LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 172

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172 ADMINISTRATION

by the attention paid to the tensions. Bad news seems to be
much more interesting.

3. We are limited in using the most effective communications
media. For example. other mission interpretation agencies
produce movies telling of their missions’ work. We can't afford
them, and haven't been able to for the past 10 years. However.
filmstrips are “the cinderella of the film industry” according to
a top spokesman for U.S. film-makers, and new mission film-
strips are being produced yearly which can be effectively used
in a sight-and-sound presentation of the Svnod's mission opera-
tlon.

4. We have merchandising problems. To produce quality
materials about missions. two things are necessary: production
in quantity. and sales. Some congregations and Districts are at
the point of being so independent that we're our own undoing.
So few congregations are ‘doing’ mission information work
together that we can't lower the quantity any more and we
can't raise the price any more. ‘Pirating’’ also is hurting us.
Some groups will buy one or two items of a product and then
lend them free to others. A little of this is good, but it doesn’t
take much to destroy the market (and so the product and
services) which makes production possible in the first place.

5. A word of hope: There is notable evidence that the re-
stvling of mission education is working. Participation has
increased at all levels compared to a few years ago. More women
are in leadership positions than previously, especially at District
levels. New mission study materials continue the focus on people
in Christ's mission— and when our people know about and use
them, the response is good.

Two staff members spent 8 weeks in 1974 in India, the
Philippines. and Papua New Guinea. We probed with cameras
and tape recorders and interviews, and found very gratifying
examples of God at work in the lives of our brothers and sisters
overseas. Our mission through the Synod stands up under this
closest scrutiny. God be praised! He is at work among us. His
servants are witnessing and serving. Sinners believe and the
needy are nourished. That is the wonderful information we have
to share.

IH. Fund Procurement (Ingathering)
A. Activities

Previous sections of this report have pointed to the fact that
to view stewardship only as a means of raising funds (or, to use
church talk. gathering offerings) is ‘tunnel vision.’’ However.
the church is an institution in the world, and since the world
operates with money. the church needs money to operate.

The board works with the gathering of money in several
ways. Programs in stewardship cultivation seek to assist con-
gregations in their stewardship ministry. part of which is gath-
ering offerings for the mission of the church. Programs in fund
procurement seek to aid church leaders at all levels to allocate
adequate funds for mission through congregation, District. and
Synod (regular funding) and to provide extra mission giving
opportunities through Synod through gifts beyond regular
support (special funding).

Regular funding activities begin with the production of Every
Congregation Visit materials. District leaders use these mate-
rials for confronting congregations with the needs of mission
done through District and Synod. Ideally, ECV material is used
in a process of consultation and sharing between District and
congregation leaders.

This material is introduced to District stewardship executives
at an annual fall conference which acquaints them with the
planned budget and activities of the Synod for the coming year.
The synodical stewardship staff also assists Districts through
consultations at budget-setting meetings. usually in the first
months of the year.

Special funding activities consist of projects to which people
can contribute above and beyond their regular offering to their
congregation. The Project: People mission gifts catalog has
resulted in offerings of over $72.000 during 1973—74. Children’s
mission projects continue to be a way the young people of the
church can learn about, feel with, and give for the mission,
especially to children in other lands. These children’s projects
raised $26.650 duing the past biennium. Other children’s projects
have been postponed due to a proposed children’s project
involving a television special celebrating the U. S. bicentennial

in 1976. The Armed Forces Commission received $188,900 in
special offerings in 1973 and 1974.

B. Challenges and Problems
a. Regular Funding

A better method for funding needs to be found. There is a
challenge in these financial facts from 1968 to 1973:

1. Individual contributions to congregations did not quite
keep up with the 28% inflation in those 5 years. That means that
the church on the local level isn’t even getting a “keep pace”
cost of living increase from its members

2. The distribution points for funds—congregations and Dis-
tricts—are tending to see and meet their own mission needs
first. (The following figures consider 28% inflation.) Congrega-
tional contributions to work at large are 13% less than in 1968.
When these “‘at large” funds are distributed, District and Synod
are receiving 18% less than in 1968. Nonbudget missions (welfare
ministry, charitable institutions, etc.) are up 5%.

3. The needs of the Synod—as decided by convention dele-
gates through the programs they adopt—are not being met. In
the same 5-year period, Districts have cut back on their per-
centage of giving to Synod by 30%. At the same time they have
allocated almost 19% more for their District mission.

A better way of allocating and distributing funds needs to
be found. The present trend resulted in a financial crisis at the
beginning of 1975. as Synod’s Board of Directors proposed a
reduced budget reflecting reduced pledges.

It is possible that the members of the Synod wish to con-
centrate resources in personnel and program production at the
District level. If this is what the present financial trend means.
then the Stewardship Board urges that this be deliberately de-
cided and plainly stated, so that planning can be done-—in-
cluding any resulting reduction of synodical staff and resource
material production. The conclusion for this report includes a
suggestion for facing this challenge constructively, involving as
many leaders on the congregational and District levels as
possible.

b. Special Funding

1. Under present arrangements we cannot guarantee that
money designated for a project — unless it is a children’s mission
project or the Armed Forces offering, with their own accounts —
will get to that project. A way needs to be found in which the
donor can be fully assured that his gift will go to the project
of his choice if it is routed through synodical channels.

2. “Project giving” through special funding is an increasingly
popular way of mission support. Such giving results not only in
increased funding but also in the individual Christian gaining
a closer relationship with the mission. A great deal of personal
contact is necessary for such special gifts. Our board does not
have the staff necessary to do the job. If the Synod does not
provide staff for doing the job, other agencies will reap the har-
vest sown by years of synodical stewardship cultivation.

IV. Field Consultation and Service (Involvement)
A. Activities

“I love mankind: it’s people I can’t stand.’ Those honest
words by comic strip character Charlie Brown point out a danger
for a “programmatic” board, like stewardship—we get so in-
volved with producing good programs and materials for a gen-
eral audience that specific people and their stewardship needs
sometimes take second place.

A high priority of the synodical stewardship staff in the past
biennium has been to reinforce the partnership with District
leaders in stewardship ministry. The greatest asset of steward-
ship ministry in our Synod is the District Stewardship Boards
and executives. These men and women are on the front line of
stewardship ministry, connecting congregations with the world-
wide mission of the Synod.

Emphasis on sharing with and supporting these stewardship
leaders has been reflected in time and budget allocations during
the past biennium. An annual spring conference has focused
on helping equip and encourage District stewardship staffers
and board chairmen for their ministry. Synodical staff have been
called on for consultations with District Stewardship Boards.
A periodic bulletin helps share ideas and opinions. Individual