Hoffmann feels church has long way to go

Willmar

Posted 8/28/02

Oswald Hoffmann is one of the best known Lutheran clergymen in the nation. Much of his fame came from preaching for 30 years on radio for "The Lutheran Hour" sponsored by the International Lutheran Laymenís League of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Hoffman is now 88 years old and is still traveling and preaching and "just telling the world about Jesus Christ," as he describes it.

Before and while he was speaker on The Lutheran Hour, Hoffman was public relations director of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod with offices in St. Louis and in New York. He was also assistant at the oldest Lutheran congregation, St. Matthewís, in New York at that time.

In the early 1950s, Hoffman was instrumental

in pioneering production of the "This is the Life" weekly television dramas that focused on Christian family values.

Dr. Hoffman became preacher on the Lutheran Hour in 1955 and moved the programís office to New York City. When he started, the program budget was $750,000. When he retired, the budget was $9,000,000. It grew to encompass more than 125 countries and reached every continent over Armed Forces Radio.

While serving as public relations director, he worked with all the major religion reporters and directed 350 public relations volunteers. He interacted with government leaders and policy makers while supervising an office in Washington, D.C. and had discussions with presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.

In 1980, Hoffman received the Secretary of Defense Award for Outstanding Service to the Military. In 1989, he was named a life member of the Religious Public Relations Council and in 1999 was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

In a recent interview with Rev. David Mahsman, executive editor of The Lutheran Witness, a Missouri Synod publication, Hoffman said that the focus of his public relations and government relations work was to identify the church with Jesus Christ. He feels that the church is not as well organized to do that now.

"We have a long way to go. We have to acquire a feeling of responsibility to the people outside of the church - Christians and non-Christians - to let them know what we are doing here."