LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1979, Page 183

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LATE REPORTS AND OVERTURES 183

Lutheran and Conservative/Evangelical schools in the
Midwest will consider initially “new birth and Bap-
tism.”

Explorations regarding a Lutheran-Pentecostal dia-
log have revealed little interest on the part of represen-
tatives of classical Pentecostal church bodies, and such
a dialog does not seem possible in the near future.

A Lutheran-Jewish colloquium on mission and
evangelism was sponsored by the division and the
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith in May 1978 in
Philadelphia. The event, along the lines of four
Lutheran-Jewish colloquia held during 1969-74, indi-
cated a significant change for the better in atmosphere
and relationships. Many of the same participants
gathered again this May in Philadelphia to talk about
the concept of “covenant” from both Biblical and
contemporary perspectives. Slated for the fall of 1979 is
what is hoped will be a model for a local Lutheran-
Jewish conversation. It will deal with the theme “The
Sources of Religious Authority.”

Division of Service to Military Personnel

The Division of Service to Military Personnel pro-
vides a means for the church bodies participating in the
Lutheran Council to offer a viable ministry of Word and
sacrament to Lutheran men and women in the armed
forces, paramilitary persons, and their dependents.
This support ministry includes assisting the church
bodies in filling the authorized spaces for Lutheran
chaplains, providing the chaplains with in-service
training and counseling, arranging for the help of
civilian clergy in communities adjacent to military
installations, supervising several field ministries, and
furnishing congregations with materials to help them
keep in touch with their members in the military.

The division’s staffing arrangement is unique
among units of the council. Three assistant executive
directors handle responsibilities related to both the
division’s common work and particular concerns of
their church bodies. For example, the Missouri Synod
representative on the staff, Milton S. Ernstmeyer, dou-
bles as executive secretary of the Synod’s Armed Forces
Commission. Currently he also holds the honorary
position of president of the Military Chaplains Associ-
ation, which is made up of active duty and reserve
chaplains of all denominations.

Support for Chaplains

At the start of 1979 the number of Lutheran chap-
lains on extended active duty in the Army, Navy, and
Air Force numbered 286, including 100 Missouri Synod
clergy. The number serving civilian parishes but on
reserve with military units was 384, of whom 124 were
LCMS clergy. The number with the Civil Air Patrol was
60, 20 of whom were Synod clergy. Participants in the
military seminarian programs numbered 26, of whom 3
were Missouri seminarians.

In addition to an ongoing visitation and counseling
schedule involving the division’s staff, the chaplains,
and their immediate military commanders, support was

provided through an annual series of seminar-retreats
aimed at the professional development of the chaplains.
The 1978 series took a look at the Lutheran ways of
doing evangelism and sought to equip the chaplains to
help the lay personnel to be witnesses. One of the
leaders was Executive Secretary Erwin J. Kolb of the
LCMS’s Board for Evangelism. Topic for the 1979 series
was “Lutheran Theology Confronts Scientific Realities
of Today,” and the Synod participant was Paul L.
Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan
University, Kalamazoo, and also Lutheran campus
chaplain there.

A grant from the Aid Association for Lutherans
made possible in May 1978 a once-in-a-lifetime chance
for 39 Lutheran military chaplains to travel to the
German Democratic Republic and walk where their
denominational roots were planted. They were led by
Oswald C. J. Hoffmann, Lutheran Hour speaker and
history buff. He reported that the faith is alive there
“because Jesus Christ is alive, and nobody is going to be
able to change that.”

Field Ministries

As of the beginning of 1979, the division’s network of
civilian clergy who serve as military contact pastors
numbered 261, of whom 132 were with Missouri Synod
congregations. These pastors were available to help
Lutherans stationed in the area, to get their churches to
sponsor military-related ministries, and if Lutheran
military chaplains were nearby, to coordinate their
efforts.

Through its Community Lutheran Armed Services
Program (CLASP), the division has made grants to
congregations near military installations to help them
serve Lutherans on duty there. This program is now
down to four grants, and all congregations near bases
are being encouraged to support their own military-
related work.

Overseas the devaluation of the dollar, a reduced
U.S. military presence in some places, and political
turmoil have caused grave difficulties for the division’s
field ministries. These now consist of four independent
Lutheran congregations on Guam and Okinawa and in
Frankfurt, Germany, and Seoul, Korea, and one service
center at Olongapo, The Philippines. The independent
congregations have a combined baptized membership
of 653. The church on Guam is served by an LCMS
pastor, John G. Fischer.

Organized in June 1975 by the growing number of
U.S. Lutherans in Iran, St. Thaddaeus Lutheran
Church, Teheran, held its final service on Christmas
Day 1978. During its brief flowering the congregation
became a loving fellowship of Christians who made the
church the center of their lives. Also at the end of last
year International Lutheran Church in Seoul absorbed
the separate service center. The pastor of the Frankfurt
church, Theol S. Hoiland, has the dual responsibility of
arranging pastoral service for Lutheran military per-
sonnel throughout Europe and the Near East. This
gives him the largest Lutheran parish in the world.