# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S161
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
that Zion now has a new parsonage and church building, dedicated in August 2017. The South Dakota District and the Zion
congregation gratefully acknowledge the many gifts received for
re-building from LCMS members throughout the United States,
through the efforts of LCMS Disaster Response.
The South Dakota District, in our new triennium (2018–
2021), is operating under the theme “Behold Your God! What
Help! What Hope!” This district convention and triennium mission theme was inspired by Isaiah 40:9, where the prophet implores the people of Judah to urge their neighbors to behold
God and all He wants to do for them as the all-holy, almighty,
and all-gracious Lord of creation and the One who would redeem them by the Suffering Servant He would provide (Isaiah
52–53).
We, the people of God of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, who live in South Dakota, who have experienced
our Lord’s help in countless ways, understand that we have
countless opportunities to witness to those around us: “Behold
your God! Know that He has an immeasurable supply of grace
for you in Jesus Christ.” But such witness is a challenge in this
sin-filled, broken world.
Moreover, we South Dakotans face the same demographic
challenges you likely face in your part of the country. Rural
towns and churches, for the most part, are getting smaller and
older. Even in places of population growth, like Sioux Falls and
Rapid City, church membership and worship attendance have
plateaued. LCMS folks are moving to these cities, but many are
choosing to worship in other churches, or not at all. In other
places in the state, big and small, our church members are moving away, or, if they stay, they are less frequent in their worship
attendance. About a generation ago, in 1994, the average congregation in the South Dakota District had 302 baptized and
231 confirmed members; 115 souls were in worship. At the end
of 2017, the 107 LCMS congregations in the district had an average baptized membership of 268, an average confirmed membership of 208, and an average weekend worship attendance of
83. Over the twenty-three years from 1994 to 2017, while the
number of souls in our congregations declined by 11 percent,
worship attendance declined by 28 percent. It’s no wonder that
71 of our 107 congregations are in dual and triple-point parish
arrangements in order to keep their doors open and support a
pastor. As an example, in 2017, three congregations in the district, which had stood alone for an average of 104 years each,
made the decision to partner with other churches in response to
having fewer members and lower worship attendance and offerings for the Lord’s work.
If this decline is true for many of our district congregations, it should not surprise us that demographic studies reveal
that a large number of the people in the rural areas and cities of
South Dakota today are not connected to a church. How many
of these folks don’t know or trust the help and hope given by
the Savior? Only God knows! And He calls us to be the “salt of
the earth” and the “light of the world” (cf. Matthew 5:13–14).
Praise God that He uses individual Christians as “salt” and
“light” in their various vocations to draw people to Himself!
God wants to use congregations and circuits and a church district too. And so the South Dakota District is partnering with
the Center for U.S. Missions, so that we are guided in planning
for mission plants or other outreach ministries in Belle Fourche
and Sioux Falls in the very near future.

161

Finally, a word about how our district has carried out
some of the directives of the 2016 LCMS convention. 2016 Res.
4-04A, which encourages a retention of a “common order for
the Lord’s Supper,” has been a point of discussion in one of our
circuit visitors’ meetings and a part of my district president’s
report to the fall pastors’ conference in 2016. I can report that
we in South Dakota enjoy great unity in using the traditional
liturgies of the Church, while allowing for appropriate expressions of freedom in the Lord’s Supper liturgy and other aspects
of worship. Regarding 2016 Res. 12-02A, concerning calling
church workers on candidate status, I have often included such
pastors on appropriate call lists and have made the availability of candidate status workers in South Dakota known to the
other district presidents. And regarding 2016 Res. 8-01A, which
concerns encouraging and strengthening a “Lutheran ethos” in
Lutheran schools—this is something our school administrators
and boards of education have diligently sought to do. I would
cite the successful efforts to have several of our teachers go
through the colloquy process in the past triennium as an example of our commitment to maintaining a Lutheran ethos in
our schools.
Your brothers and sisters in Christ in the South Dakota
District count it an honor and a tremendous blessing to walk
together with you in joyful service to our gracious God.
Scott C. Sailer, President

R50

South Wisconsin District
Under the tagline of “Confessing Christ for the Next Generation,” the South Wisconsin District has been blessed over the
past three years. We have a gracious and generous God who has
poured out His blessing upon us. What follows is the report of
the SWD president to the 2018 district convention.
As Lutheran Christians our vocation is to confess Christ,
confessing salvation by grace through His name in this generation, doing so we are also ...

“Confessing Christ for the next generation”
That phrase has become our strategic direction for the past
several years. Wherever I go, I share it, along with the four priorities.
1.

This is our time to be distinctly Lutheran,

2.

This is our time to honor our vocation as the people
of God,

3.

This is our time to embrace our communities, and

4.

This is our time to plant new congregations and
schools.

1. This is our time to be distinctly Lutheran.
What does this mean? That is the penultimate Lutheran
question and it has a distinctly Lutheran answer. An answer
from someone no less than Martin Luther himself. In his book
Church and Ministry, C. F. W. Walther quotes these words from
the Reformer on being Lutheran:
So you must say: “Luther may be a scoundrel or
a saint, for that I do not care; yet the doctrine
2019 Convention Workbook