Vol. ZWiII Summer, 1968 No. 2 THE SPRINGFIELDER is published quarter1 by the faculty of Con- Church- hlissouri Synod. 1 cordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, I linois, of the Lutheran EDITORIAL COMMITTEE ERICH H. HEINTZEN, Editor R A Y ~ I O N D F. SURBURG, Book Review Editor DAVID P. SCAER, Associate Editor h l a ~ ~ J . STEEGE, Associate Editor PRESIDENT J. A. 0. PREUS, ex officio Contents EDITORIALS Full Accreditatioil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Consultation of Black Pastors . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE KATURE O F THE EVANGELISTIC TASK OF PREDOhllNANTLY WHITE DENOMINATIONS IN RELATIOS T O THE BLACK COh,lMUNITY GAYRAUU S. \\'ILIIIORE, JR., Executive Director, Comr~littee on Religion and Race, United Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., New York. PAKISH RENE\\'AL AND PARISH EDUCATION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . RICHAEII J . SCEIULTZ, Department of Practical Theology, Springfield, Illinois REVIE\.\' ARTICLE: FIRST AIDS IN COUNSELLING . . . . . . . . . . . ALLEN NAUSS, Director of Student Personnel Services, Springfielcl, Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOOK KEVIE\VS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOOKS RECEIVED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INDEX TO \'OL. 3 1 I11dexerZ in INDEX T O RELIGIOUS PENODICAL ITERATURE, published rlnzericnn Th~ologicnl Library Association, Speer Library, Pn'ncet logical Se,~linary, Princetolr, New Jersey. Clergy changes of address reported to Concordia Publishing H RIissouri, ~ v i l l also cover mailing change of T h e Springfielder. of address should be sent to the Business Manager of The Spriltg cordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Illinois 62702. Address communications to the Editor, Erich H. Heintzen, Concor logical Seminary, Springfield, Illinois 62702. Editorial J I'SI 1 I . 196S, 14 a red Ictter day in the history of Concordia Thc.oiogicnl Sclni~~ar>. 0 1 1 this cf;:y 1i.c rcct.it.cd f ufl accreditation with the American 1i;sctciation of Thcrilogical Schools. Since I963 the scminarv has hc~cn cillf i a n ;tssoci:tt~' meniber of the Associa tion. This r~chic~.c.n~cnt marks thc end of nearly a decade of \.aliant cffort rjn t17c part of our cntirc facult:. During this period \I-e liii\c rc~i icc l our curricululn, upgraded our standards for adnlission, ott'crccl tht . I: .TI. 1)cgrcc. upgraded and increased the facuIty, im- provc%rl our Iil)l-ar\', our plant, and the OL-era11 tone of the Seminar!-. Sprinsticltl is noir- accredited in the sainc category as the other 156 icmin,~ricb of thc orgnrli7ation. 5pcciirl tlianks yo to Dr. Lorman Petersen who workecl so i.lliantlt on thc \elf-stuclv in orclcr that we night receive the final .iccrctlitation. Dr. 3Iart;n Lucbke deserves special thanks for his cfforts in the curricular revision, and Dr. Fred Kramer, our former ,~cademic clean, dcscrves our gratitude for the tremendous job he tiid tluring the early stages of our progranl toward full accreditation. I lr . \\ alter Racplcr rcallv initiated this effort, and much impetus tvas gi\.cn to it during the prcsidtncv of Dr. George Beto. \Ve are .ilia gratcfuI to the Hosrd for ~ i ~ h h e r Education and to Dr. 11:. F. \\.olbrc.cht who during the post-\var wars did so much to help us procure the fine plant \vhich n.e now. have a t Springfield. \ \ c are grateful to God that this milestone has been reached rn thc histor\ of our school. 1Ve pledge to the Church our con- tinued efforts to prepare the finest and most dedicated young men possible for the highest calling of man. Full accreditation with its many benefits for academic planning, methodology, and scholar- ships \\ill assist us in this effort. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to help us in every way you can. 1. A. 0. Preus The Corr.sztltntiu?z of Black Pastors I T \\T~iiS 31Y privilege some weeks ago to attend the meeting of Black Pastors of the three large Lutheran Synods which met with 1-arious officials of their respective churches. \Ve are including in this issue of THE SPRINGFIELDER a COPY of a paper delivered by Dr. Gayraud S. IVilmore, Jr. It was of such current interest that I asked permission of Dr. \+rilmore to re- publish it here in our journal. I think it wi1I be of great interest to all of our readers. It furnishes an exceIIent insight into the thinking of a leading negro theologian and pastor. I am sure that our readers will not agree with everything that is said, t ) ~ i t ~ v e are herewith presenting i t in order that you may bcconlc hcttcr in- formed as to some of the problenls and issues that filcc our ncgro brethren and that face all of us who belong to predominatcl\ white churches. The meeting itself was extremely interesting. \Vhile I haw done considerable reading on the subject of black poivcr and the unrest among negroes, I had never really confronted the issue as completely as I did a t this meeting. IVe have in all prcdomi~latcl!- white churches which have a minority of negroes, a situation \\hi& is not only explosive but potentially extrenlely troublcson~c for members of both races. There seems to be no qucstion that thc Kerner report was correct in stating that the real problcm is :I \~hi te problem, namely, white racism. This has so complctcl!. penctratcd all structures and institutions of our society that xnany ncgroes feel there is no way in which this problem can be eracIicntcc1 esccpt by the complete destruction of the institution and the s!-stcnl. J-ct no one really want . to see this happen. Again and again our Lutheran negro clergymen stated their desire and their intention of remaining within thcir Lutheran Churches. But the white majority in our Lutheran Churches nccds to listen very carefilly to what is being said. Xot so muc11 bccausc we fear a pull-out (which probably some white mcmbcrs would welcome), but because we need to give to the black man i11 our churches a position of dignity and equality, ~vhich hc fcels (and probably rightly) that he has not heretofore enjoyed. We need to face honestly the question of how to gct ncgro Lutherans, men who are dedicated to the Scripture and thc 12uth- eran Confessions and to the heritage and program of their churches. to have a vital role in the work of the Church, particularly as i t applies to the American Negro. For example, if n--e arc to estab- lish mission churches in Negro area, we ought to have black men as members of our district and synodical mission boards. Agai11. if we are to educate negroes for full time church lvork, wc o~tght to have representatives of the negro race serving as mc~nbers of our Board for Higher Education, the Boards of Control of our schools. and as members of our faculties. We need to give special attention to the recruitment, finr~nc- ing, and placement of negro candidates. Perhaps we could give some thought to having a special placement conlmittce which dc- voted its attention to the placement of negro candidates. The curricuIa of our schools need to be tailored to a degree to n1cet the needs of American negroes. These are not necessarily denlands of our brethren so much as needs, and the Church should be \\.ill- ing and happy and able to take care of these needs of our brethren of the black race. T h e article by Dr. IVilnlore will do much to inform vou, and we commend it to your careful study and attention. J. A. 0. Preus