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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 5

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

en

4 EVANGELISM
EXHIBIT 8
Adult Gains Per Congregation — 1973
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Congre-  Bap./Conf. Bap./Conf. Bap./Conf. Bap.:Conf. Total Percentage

Districts Communicants gations 0 Adults 1 Adult 0 or I Adult 10 or more Adults B.C Gained

Atlantic —_ 46,811 129 39 8 47 36% 22 17% 607 1.3%
Calif./Nev, 51,432 205 58 19 77 37 17 8 886 17
Calif./South. 73,786 219 36 22 58 26 55 25 1,428 1.9
Colorado 41,877 139 35 14 49 35 22 15 594 1.4
Eastern 48,786 166 60 18 78 47 21 12 640 1.3
English ___ 97,344 212 48 21 69 32 39 18 1.061 1.0
Florida/Ga. 40,057 143 30 15 45 31 47 32 830 2.0
Cent. Illinois 54,687 140 34 13 47 33 26 18 750 1.3
North. Illinois 138,935 236 27 16 43 18 64 27 1,683 1.2
South. Illinois 33,606 97 31 9 40 41 6 6 333 9
Indiana 80,997 216 56 17 73 33 41 19 1,149 1.4
Iowa East 37,329 110 35 15 50 45 13 11 407 1.1
Iowa West 54,633 168 42 20 62 37 14 8 572 1.0
Kansas 44,750 163 54 19 73 44 12 7 520 11
Michigan 179,296 339 43 18 61 18 103 30 2,745 1.5
Mid-South 16,218 95 18 9 27 28 6 6 333 2.0
Minnesota N. 54,587 213 96 37 133 62 5 2 376 6
Minnesota S, 108,182 232 71 25 96 41 16 6 774 7
Missouri ———-—__ 104,150 287 85 36 121 42 45 15 1,256 1.2
Montana 10,323 60 24 7 31 51 6 10 189 1.8
Nebraska 75,367 240 85 35 120 50 18 7 739 9
New England 27,393 98 30 8 38 38 1 1 272 9
New Jersey 20,738 67 18 5 23 34 7 10 246 1.1
North Dak. 20,262 101 59 20 79 78 3 3 139 6
Northwest 61,150 230 47 18 65 28 31 13 1,060 1.7
Ohio ee 56,681 159 45 14 59 37 21 13 667 11
Oklahoma ae 16,987 78 27 7 34 43 9 11 276 1.6
South Dak. ___ 25,520 115 53 18 71 61 3 2 208 8
Southeastern 46,127 168 43 17 60 35 25 14 903 19
Southern 30,525 161 43 27 70 43 18 11 614 2.0
SELC_ 15,446 59 21 8 29 49 2 3 125 8
Texas 78,725 288 85 41 126 43 48 16 1,386 1.7
N. Wisc. 77,313 220 93 24 117 53 13 6 598 7
S. Wise, 108,336 195 47 26 73 37 29 14 861 8
Wyoming 10,737 61 23 10 33 54 2 3 128 1.2
Alberta/B.C. 19,903 128 63 18 81 63 6 4 256 1.2
Man./Sask. 15,642 101 62 11 73 72 2 2 137 8
Ontario ——_ _ 25,161 106 50 16 66 62 2 2 172 6

Totals 2,049,799 6.144 1,816 681 2,497 40% 820 13% 25,920 1.2%

Explanation

Communicants: Number of communicant members.
Congregations: Number of congregations.

oom Wt we

figure is for the total number of congregations.

“1

Total Baptized or Confirmed: The total for the District.

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on the adults gained by baptism or confirmation compared
with the communicant membership. It does not take into ac-
count other gains or losses.

Exhibit 7 compares those gained from the outside and those
lost to the outside and arrives at an “Outreach Check” and
then figures a percentage of this compared with the communi-
cant membership. Both Exhibits 7 and 8 tempt one to draw
conclusions regarding specific Districts.
tenuous without comparing other factors. This kind of com-
Parison, however, does Prompt one to begin to ask questions
about the other factors, especially when a District has a much
higher or lower Percentage than the Synod and the rest of the
Districts.

Before concluding this study of the growth of the Missouri
Synod, one needs also to point to some positive factors. One

. Baptized or Confirmed 0 Adults: The number of congregations that gained no adults by baptism or confirmation.
. Baptized or Confirmed 1 Adult: The number of congregations that gained 1 adult by baptism or confirmation.
. Baptized or Confirmed 0 or 1 Adult: The total of columns 3 and 4 giving the total number of congregations that gained none or one adult: the percentage

Baptized or Confirmed 10 or More Adults: The number of congregations with the percentage of the total congregations.

Percentage Gained: The percentage that the total baptized or confirmed (col. 7) is of the total communicants (col. 8),

trend of larger churches getting larger. The three largest in the
Missouri Synod in 1973 by baptized members are:

St. Peter Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, IL 4,450

St. James Lutheran Church, Shawano, WI 3,898

St. Lorenz Lutheran Church, Frankenmuth, MI 3,891

Other congregations, while not the largest, are growing
faster than most in terms of adults baptized or confirmed. In
the last biennium three congregations gained over 100 adults
each:

Concordia Lutheran Church, San Antonio, TX 174
Resurrection Lutheran Church, Charlotte, NC 165
St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Holt, MI 164

III. The Board for Evangelism

The Board for Evangelism added its second full-time staff
person on Dec. 1, 1973, in the person of the Rev. Jerrold L.
Nichols. The board during the biennium was Organized as
follows:

Chairman: Dr. Armand Ulbrich, Detroit, MI (pastor member):
vice-chairman: Mr. William Wright, Fort Dodge, IA (teacher