LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 7

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MISSIONS 7

as well as for the China studies and research projects being
conducted by groups like the Lutheran World Federation and
the National Council of Churches. Finally, in the statement
the Board for Missions resolves to keep abreast of various
China studies and regularly review and share with the Synod
the current China situation and the development of new plans
or opportunities for ‘‘sharing the good news of Jesus Christ
with the people of China.”

A principal purpose of the statement, which will be shared
in its entirety with the missions floor committee, is to promote
active interest within our Synod to seriously consider our
responsibilities and privileges in relation to the developments
in China.

2. Take My Lips: Evangelistic Efforts in North America

a. Key 73. Asking the Lord to “take our lips” is most appro-
priate this year because of Key 73, the pan-Christian emphasis
on evangelism in North America. Missouri Synod congregations
are choosing from a wide variety of suggestions how they will
participate in calling our continent to Christ.

b. Evangelistic Outreach in North American Districts. During
Holy Week of 1971 District mission leaders began a new, coor-
dinated mission planning system. District executives resolved
to share their 1972 and ’73 mission plans in writing at regional
meetings in the fall of ’72 and ’73. It became apparent at these
meetings that:

(1) More attention is being given to planning new congrega-
tions in new population areas. (Thirty-seven new ministries of
various types —suburban, non-metropolitan, inner-city, campus,
institutional — were started in 1971 and 61 in 1972.)

(2) Evangelism training workshops are being held in almost
every District.

(3) There is great concern for initiating some form of Lu-
theran campus ministry on hundreds of campuses where there
is no Lutheran ministry to date.

(4) Districts are willing to become involved in the planning
and administration of the church’s ministry to the deaf. Several
are already providing partial or full subsidy for deaf work in
their district.

(5) Ministry among Blacks, Indians, and the Spanish-speak-
ing are a standard part of nearly every District’s plans.

(6) Districts increasingly welcome “grass roots” involvement
of individuals and congregations in the planning of new missions
and ministries. Some Districts are helping all congregations
identify specific targets and set goals for outreach in their
communities.

c. Evangelism at New Frontiers in North America. Through
special Church and Community grants and/or consultation,
Synod’s Board for Missions has demonstrated a concern for
evangelistic outreach by helping Districts and other synodical
agencies and institutions get a wide variety of new mission pro}-
ects started:

(1) in situations requiring innovative approaches: in new
planned communities (like Columbia, Md.: Park Forest South,
Ill.); in special vocational subcultures (race track, carnival,
seamen’s, etc.); in sociological subcultures (motorcycle, youth/
counter culture, apartment, singles); in leisure-recreation set-
tings (in Michigan resorts, national and state camp grounds, etc.)

(2) reaching to specific ethnic groups: Finnish-speaking peo-
ple in Northern Minnesota (through mass media, youth and
chaplaincy programs); Southern-whites, blacks, Puerto Ricans,
Indians, and other ‘forgotten peoples’’ (elderly, mentally
retarded, emotionally disturbed) in the Uptown area of Chicago;
Appalachian whites and Puerto Ricans in the community of Our
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Cleveland: Indian Americans
(through support of the Lutheran Council in the U.S. A. Indian
desk and through specific District Indian ministry projects in
South Dakota and Montana); Spanish-speaking people in the
U.S. (through exploration of Hispanic ministry possibilities in
Tucson, Ariz., and facilitation of a Hispanic Ministry Assembly):
blacks (through facilitation of several experimental ministry
approaches in black or changing communities)

(3) through pre-service and in-service training for specialized
ministries: undergirding of vicarage experiences in special
settings (Canadian, Latin American, black, Indian, counter-
culture, race track, carnival, leisure, etc.); awarding of language
grants furnished by the AAL (in Spanish, Finnish, German, etc.)
for vicars or pastors engaged in ministry in special language
areas; equipping of present and future pastors and teachers for

Spanish-ministry situations (through the Latin American Inten-
sification Project at River Forest and through several equipping
programs in Texas, including a proposed Hispanic Seminary
there); equipping of present and future church workers for
Indian ministry situations (through an Indian Intensification
Project on the drawing boards at Seward): undergirding of the
Diaconate Program of Chicago (which trains black Lutheran
Christians for auxiliary ministerial positions in black congrega-
tions in metropolitan Chicago) and initial undergirding of a
recruitment program for Blacks into full-time church ministry
careers; undergirding of a proposed Center for Creative Min-
istry in the California and Nevada District (which will seek
to equip or retrain pastors and laity for new kinds of ministry):
sensitizing of Synod, Districts, and synodical training institu-
tions to the limitations, peculiar challenges and potentials of
the ‘“worker-priest’ approach (through a special research
project).

IV. USING OUR SILVER, GOLD AND INTELLECTS:
MONEY AND MISSION PLANNING

Take my silver and my gold.

Not a mite would I withhold:
Take my intellect and use

Ev'ry pow'r as Thou shalt choose.

“Take My Silver and My Gold...”
1. What's Been Happening to the Synodical Mission Dollar

There was a general decline in synodical mission dollars from’
1968 to 1971 —a reduction of about $256,000 over a 3-year period,
or an apparent decline of approximately 2.5%. But we also know j
what inflation has done to the dollar. In terms of 1971 dollars, |
there was a net reduction in worldwide mission spending of |
about 18% from 1968. if

What impact did this have on mission outreach by the Mis-
souri Synod? We can't fool ourselves. There were some painful
consequences to the shortage of mission dollars in 1970 and 1971.
Twelve missionaries had to be involuntarily recalled from New
Guinea late in 1970, and nine others who planned to return to the
States were terminated ahead of schedule. The shock waves
also hit Central America, Japan, and Ghana in 1971. In Japan,
for example, nine missionaries returned to the U.S. and were
not replaced: three were recalled from Central America.

There is no way to deny the fact that money dictated mission
in 1970 and 1971. The Board is convinced, however, that missions
“bottomed out” in late 1970 and early 1971. There are several
reasons for this optimism and some evidence to substantiate it.
There is also a certain amount of faith in this prognosis — and
confidence that the people of the LCMS will accept the challenge
of the 1973 and 1974 mission programs.

At the Milwaukee convention in 1971. the Synod spoke rather
specifically on the matter of mission and money in Resolution
1-20 (To Provide Resources for Missions). This resolution recog-
nized that the Lord’s missionary mandate could not be carried
out effectively if there were continued reductions in mission pro-
gram funds—with consequent missionary recalls. It was there-
fore resolved that work program planning of the Board for
Missions should assume “holding action"’ budgets—no cut-
backs, but the increases necessary to offset inflation. How were
these “holding action’’ budgets to be funded in case projected
synodical receipts did not enable the Board of Directors to
allocate the required totals to the Board for Missions? It was re-
solved that the Synod’s Board of Directors, on the basis of care-
ful forecasting of anticipated total income and total needs,
annually give the Board for Missions a firm dollar commitment
of what could be funded from regular budget sources and, fur-
ther, that the Board of Stewardship be permitted to solicit
extra-budgetary funds sufficient to finance the difference be-
tween work program figures and the fiscal commitment the
Board of Directors was able to make.

Where did this leave us in 1972 and 1973? Missions did ‘“‘bot\
tom out” in late 1970 and early 1971 in terms of constant dollars\ | .
The 1972 Missions budget was up slightly from $9.8 million in|!
1971 to $9.9 million in 1972. And the 1973 Missions budget is}
$10.1 million. But these are hardly * ‘holding action’ budgets — | ~
a 1% increase in 1972 and a 2% increase in 1973 in the face of ;
at least 10% increased inflation costs over that 2 year period, |
to say nothing of dollar devaluation overseas.

On the surface it would appear that we are now one million