LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 336

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CHURCH LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATIONS 333

who staffed the office during the lengthy period when the
director and assistant director positions were vacant.

In January 1972 the board appointed Victor W. Bryant as
director. Mr. Bryant is the fourth director in the 26 years
since the department was formed and the first layman to
hold this position. The board has since sought to fill the as-
sistant director vacancy, but to no avail. To aid the depart-
ment pending further clarification to staff requirements, the
board has employed Mr. Joseph Isenhower as administrative
assistant for a 6~month period beginning Feb. 15, 1973. In
addition to the director and Mr. Isenhower. the present staff
is comprised of two secretaries — Mrs. Ardith Stanley and
Miss Brenda Rupert. Mrs. Stanley. who joined the depart-
ment in 1968, is especially to be commended for her work
when the department had neither a director nor assistant.

A source of strength in the Synod’s public relations sys-
tem is the District Directors in each of our 38 North Ameri-
can Districts. These people, who contribute their time and
talents on a voluntary basis, can do much to promote the
public relations of our church on the local level.

One of the department's responsibilities is to give en-
couragement, assistance, training, and resources for the Dis-
trict Directors to enable them to carry out their responsi-
bilities. A public relations workshop is held annually for
the directors and they are encouraged to hold similar semi-
nars in their respective Districts.

Parish Public Relations

The department is also concerned about good public rela-
tions on the parish level. It encourages the formation of
parish public relations committees and stands ready to give
them guidance and assistance.

The department recommends a basic handbook of public
relations for Lutheran churches. Telling the Good News.
with a leaders guide, Go and Tell. plus a 40-project work-
book for circuits and congregations. The Handbook on
Church Public Relations, published by the Religious Public
Relations Council. is also a helpful tool. Also designed to as-
sist the parishes is the film Story. which gives professional
insight about publicity and contact with the media. The
film, along with a manual that serves as a supplementary
guide, is available through the District PR directors.

The department also has available a brochure that out-
lines the historical background and_ present work of our
church. The material serves as a useful introduction to The
Lutheran Church —- Missouri Synod _ for those outside the
church and is a concise source of information to those with-
in the church.

Although much more needs to be done. the department
is sensitive to the needs of the parish and stands ready to
give whatever assistance it can.

Ongoing Services

The board recognizes that public relations is a service
function designed to strengthen the work of all other orga-
nizations of the Synod. It is not an originating program
board, per se. Rather. the board sees its task as bringing the
message of the Synod.

Simply stated. our objective is to report and interpret
the church's work to the world. Since the director was en-
gaged, the primary function of the department has been to
serve as the Svnod’s news bureau. i.e. reporting the church's
work. The fact that the Religion Newswriters Association
ranked the controversy within the LCMS as the top news
story of 1972 exemplifies the heavy demands made on the
department in the last biennium. Our policy has been to
maintain a low, but open and honest, profile. As a result,
the department continues to earn a positive relationship
with the media.

However. attention to this basic necessary function has
limited progress in other areas — i.e. interpretation — which
actually accrues greater benefits to the Synod. With such
a small staff, time does not permit more emphasis on
counseling. correlating. training, developing, and organizing
the PR activities of the church at all levels. Two conditions
should be noted that slow the development of an aggressive,
positive interpretation program: a lack of clarity in the
definition of the mission and message of the church (while
this affects the work of all, it particularly hinders the in-
terpretive program of the PR department): and a lack of

correlation in synodical communications, both internally
and externally.

In recent vears. a variety of committees have issued a
number of reports listing steps that should be taken to im-
prove LCMS communications. Most of these steps recom-
mended several major organizational changes. This situa-
tion has been under study by the Commission on Organiza-
tion and the Division of Communications, as well as the PR
board. Coupled with these studies is a resolution by the
1971 convention directing the PR board to“... continue the
evaluation of the department's services and bring to the
Synod in convention at New Orleans a budgetary projec-
tion for effective public relations.” Because the board
strongly feels the necessity for such organizational changes
that would strengthen the overall effectiveness of the church
and that it does not wish to act independently in this matter
but in cooperation with the other agencies of the Division of
Communications, we would hope the convention will adopt
for immediate action the proposals submitted by the Di-
vision. Although budget and staff limitations certainly cur-
tail the communications effort of the Synod, strong gains can
be achieved by optimum utilization of existing components.

Boarp FOR Pusiic RELATIONS
Victor C. Rickman, Chairman
Victor W. Bryant, Executive Secretary

10-05

Report of Board for Lutheran Television
TV History Is Rich: The Future Significant

As the years pass, the decision reached by Synod two
decades ago to commit $750,000 (54 million) in 1952 to a
“television ministry” becomes more clearly a decision mo-
tivated by and richly blessed by our Lord.

The Synod went forward in faith: she had no program;
there was no TV staff: television was an infant with no
color sets. no networks, no worldwide satellites, no adver-
tisers investing four billion dollars a_ year, no cables, no
cassettes, and no routine nightly U.S.A. audiences of 40
million people.

During the Synod’s TV history. the enormous power and
impact of television has mushroomed to where the medium
is unchallenged today as society's dominant and most eco-
nomical means of communicating with and motivating peo-
ple, a medium which reaches people wherever they are, fre-
quently. efficiently, and economically.

Our Lord clearly saw these developments when He led
our Church and its parishes into television. He motivated us
to utilize a new medium to carry His Great Commission
into the maze of an ever exploding world population. Your
TV Board has framed that commission in the Synod’s Hand-
book:

1. To confront the unconcerned or uninformed non-Chris-
tian, wherever he may be found. with the Word through which
the Holy Spirit calls men to faith in Jesus Christ and gives
them eternal life.

2. To dispose viewers toward a favorable reception of addi-
tional approaches by the Church via media and through local
follow up.

3. To edify the Christian viewer and stimulate functional
Christian life.

This Is the Life Reaches Millions Weekly

In the providence of God the first episode of This Is the
Life modestly took to the air in 1952. Now we joyfully face
the tremendous stewardship and mission challenge and op-
portunity confronting our church through over 400 worldwide
television outlets which put their facilities at our disposal
free of charge. week after week, 52 weeks a year, year after
year, carrying the precious Gospel to millions each week,
speaking to one of the Synod's largest audiences at a modest
cost of $5.00 per thousand people.

Episodes of This Is the Life are being telecast in every
nook and cranny of the globe including 39 non-American
countries and the full coverage of the international Armed
Forces Television Network.

And now “mini” versions of This Is the Life are finding
their way into our new half-hour public service series,
Tension-Point. which combines professional film with dis-