# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S90 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 90 OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS als, and presentations to LCMS entities, districts, and congregations. Yes, financial challenges facing our beloved Synod still persist; but it is with a joyful heart that we continue to serve God and our neighbors throughout the world as the Good News of salvation through Jesus the Christ is proclaimed. Let us join together, with joy, to thank our God for allowing us to bear witness to His love for all mankind, throughout the world. Let us lift up, before the throne of grace, our beloved district and Synod officers and workers, giving thanks, with great joy, that we are not alone in this task. I am “Joy:fully Lutheran,” and I joyfully thank God for His children, my partners in the spreading of the Gospel, who report administratively to me. They are competent and dedicated employees whose support for Synod operations is vital. May our work together be a blessing to those whom we serve, and bring glory and honor to our triune God. Jerald C. Wulf, Chief Financial Officer R7 Board for National Mission Greetings from your Board for National Mission as it seeks to support and encourage the congregations and schools of the LCMS through their districts to remain “Joy:fully Lutheran” in their mission and ministry. According to the LCMS Handbook, the Board for National Mission (the BNM) is charged with “developing and determining policies for the coordination of and in support of district ministries which support congregations and schools (Bylaw 1.2.1 [m]). These policies shall embrace and apply the mission and ministry emphases adopted by the national convention” (Bylaw 3.8.2). In response to this directive, the BNM has spent this past triennium reworking entirely the policies which give direction to the Office of National Mission as it seeks to carry out its responsibilities for the various domestic ministries that serve congregations and schools through the districts of the Synod (see Bylaw 3.8.2.3). The Board has organized its policies under the seven “Mission Priorities” (six originally adopted by the Synod in her 2013 convention [Res. 3-06A] and reaffirmed at the 2016 convention and a seventh established at the 2016 convention [Res. 4-02A]). These mission priorities include: •• Plant, 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 2019 Convention Workbook Besides developing and determining policies to guide the Office of National Mission in carrying out its mission responsibilities, the Handbook further charges the BNM to “have oversight of the implementation of policies adopted by the board and implemented by the Office of National Mission . . .” (Bylaw 3.8.2.1). Therefore, as part of its monitoring responsibility, the BNM, at its regularly scheduled board meetings, hears verbal reports from the various program directors and solicits suggestions from the directors for policy improvement. These programs include black ministry, campus ministry, church planting and revitalization, Hispanic ministry, national missionaries, recognized service organizations, rural and small-town mission, stewardship, urban and inner-city mission, witness and outreach, youth and adults. The board also continues to set aside time for theological presentations that the board believes are necessary to keep itself focused on the mission of the Church. The theological presentations the board heard since the last report included presentations by Rev. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, Exec. Dir., LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations; Dr. Daniel Harmelink, Exec. Dir., Concordia Historical Institute; Rev. Micah Glenn, LCMS Domestic Missionary; and Rev. Michael Meyer, LCMS Disaster Response Manager. The BNM was authorized at the 2013 convention (Res. 2-05B) in Saint Louis to “serve as a calling agency for institutional and agency chaplains and other non-foreign specialized ministers . . .” (Bylaw 3.8.2). As such, the BNM has called three Specialized Pastoral Ministers, providing a Divine Call into their ministry so that they might serve the Church with the confidence that they are doing so in accord with the Lutheran Church’s confessional commitment that “no one shall publicly preach or teach without a regular call” (Augsburg Confession XIV). The board was surprised and saddened by the resignation of the Rev. Bart Day from the Office of National Mission as he moved into a new area of service with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Rev. Day provided critical direction and leadership as the BNM wrestled with adapting to the new structure adopted by Synod in 2010. The board thanks God for Rev. Day’s humble service and believes God will continue to use Rev. Day in service to His Church. God always provides faithful workers for His Church, and He has done so once again in giving the Office of National Mission a new executive, the Rev. Robert Zagore. Pr. Zagore has served in the parish ministry since his ordination in 1990 and, like Rev. Day, brings a pastoral heart to the Office of National Ministry. He was installed as the ONM executive director on May 30, 2018, and has proven to be a gift to the BNM as he provides a calm and pastoral heart to the board’s work in developing the policies so critical to the national mission and ministry of the LCMS. The board would also like to express once again its deep appreciation for the guidance provided by the Rev. Kevin Robson, the Chief Mission Officer of the LCMS. Besides his pastoral experience, Rev. Robson’s experience in the business community prior to his seminary training has proven invaluable to the board’s work in developing policies for the Office of National Mission. I must also express the board’s deep appreciation for the humble service of many staff personnel such as Ms. Jeannie Smithson and Ms. Barb Below who regularly attend our board meetings and devote countless hours working behind the scenes, so to speak, helping prepare the board’s agenda and keeping the board on track.