# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2013_S11 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) SYNOD REPORTS 11 Wittenberg Project Our Great Demographic Challenge The Wittenberg Project is on track. A business plan has been enthusiastically accepted by LCEF. It is strong and carefully crafted. We know that the effort will be self-supporting once we restore the Old Latin School, located not 25 yards away from Luther’s church in Wittenberg, Germany. As this report is made, we have $1.3 million given or pledged. We will need gifts/pledges (three- to five-year commitments) nearing $3 million to begin construction next January. This project is significant for several reasons: The Missouri Synod has continued its 40-year numerical decline. I recommend that all of us study “‘Nones’ on the Rise: One-inFive Adults Have No Religious Affiliation,” by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. [http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/ Topics/ Religious_Affiliation/Unaffiliated/NonesOnTheRise-full. pdf] The Pew study documents the steady and quickening decline of mainline Christianity and also evangelicalism (the LCMS is somewhere in between). Thirty years ago, we had some 220,000 high school youth in the LCMS. Today, we have just less than half that number. The Pew study demonstrates that religious decline in America is concentrated particularly in demographic categories heavily represented by the LCMS. Anglo-Americans are having fewer children. People are waiting longer to get married. The study notes that among the WWII generation, only 1 in 16 Americans was not affiliated with a church. Today, the number is 1 in 5! And worse still, of those under age 30, one in three is unaffiliated; 90 percent of the unaffiliated have no interest in religious affiliation and are not seeking a church; 75 percent of the unaffiliated are opposed to the moral values on sexuality and marriage given by the Bible. Several thoughts come to mind: 1. 2. 3. We will establish a stronger conservative Lutheran presence in the place where the Reformation was born and to which the whole Lutheran world still looks. This presence is vital as more and more Lutheran churches worldwide seek to partner with the LCMS. The educational and edifying programs offered will be a great blessing to thousands of LCMS students, pastors, and teachers, laypeople, members of our German partner church (SELK), and many others all over the world. The following paragraphs are taking from the business plan. If you have questions, visit www.thewittenbergproject.org; or email David.Mahsman@lcms.org. If you would like information on building- and room-naming rights, contact Mark.Hofman@lcms.org. Let’s get this done now! • The Wittenberg Project is being developed by the International Lutheran Society of Wittenberg (ILSW), a German nonprofit corporation established in 2007 and owned by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Concordia Publishing House, and Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK). The ILSW also is a recognized service organization of the LCMS. • The Wittenberg Project will offer a diverse menu of academic and non-academic options that will appeal to the needs and interests of a wide variety of people. The range of options will run from youth servant events to college and seminary courses (partnering with the CUS schools and two seminaries), to continuing education for church workers, to learning opportunities and pilgrimages for laypeople, to elder hostels, and the like. • Our ministry center (the International Lutheran Welcome Center) will be located in the renovated Old Latin School, a building that originally was dedicated in 1564 and is located in the heart of Wittenberg’s historic old town. There we will provide inexpensive group-friendly accommodations (which will include lodging) and the opportunity to learn, reflect, and/or study in a historic environment. In addition to being the venue for presenting our programs, this facility also will be available to other church-related groups, including LCMS and SELK schools, seminaries, and congregations, for use in presenting their own study programs, retreats, and conferences. • The mission of the Wittenberg Project is to increase among those who participate in its programs knowledge of and appreciation for God’s blessings through the Reformation of the 16th century. In so doing, it will seek to strengthen the faith of Christians and to introduce the Christian faith to non-Christians. The project will develop a presence in Lutherstadt Wittenberg that will attract students and visitors, promote confessional-Lutheran theology, and open doors to witness and mercy work in the community and surrounding area. • Wittenberg, Germany, is the very place God chose for restoring the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Church and to the world. This is the place where He raised up reformers, most notably Dr. Martin Luther, who would boldly proclaim the truth of His Word even in the face of powerful opponents and the threat of death. • Our mission will be accomplished through a Christian education and outreach center in Wittenberg that will be located in the town’s Old Latin School (Alte Lateinschule). Sometimes also known locally as the “Altes Gymnasium,” the Old Latin School is a historic building dedicated in 1564 and located just steps from St. Mary’s Church (the Stadtkirche, or Town Church), the “mother church of the Reformation.” 1. 2. 3. The “fields are ripe for the harvest.” In a day and age when many denominations have lost their evangelical way, we have a message, a strong saving message of Christ. The demographics are tough and getting tougher. But the demographics looked much worse about the time Paul was converted! And we have growing opportunities and successes by the grace of God among immigrant communities, where the demographics often are quite different. Of the “unaffiliated,” fully 25 percent have conservative values with respect to sexuality and marriage. And 10 percent are looking for a church! There is plenty of room for us to work! The Gospel is the “power of God unto salvation,” even in the rockiest soil! We are baptized for Witness, for Mercy, and for Life Together. Kingdom of the Left Issues Many of you saw my testimony on Capitol Hill regarding the Health and Human Services contraceptives mandate (http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=527spTZiwBU). We viewed the mandate as a violation of religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The LCMS also won a Supreme Court case (Hosanna-Tabor v. The EEOC: http://www.supremecourt.gov/ opinions/11pdf/10-553.pdf). We are also struggling in many places with existing or impending legislation on sexuality and its effects on Lutheran adoption agencies, congregations, and so on. The IRS has increased its questioning of “ministerial exception” regarding our school teachers. I do not believe the tide of secularization in America will be turned back; however, as traditional Christians, we do need to have an aggressive “defense” against infringement on our First Amendment rights. To that end we are now pursuing a small but effective office in Washington DC, where we can partner with others (Alliance Defense Fund; Becket Fund; other like-minded church bodies, etc.) when appropriate, on issues the LCMS has clearly established positions. And we can make known those positions to our legislators. We will be nonpartisan. We will not produce voter lists or guides. We have appended a statement that we sponsored (see Appendix III of this Convention Workbook). Stay tuned. Compassionate Action for Those Struggling with Same-Sex Attraction It has become increasingly difficult to stand and oppose the advance of the homosexual agenda when I am well aware of the fact 2013 Convention Workbook