LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 297

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HIGHER EDUCATION 297

ministry in the church be offered at St. Paul's, Concordia, Mo.
St. Paul’s has demonstrated its ability to attract such young
people and has been able to nurture this interest, so that a high
percentage continue their education and are placed as pro-
fessional workers:

C3. That the BHE arrange for college-level courses to be
offered at this academy through an extension center program
from appropriate colleges within the synodical system, so that
students have the opportunity to transfer college credits or can
qualify for advanced standing equal to 1 year of college fresh-
man work as would be taken elsewhere in the system:

C4. That an active and aggressive information and counsel-
ing program for this academy be developed throughout the
Synod, so that all qualified students are encouraged to begin
their studies for the full-time ministry at the earliest possible age:

C5. That the success of a quality academy program for fu-
ture workers can best be achieved in a setting devoted exclu-
sively to that endeavor:

C6. That it is not desirable for students to spend more than
four continuous years in one educational setting of this nature:

C7. That other recommendations contained in this report will
permit students to spend the normal college years in one setting,
thereby eliminating the problem of continual transfer: and

C8. That the academy as herein suggested be operative and
the junior college program of St. Paul's, Concordia, Mo., be
terminated by Sept. 1, 1976.

D. Preministerial Education and the Senior College

Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, was developed for
the purpose of a ‘‘systems” approach to preministerial educa-
tion in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. The desirability
of requiring a college degree for entrance to the seminary
was clearly felt during World War II. The decision was made to
establish one senior college level program to which all synodical
junior-college seminary-bound students would transfer. This
decision was felt to be preferable to permitting five or six junior
colleges to expand their curriculum or to offer preministerial
education at the teachers colleges. The ‘‘system" assigned spe-
cific functions to each college which in the aggregate would
serve the total needs of the Synod without any unnecessary du-
plication of dollars and other resources. The Senior College was
assigned the task of preparing young men for entrance to the
seminary for training in the pastoral ministry.

The new program of preministerial education at Concordia
Senior College accepted its first students in 1957. During the
10-year interim from convention decision to opening of the new
campus significant additional changes were taking place in
American higher education. The tax-supported public system
had received a great deal of emphasis from the returning
veterans of World War II and Korea. The rapid rise in the birth
rate, the delayed purchasing power of the populace, as well as
the heavy expenditure on reconstruction of a war-torn world,
placed a high premium on higher education. The public through
taxation was expected to share the major part of the burden for
the cost of this education and for the facilities in which this
education was to occur. All of this had its impact on private
higher education. Because of population and economic growth
many of these developments were not directly felt by the LCMS
“system” until the late 1960s.

The Board for Higher Education reported to the 1969 conven-
tion that the Synod must recognize the financial realities stem-
ming from a shortage of funds and a willingness or desire on the
part of synodical colleges to augment or change their functions
to better reflect the changes taking place in higher education.
From a planning point of view, while no so-called master plan
was offered, it was clearly evident that change was taking place
and that specific direction recognizing the realities of change
was necessary. Although some of the recommendations to the
1969 convention have been implemented, it is safe to say that
suggestions of a major nature either are still pending or have
been dropped for lack of enthusiasm. Now, nearly 6 years later,
action is needed to insure that the purposes of the Synod are
carried out and that some type of system is maintained.

Concordia Senior College has recognized that changes in
higher education were affecting the preministerial offerings of
the college. In 1970 the faculty and Board of Control submitted
a self-study to evaluate the potential utilization of Concordia

Senior College based on changes taking place as reported to
the 1969 convention. A number of alternatives of service were
listed as possible ways of effectively and efficiently utilizing the
personnel and physical resources at Fort Wayne. The faculty
and Board of Control strongly suggested that the Senior College
be utilized for the upper level of preseminary preparation
and in the upper college level of preparation for special minis-
tries such as deaconess., minister of Christian education, youth
minister, social service, and the like.

A later study attempted to explore offering an accelerated
3-year preministerial degree program at Fort Wayne. It was felt
that this program would be attractive to a sizable number of
young men who were academically prepared, as determined by
the Scholastic Aptitude Test and three achievement tests of the
College Entrance Examination Board. The Carnegie Commis-
sion on Higher Education had advocated this accelerated ap-
proach as a method of adequately challenging qualified young
students. This approach was to be implemented by September
1974. However, primarily because of the anticipated impact
such a program would have on the synodical junior colleges, the
concept has not been vigorously pursued.

The most recent recognition by Concordia Senior College
officials of the urgency of change is a proposal that Concordia
Senior College be permitted to offer 4-year preministries edu-
cation programs. This proposal was designed to fully recognize
the need to offer preseminary education at one location for all
4 years. The traditional program could be preserved for stu-
dents who for personal and financial reasons prefer to stay at
the college in which they enrolled. This proposal also recognizes
the general decrease of preseminary enrollments by offsetting
this loss with complementary church ministries programs. In
essence Concordia Senior College has proposed a synodwide
4-year college for preseminary education in conjunction with
other programs designed to meet the changing ministerial needs
of congregations.

The Task Force has carefully reviewed all aspects of the
Concordia Senior College proposal and is in agreement that
many of the points discussed are in serious need of resolution.
The Task Force strongly believes in the need to preserve the
traditional preseminary programs and in the desirability of
offering such education in a setting with other complementary
programs. A primary difference of opinion develops, however.
in the evaluation of the entire system of educational institutions.

The Task Force is convinced that the Fort Wayne proposal
would seriously affect the system concept and all synodical
colleges in the system.

For The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod to retain some
segment of the original purpose of its schools, it appears to the
Task Force that some consolidation of the number of schools
must take place. The Task Force also recognizes that the fi-
nancial needs of a system of 16 schools in a time in history of
rapid change dictate that every legitimate avenue of assistance
be carefully scrutinized. This, however, seems to result in
school concerns, geographical concerns, and parental and
student concerns becoming parochial in their outlook as op-
posed to a genuine concern for the necessity of a system ap-
proach to synodical higher education. Although these con-
cerns apparently can not be totally avoided, they must be fully
recognized and must be addressed to the fullest possible extent.

The Task Force is fully cognizant of the excellence of the
preministerial education provided at Fort Wayne these past 18
years. However, in the opinion of the Task Force the present
program offered by Concordia Senior College cannot be main-
tained. Circumstances dictate the need for change. The creation
of a new 4-year college at Fort Wayne as suggested by the
college is not felt to be an appropriate solution to the problem.
The Synod already has junior colleges at Ann Arbor and Mil-
waukee, both of whom have petitioned long and vigorously for
4-year status, one 4-year teachers college at River Forest, and
an affiliated Lutheran University at Valparaiso in the near
geographic promimity of Fort Wayne offering competing
programs.

The Task Force feels strongly, however, that the traditional
preministerial education must be available to a significant num-
ber of our future pastors and must include:

1) A curriculum directed specifically at preministerial
education:

2) A faculty pastorally trained, experienced, and committed
to the preparation of men for the pastoral ministry: and