LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 386

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386 PARISH SERVICES

The children of the church will breathe life into this very
special special for 1976. Capitalizing on the fact that television
provides the Synod's greatest opportunity to witness to the un-
churched, the Board of Parish Education approached the Board
of Directors requesting permission to develop a unique fund
raising program to make ‘Freedom Is” a reality. The children
of our parochial schools will have a chance to make it possible
for their friends Benji and Waldo to bring a Christian message
to the 17 million unchurched children of our land. They will
raise the money to produce the special.

Of equal importance. we feel. is the opportunity to follow
up the witness of “Freedom Is’ with personal evangelism to
those who respond. This will afford a further opportunity to
identify our church with the special at the community level
and to invite people to a local parish.

We are planning to make a comic book “Freedom Is” avail-
able to hundreds of county fairs and other 1976 celebrations
around the country. Our lay people will have great ammunition
to begin conversations—a national TV special and a “traffic
attractor” in a free comic book and other remembrances to
give away at local bicentennial celebrations.

We feel this is truly a unique and tremendous evangelism
and mission opportunity for God to bless.

“And We've Just Begun”

Plans are already on our drawing boards for additional
specials which may introduce a new set of characters and which
may involve additional opportunities to earn back the initial
investment of the church. We have made a substantial inroad
into evening time television and are now ranked within the
“Big 4°—Billy Graham, Oral Roberts. Rex Humbard, and
Lutheran Television: The industry welcomes our specials as
good family programming and considers us as a wholesome
influence in the community and for TV stations. The future
is very bright for this aspect of our mission ministry.

All of our family specials have been developed through the
significant creative talents of a Children's Script Committee.
Taking its cue from the advertising world. this group functions
as a creative nucleus responsible for the development of scripts
and storyboards for animated material. The Television Board
is deeply grateful to these volunteers for the many hours of
hard work and energy which have meant so much to the suc-
cess of “Christmas Is, “Easter Is," and “The City That Forgot
About Christmas.” Serving on the committee during this bien-
nium were Rev. Eldon Weisheit. Rev. Donald Hinchey, Dan
Bulau, Ms. Norma Schroeder, Mrs. Ellen Tjernagel. and Mrs.
Sharon Vaughan. Praise God for these talents.

“The Glumpf Is Alive and Well" —TV Spots

Another generous grant from the women of the international
LWML made it possible for the board to experiment in the
development of children’s television spots.

The Children’s Script Committee settled on the concept
of a multimedia campaign which would combine the use of the
television spots for children with concurrent radio spots, news-
paper ads. television news appearances, stories in print media,
and visual banners and materials for churches to produce an
impact on behalf of a Lutheran event or Evangelism Sunday.

When Pastors Kruse and Doellinger of Grace Lutheran in
Waterloo, Iowa, were enthusiastic about the experiment, the
committee produced the “Glumpf'’—a clumsy Dr. Seuss-like
character easily identified by children. The Glumpf TV spot
was central in promoting attendance by nonchurched children
at vacation Bible schools all over Waterloo which were sched-
uled for the same 2 weeks during the summer of 1974. The
primary goal was evangelism: the secondary goal was congre-
gational involvement and growth.

The Gospel theology projected by the Glumpf, his name,
appearance, and message—‘'God loves me even though I'm
Glumpfy” —was universally understood by students, teachers.
pastors, and helpers.

We started with 10 congregations, and as word spread the
final list grew to 91! “The Glumpf is alive and well, living in
the hearts of children and adults who attended Christian day
camp at 91 Lutheran churches in eastern Iowa during June
1974,” is the way Norma Schroeder reported the results to the
board. “Children are wearing Glumpf T-shirts and Glumpf
buttons. They are singing ‘God Loves Everybody.’ Children in

other locations are finding Glumpf helium balloons that were
released with special Bible messages enclosed. And teachers
are asking. ‘How can we use the Glumpf next year?’ The cam-
paign produced a unifying. joyful spirit for congregations par-
ticipating in the multimedia experiment.

The board would like to develop the TV spots into full-scale
service, and with proper financial and staff considerations this
project will go forward in 1976. Interest has been shown by
several Districts of the Synod for vacation Bible school cam-
paigns or Evangelism Sundays during the bicentennial.

Local Television

By resolution the 1973 New Orleans convention asked the
TV Board “to provide assistance in developing regional and
local television ministries.”

Our television office is becoming a clearinghouse and focal
point for various types of local television and cable programs
and ideas. We seek out videotape samples of programs pro-
duced by pastors and lay people throughout the country. and
we are always ready to consult with those who find an oppor-
tunity to use television. We provide the videotapes as examples
of different formats which might lead to the development of
a program locally. We look forward to strong development of
this area of our service during the coming biennium.

The future for local television opportunities is very bright
due to the growing number of cable television stations which
are originating programs, on required “public access” channels,
religious channels, and in the regular programming cycle taken
“off air.’ In 1960 there were 640 cable systems: today there are
already 2,991, with 7.300.000 subscribers in 11.1% of American
TV homes. That number will grow rapidly!

More and more congregations of the Synod will be able to
gain time on these cable stations, and our staff stands ready to
consult and to provide examples of work currently in progress
which will aid local endeavors.

A very substantial local program under way now in the
Southern California District is “Sunrise Way” for ABC in Los
Angeles. The station is providing facilities and crew: the South-
ern California District in cooperation with Lutheran Television
is producing 13 programs for children.

Funding came from the TV Board. the Synod's Board for
Public Relations, and the Southern California District. with
the hope that a further grant from an outside source will provide
the remaining funds necessary for production and for the pos-
sible future syndication of the program around the country.

“Tension-Point™

The “Tension-Point” series. made possible initially by an
outside grant from the members of Aid Association for Lu-
therans, has been released in the form of three films available
for both television and for Bible class and other church dis-
cussion groups. Shortage of staff and funds have prevented us
from editing more films for this series. **Tension-Point” can be
a half-hour television program using 10-minute films developed
from existing “This Is the Life’ episodes which portray only
a dilemma combined with a live panel from the local community.

Who is it in our society that makes significant and prophetic state-
ments about the epic events of our times? Astronauts, artists. nov-
elists, newscasters. politicians. but for the most part certainly not
ministers. Ministers have undermined their vital role as opinion
makers in society. Harried. tired. and ill-prepared. they have become
an inarticulate voice in a world seeking purpose and hope. Where
are the pastor-theologians. the interpreters of the Word of God
within the events of human life? Without such theologizing. the
church will wed herself to the culture of the day and be a widow
within each succeeding age. always trying to catch up but seldom
providing leadership.

‘“Tension-Point” speaks to this issue. The purpose is to bring
local Lutheran impact to bear on the burning community issues
of the day and/or to provide discussion starters for Bible class
and other church groups.

AAL Grant

The board is grateful to the members of AAL for the grant
to initiate this program. The board hopes to make ‘“Tension-
Point” self-sustaining through rental and sale to congregations
and outside groups.

The potential is great!