# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_2004_S54 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 54 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT From the past, in the present, and into the future comes The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, blessed by God in so many ways, yet significantly challenged by the realities of a rapidly changing world! • Adult confirmations—Pilot Event—Sept. 12–13, 2003— St. John’s, Ellisville, Missouri. Specific Initiatives During the Past Triennium Designed to Address Synodical Decline • Worship attendance—Nov. 14–15, 2003—King of Kings, Omaha, Nebraska. In a concentrated and comprehensive effort to address the 30-year decline in our Synod outlined above, the President’s office has undertaken a number of specific initiatives. Following are summaries of these initiatives. • Mission 21st Century Task Force—Tasked with assessing the reasons for the 30-year decline in LCMS baptized membership and making recommendations to the President of the Synod for reversing that trend. Convention delegates will hear much about this report, which is included in this Convention Workbook. Delegates will be considering specific recommendations of the task force, which will be presented by the floor committee(s) to which this report has been assigned. • Adult confirmations—Feb. 13–14, 2004—Concordia, San Antonio, Texas. • Ablaze!—An endeavor to reach 100 million people around the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Humanly speaking, this is an ambitious goal, initiated by and under the supervision of LCMS World Mission. It can be accomplished only by God’s Spirit, working in the hearts, lives, and lips of the pastors, educators, and people of the LCMS in a partnership of congregations, Districts, boards, commissions, agencies, institutions, auxiliaries, Recognized Service Organizations, and partner churches of the LCMS. • Pentecost 2000+—An effort to begin 1,000 new crosscultural ministries in the LCMS. As of the writing of this report, 906 such ministries have been identified. The face and shape of our country have changed radically in the past few decades, with the emigration to the United States of millions from Africa, Asia, South America, Central America, and other parts of the world. God is bringing the world to our doorstep, presenting a very real and quite challenging opportunity to reach these people from many parts of the world with the precious Gospel of our Lord and Savior. The 2004 LCMS Convention theme is designed to highlight the significance of the Ablaze! endeavor by encouraging congregations and professional church workers to focus on igniting the world with Christ’s love. Great attention will be given to assisting delegates and their congregations to develop an even greater appreciation for the work we are doing together as a Synod in igniting a worldwide mission movement, ONE Mission—Ablaze! • ONE Mission—Ablaze! Igniting Congregations—This significant effort is designed to encourage all LCMS congregations in the accomplishment of the Synod’s mission, “vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world.” Groups of 30 congregations from throughout the Synod, objectively identified on the basis of statistical data in different categories of ministry during the past five years, are invited to send a senior pastor and key lay leader to each event. At congregational or personal expense, they gather on-site at the host congregation, typically one of the leading congregations in the specific ministry category receiving attention at the event. Thanksgiving to God is offered, appreciation and encouragement to congregational leaders are expressed, and ideas, plans, and strategies are shared. With funding provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, special projects designed to encourage congregations throughout the Synod to sharpen their focus in this specific ministry area are initiated by the congregational leaders present, who also pledge to be available to assist other congregations of the Synod in their mission efforts. The information learned from these events is posted on the Web site of The Office of the President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, at www.lcms.org/president. Events have already been held that focus on: 2004 Convention Proceedings • Recruitment and retention of professional church workers—Oct. 24–25, 2003—St. James, Lafayette, Indiana. Future events, with tentative scheduled dates: • Ratio of confirmed members to adult confirmations—Oct. 1–2, 2004. • Rural or small town ministries—Oct. 15–16, 2004. • Cross-cultural ministries—Nov. 12–13, 2004. • Development and expansion of new missions—Feb. 4–5, 2005. • Alternate dates—April 29–30, 2005. • Alternate dates—May 13–14, 2005. • What a Way!—Recruiting and retaining professional church workers in the LCMS in response to the critical need for such leaders for the future of the Synod. The first-year class enrollment at both seminaries for the 2003–2004 academic year is the highest in 30 years! God be praised! Many challenges in this regard face our Synod in the years ahead, with 50 percent of the pastors of the LCMS currently within 10 years of retirement age. • For the Sake of the Church—An initiative begun prior to the beginning of this triennium to raise an endowment of $400 million to support the training of professional church workers and to double the number of LCMS students in our 10 colleges and universities. Recent reports indicate a significant increase in LCMS students at the schools of our Concordia University System. Endowment receipts, pledges, and planned gifts now total more than $100 million in this huge endeavor. God be praised! • Next Generation Task Force—Of the teachers in our LCMS schools, one-third are synodically trained and rostered, one-third are Lutheran but not synodically trained and rostered, and one-third are not Lutheran and, obviously, not synodically trained or rostered. The report of this very important task force, appointed to assist in encouraging and facilitating the theological education of non-LCMS trained teachers in LCMS schools, is included in this Convention Workbook. Delegates will be considering specific recommendations of the task force, which will be presented by the floor committee(s) to which this report has been assigned.