money that can be expected from this
area, at least for the time being, is extremely modest.

We feel confident that the convention will commend those
5. responsible for bringing Christ to the peoples of the Dark Continent
- and will support this new enterprise with prayers and, if necessary,
' with its gifts.

On July 7, the first religious broadcast of the Lutheran Hour
was inaugurated. The broadcast was in the Efik language. Such
programs will now be a weekly feature.

Bible Institute

In the Missionary Board’s report to the Synodical Conference
Convention in 1956, the need of a Bible Institute in connection with
our church setup was emphasized in the following manner:

We need more African pastors. Our seminary now has an
enrollment of thirty young men, who are being prepared for
the ministry. Their training, however, will be of long duration,
and we cannot sit idly by and wait for the time when they are
sent out as ministers of the Gospel. We must do something now
to produce more religious leaders. The Missionary Board must
seriously consider at this time the establishment of a Bible Insti-
tute where young men can be trained during a two-year period
as teachers of religion or as lay evangelists. Such teachers should
be placed in the various circuits of the field under the supervision
of ordained American and African pastors and be assigned
specific duties which would lighten the work of the pastors and
make possible the expansion of our mission into new fields.

During the months following the Convention, the Missionary
Board seriously considered the resolution passed by the 1956 Synod-
ical Conference session, to wit:

Resolved, That the convention go on record in full support
of the Missionary Board’s proposal for the establishment of
a Bible Institute for the training of teachers of religion; and

Resolved, That we express our hope to the LWML (Lutheran
Women’s Missionary League) that it will see its way clear to
respond to this pressing need; and

Resolved, That we implore the blessing of God on this pro-
gram, so that it may serve richly the cause of spreading the
Gospel of Christ in Africa.

In due time the Missionary Board instructed its Mission
Council in Nigeria to establish such an Institute. The matter was
discussed at length by the brethren in Nigeria—the Board of Direc-
tors of the Nigerian Church, Pastoral Conferences, and our Nigerian
Executive Committee. The many meetings and discussions led to
some very definite conclusions which we shall enumerate:

1. The desirability of establishing a Bible Institute: We all
unanimously agree that trained religious teachers in our
churches would be a tremendous help in our task of
winning souls for Christ, and especially in the more diffi-
cult task of keeping them in the one true faith.