LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 366

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366 PARISH SERVICES

they are the men and women who choose the direction in which
we are moving as a church.

How well are our adults up to the task of providing leadership
for today’s church? How can they help each other discover the
direction in which the Lord would move us? How will they be-
come more effective as His messengers to one another and to the
world? These are tough questions! Our task together is to find
some answers.

The kind of adult messenger of the Lord we are looking for
(in each other) needs some understandings. attitudes, and skills
if he is to represent Jesus Christ with power. We can identify.
discuss, and help each other work toward achieving them.

First. the Lord’s messengers should be able to read and
interpret the Holy Scriptures. Nothing is more urgently needed
in the Synod than individual and group Bible study. We be-
come mature Christian decision makers to the degree that we
learn to read intelligently, interpret faithfully, and integrate
practically into our lives the Gospel of Christ conveyed to us by
the Holy Scriptures.

Doctrinal study is important, too. Disciplined research into
the meaning of the church's doctrines enables us to explain them
and witness to others of their trustworthiness. The best context
for doing this is the worshiping and witnessing fellowship of the
local congregation.

Christ has related us through faith in Him to all other Chris-
tians. It is important. therefore, that God’s messengers learn
lovingly to strengthen and improve relationships among all
people who are one in Christ.

Then there's the matter of putting belief into practice. God's
messengers must consciously practice putting personal Christian
convictions to work in concrete. everyday situations as they
serve Christ in the home, at leisure, and on the job.

A parallel concern for adult Christian messengers is that of
seriously confronting contemporary international, national, and
local issues with the growing ability to make Christian choices
in ambiguous situations.

Of course, all needs identified above may well be considered
as goals for an ongoing adult Christian education ministry.
These goals may well be subsumed under one overarching goal,
namely, that we enjoy our lives as a commitment of our total
being to the ministry of God’s reconciling Word.

One measure of how well we are doing through the Synod in
helping adults become more able messengers of the Lord is the
number of study groups meeting regularly in our congregations.
The table below reports the number of people who taught as
well as attended these classes. From the table you'll note an
upswing in enrollments in 1973, the first we experienced in
4 years.

However. the weekday adult group enrollments made the
difference. Sunday enrollments have declined steadily since
1969. This is another indication of the steady decline in church
activity. That should trouble us. Although there is both good
and bad news in these statistics. we need to take immediate
steps to arrest those areas showing decline while strengthening
those showing growth.

In our work with adult education leaders in the Districts
of the Synod we are gaining valuable experience in how to
strengthen and expand adult study groups in local congrega-
tions. Our experience in Iowa District East is a good example.
Robert Reed. director of adult continuing education there, is
helping congregations appoint adult curriculum committees
that survey preferences and needs. review appropriate study
materials. and schedule the courses agreed upon for a 9- to
12-month period.

To provide special helps for local adult leaders in Iowa
East. the Synod's Adult Education Team provided quarterly
resource packets for the members of the Adult Leaders Associa-
tion. Each packet included samples of current adult study
courses, descriptions of courses from a variety of publishers,

catalogs of appropriate aids, and outlines and guidelines on the
following subjects: (1) helping your congregation diagnose needs
and interests in adult education: (2) promotional helps for en-
rolling people in new September classes: (3) involving the adult
in the teaching/learning process; (4) evaluating the adult edu-
cation program in your congregation.

The Adult Education Team of Synod’s Board of Parish Edu-
cation hopes to expand this service into other Districts in the
forthcoming months.

Four study guides especially suited for use in neighborhood
Bible study groups were recently reprinted by our Adult
Education Team. These guides are available at minimal cost per
copy. Each study is designed for 13 sessions and is on a book
of the Bible. Note the titles: ‘According to Matthew” (Matthew’s
Gospel), ‘‘The Unexpected Way” (Romans), ‘We Are Not
Alone” (Acts), and ‘Don’t Forget the Gospel’ (Hebrews).

The new information bulletin ‘Have You Tried a Home Bible
Study Group?” will assist those concerned about getting new
neighborhood adult classes started in the congregation or
community.

We do not motivate people to learn. Motivation for Chris-
tian learning comes from the Holy Spirit. Our challenge is to
enable God’s people to open up and release the motivation that
is already at work in them. We can best do this by concentrating
on the atmosphere of freedom in Christ that allows and en-
courages adults to do, think, grow, change, and learn at their
own rate to be the ambassadors of Christ they are called to be.

IX. Messengers of the Lord Live in Families

The family unit exists to give glory to God and render service
to others. As the individual family members live out the message
of forgiveness and concern, they are indeed the Lord’s mes-
sengers.

Families as a unit and individual members of families de-
mand the attention of the Synod and its Board of Parish Educa-
tion. Wives, husbands, children, parents want all the help they
can get to enable them to enjoy the intimate relationships possi-
ble in families where love is the criterion for being. We have
tried to be responsive to a growing number of requests for
assistance in planning and implementing District and parish
programs that take seriously the expressed needs of indi-
viduals living in families.

As we listened to the needs of families, certain obstacles
to happy family living have repeatedly surfaced. One is that
families are reluctant to share with others expressions of family
failure or success. Slowly individuals and couples venture into
sharing relationships and there discover that the community of
families exists to support, strengthen, and heal the individual
family.

Another major obstacle that prevents a very large number
of our constituency from enjoying their lives as God’s elect
is a feeling of worthlessness. Low self-image is prevalent among
a high percentage of our professional and lay persons alike.
They need Spirit-directed experiences that provide opportuni-
ties to meet with fellow Christians in an atmosphere of genuine
acceptance and allow for confession and absolution. The result
of what happens in these encounters may be described as
release from a bondage of self-hate to self-acceptance.

The emphasis in tamily life education for the past few years
has been on the individual. This is where God begins. This is
where we begin. We equip the person. We help him see himself
from God's point of view as someone of eternal worth, selected
and redeemed of God to glory in His love and to share that love
in a variety of ways—and thus to be a messenger of the Lord!

The Board of Parish Education's program for ministry to
families is divided into four interrelated programs: planning
a ministry with people in families, marriage enrichment in-
cluding Marriage Education and Counseling Seminars, parent/

BIBLE CLASSES —-THE LUTHERAN CHURCH - MISSOURI SYNOD 1969 — 73

Number of Bible Classes

Year Sunday Weekday Total Sunday
1969 __.__ 13.171 8.025 21,196 213,411
1970 ______ 13.857 10,293 24,150 213,043
1971 _. 13.215 10.945 24,160 207.986
1972... 13,075 11.738 24,813 204,739
1973 11.729 12,503 24,232 204,173

Bible Class Enrollments

Bible Class Teachers

Weekday Total Sunday Weekday Total
99,173 312,584 14,374 7.925 22,299
93.184 306,227 14,098 7.592 21,690
87,275 295,261 13,342 8,944 22.286
96,683 301,422 13,162 9,583 22,745

104,985 309,158 13,169 10,805 23.974