# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S41
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Diagram: Making Disciples through Church Planting

Urban and Inner City Mission—Rev. Dr. Steven
D. Schave, Director
In 2013, the Synod in convention mandated that we be
working to increase significantly our support of congregations
in urban and inner-city settings (2013 Convention Resolution
3–07A). To that end, we have made large strides in supporting urban mission work throughout the LCMS. New resources
have been developed, districts and RSOs have begun to deploy
urban missionaries with our assistance, and new opportunities
for gaining practical experience during seminary education have
also been created. Likewise, collaborations with the Lutheran
Young Adult Corps and LCMS Medical Mercy Teams have allowed people of all walks of life to participate in urban mission.
So, too, we have also strengthened our connections to our CUS
programs that are connected to our cities to prepare future leaders for urban communities.
Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support (PALS), a
collaborative effort of the LCMS PED and the Synod’s districts
to help pastors and their wives in the transition from seminary
to congregation, released a new course on the transition to urban ministry, and LCMS Urban and Inner-City Mission helped
to develop it. The course uses a combination of videos, prayers,
Bible readings, and study questions to guide new pastors in
their transition from seminary. Ministry in the inner city can
be complicated and even messy for incoming church workers.
But through this study guide, new pastors and their families
are encouraged that this work is also extremely rewarding and
can be transformative, not just in individual lives, but for entire
inner-city communities. This guide also helps the new worker
to understand that they are not in it alone, nor do they need to
reinvent the wheel for urban missions. It points them to resources that will allow them to focus on their Word and Sacrament
ministry while also enhancing their outreach and witness to the
communities in which they have been called.
One of the challenges of inner-city ministry is working
among those in extreme poverty. This might include immigrants
and refugees or the homeless population. A new set of resources
have been developed to reach the least and lost of our cities.
These tools provide ways to show mercy with dignity for the
marginalized. These new resources include a whitepaper on how
best to provide community development and care for the poor,

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ways to create homeless kits and prayer cards, and writings on
how we are called to provide for our neighbors in need. And, of
course, all of our mercy work is anchored by altar, pulpit, and
font to give not just earthly clothes, food, drink, and shelter, but
also an eternal dwelling place, the wedding garment, the bread
of life, and the water to drink to never thirst again.
And while there will always be those in need of emergency
aid in catastrophic circumstances, the ultimate goal of our charity is to lift people out of poverty rather than to create an unhealthy dependency. This was the purpose of the Urban and
Inner-City Mission Denarius Project, named for a day’s wage
earned. In an effort to assist with self-sustaining ministries using social enterprise, to lift individuals from poverty, and to assist with economic development in underserved communities,
an e-learning resource was developed. This resource is for those
interested in going beyond giving aid and exploring more enterprising ways to show mercy with dignity. This resource provides
an introduction to the concept of social enterprise, recommendations on evaluating an organization’s suitability to start a social enterprise, and tools to use during the process. Mentoring
and funding are also key components of this endeavor. The
Denarius Project encourages Lutheran churches and ministries
to think of compassion in more enterprising ways. Social enterprise can be a powerful form of ministry, a means to harness
community resources and alleviate poverty and suffering in response to the love of God in Christ Jesus. It can be a means to
further put our mercy into action. This includes programs for
at-risk youth, who can be equipped to become young entrepreneurs and in turn, make a difference in their communities.
Urban mission itself can certainly leave workers feeling isolated as they feel they must fight the battle alone, so developing
a network has been a major priority. One way to address this
is through monthly webinars that are a great way to start the
conversation about the challenging, rewarding, and sometimes
gritty world of urban and inner-city mission. It is our prayer
that these webinars will, in a way, become our urban mission
community gathering place to learn from one another, encourage one another, and find ways to impact and transform our inner cities through Word and Sacrament ministry and by loving
our neighbors.

Rural and Small Town Mission—Rev. Todd Kollbaum, Director
LCMS Rural and Small Town Mission (RSTM) exists to
support and encourage rural and small-town congregations
in engaging their communities and growing together in Christ
through Word and Sacrament. Rural and small-town congregations, those located in communities of 15,000 or less in population, make up over half of the congregations and over half
of the membership of the LCMS. With approximately 3,200
congregations, it is a foregone conclusion that while some are
strong and vibrant, many suffer from a lack of hope, dwindling resources, lack of access to training and ministry assistance. While there is certainly no “one size fits all” solution to
the unique challenges rural and small-town congregations face,
RSTM seeks to provide training and resources which train and
equip these congregations to assess their community and ministry, and to look for opportunities to revitalize and engage those
around them in a robust way.
2019 Convention Workbook