# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S16
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

16

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

the services and sacramental rites of heterodox congregations or of
congregations of mixed confession.” The practice of closed Communion
then does not include receiving Communion at churches that hold
heterodox positions. The Missouri Synod has adopted Dr. C. F. W.
Walther’s Church and the Office of the Ministry as its official position in
2001 (Res. 7-17A). In Thesis VIII of Walther’s Church and the Office of
the Ministry, Walther writes, “Here the saying of Augustine holds: ‘Believe
and you have eaten.’ As I said before: To receive the Sacrament is a mark
of confession and doctrine. Therefore, whoever does not regard as true
the doctrine of the church in which he intends to attend the Sacrament
cannot partake of the Sacrament in that church with a clear conscience.”
(Download Walther’s Thesis VIII at http://goo.gl/gKqIOq.) Werner Elert,
Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries, trans. Norman
Nagel (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1966), 76. “By ‘closed
Communion’ we mean the restricting of participation to full members of
the congregation.” Participation in Holy Communion is directly connected
to church fellowship.
19. Ludwig Adolph Petri. Mission and the Church: A letter to a friend
(Die Mission und die Kirche: Schreiben an einen Freund), trans. David
Buchs (Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 2012).
20. “The devil never stops cooking and brewing these two kingdoms
into each other. In the devil’s name the secular leaders always want to
be Christ’s masters and teach Him how He should run His church and
spiritual government. Similarly, the false clerics and schismatic spirits
always want to be the masters, though not in God’s name, and to teach
people how to organize the secular government. Thus the devil is indeed
very busy on both sides, and he has much to do. May God hinder him,
amen, if we deserve it!” (Martin Luther, “Psalm 101,” 1534, American
Edition, vol. 13, 194–95.)
21. Hermann Sasse. We Confess Jesus Christ, trans. Norman Nagel
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1984), 52.

R1.2

Chief Mission Officer
(See also R4: Pastoral Formation Committee)
INTRODUCTION
Beginning with the establishment of the office in the Synod’s restructuring that took place at the 2010 LCMS Convention—and with implementation of only minor operational role/
responsibility adjustments here and there since—the Chief Mission Officer (CMO) is responsible to the President of the Synod
for the mission, ministry, and programmatic and coordinative
functions which are implemented according to the policies adopted by the Board for National Mission (BNM) and the Board
for International Mission (BIM), by providing staff and other
resources in support thereof. LCMS Bylaw 3.4.3 also specifies
that he serves as the President’s liaison to synodwide corporate
entities and commissions; works closely with the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer in carrying out the
programmatic, administrative, and financial functions of the
national Synod; supervises the work of the Office of National
Mission (ONM), the Office of International Mission (OIM),
the fundraising activity of the national office through the work
of our Mission Advancement (MADV) unit, the Synod’s communications, public relations, news, and information through
the work of our Communications (COMMS) unit; and provides
leadership, coordination, and oversight of pre-seminary/seminary education and post-seminary continuing education, and
2019 Convention Workbook

advocacy for pastoral education and health through the work of
our Office of Pastoral Education (PED). The CMO also chairs
the Pastoral Formation Committee, which was established by
2016 Convention Resolution 6–01.
These CMO duties are carried out in broad support of
districts and congregations, organizations and entities, church
workers and laypersons around the globe to engage the Synod’s
emphases of Witness, Mercy, Life Together. We do so in support
of the Synod’s common mission, adopted in our 1995 Convention—
In grateful response to God’s grace and empowered by the
Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known
the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and world
—all and only under the ends policies established by the
BIM and BNM and in fulfillment of the seven strategic mission
priorities most recently affirmed and adopted by the Synod,
2016 Convention Resolution 4–02A:
••

Plan, sustain, and revitalize Lutheran churches.

••

Support and expand theological education.

••

Perform human care in close proximity to Word and
Sacrament ministries.

••

Collaborate with the Synod’s members and partners
to enhance mission effectiveness.

••

Promote and nurture the spiritual, emotional, and
physical well-being of pastors and professional
church workers.

••

Enhance early childhood, elementary and secondary
education, and youth ministry.

••

Strengthen and support the Lutheran family in living
out God’s design.

Accomplishments over the Past Triennium,
2016–2019
The program areas of the Synod’s national office
will synchronize strategic internal ministry capabilities and coordinate with the agencies, auxiliaries, and recognized service organizations of the
Synod in order to enhance efforts and activities
that make known the love of Christ throughout
the world.
The “Reports by Program Unit,” following, summarize our
teams’ key accomplishments over the past triennium. In my position as CMO, the following accomplishments (not an exhaustive list) are noteworthy:
••

Operations—Strenuous efforts have continued
throughout the past triennium toward effective
management and oversight of Synod program ministries’ financial performance vs. budget, action plans,
organizational structure, the deployment human
resources, follow-through on assignments coming
out of 2016 Synod Convention, ongoing expansion
of working relationships, and the continued fostering
of highly collaborative, well-coordinated interaction
between and within the CMO’s supervised units and