LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 52

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52

SYNOD REPORTS

way for Synod-related entities to “piggy-back” distribution of their
information to a wide audience of leaders throughout the church body.
Reporter Online:

Reporter Online, the Web-based version of Reporter, was redesigned in 2009 to conform to the redesigned LCMS Web site. While
retaining most elements of Reporter Online (such as the “Top Story,”
“New This Week” stories, and story sections such as “Events” and
“Resources”), the new design brought several improvements to the
online newspaper, including
• larger type for improved readability;
• a “site tools” box, making it easier for visitors to customize type
size, e-mail, and print stories;
• more prominent and accessible top news stories and search
functions; and
• Reporter Online continues to offer more news and full-color
photos than the monthly print Reporter and is the Synod’s
most complete source of news relating to our church body. The
online newspaper carries from 25 to 40 stories at any given
time, with five to eight new stories added each week (currently,
on Wednesday afternoons). All stories that have appeared on
the Web site since its 2003 debut are archived on the site and
may be easily located by typing a related word or phrase into
the “Search Reporter” box.
During January 2010, 10,135 people visited the Web site, an
increase of 463 people, or 5 percent, over November 2009. Those
visitors—from 111 countries or territories—viewed a total of more
than 42,000 Reporter Online pages.
For Reporter Online, go to www.lcms.org/reporter.
LCMSNews:

In May 2008, LCMSNews, our department’s e-mail news service,
began sending weekly “New on Reporter Online” dispatches to alert
subscribers to newly posted stories. Each release includes a “hyperlink” to Reporter Online that readers may “click” to take them to the
online newspaper.
LCMSNews was further refined in September 2008 when the
service also began providing each week the “top” news story from
Reporter Online in its entirety and again, in September 2009, when
each “New on Reporter Online” e-mail began including hyperlinks
for each new story as well.
In 2009, 111 LCMSNews releases were e-mailed to more than
12,900 subscribers—the largest number of subscribers for any of the
Synod’s 45 e-newsletters.
Editorial Services:

The two-person staff of Editorial Services, a unit of the BCS’s
News & Information Services division, strives to help departments
and commissions of the Synod prepare and disseminate their messages to professional church workers, districts, congregations, and
lay members of the LCMS, as well as to nonmembers of the LCMS.
The staff works one-on-one with colleagues in District and
Congregational Services (including Youth Ministry, NLSA, School
Ministry, Stewardship, Family Ministry and Children’s Ministry),
Concordia University System, Human Resources, KFUO Radio,
Pastoral Education, Black Ministry, Ministerial Growth and Support,
General Services, Missions, Worship, Higher Education, Board of
Directors, Executive Offices, Accounting, and Lutheran Church
Extension Fund in various capacities to design and produce print
pieces and Web publications.
The work can basically be broken down into these areas:

• Editing and proofreading existing work
• Incorporating provided text and photographs into new print or
Web pieces (including ads, brochures, booklets, newsletters,
Reporter inserts, school mailings, others)
• Obtaining bids from various vendors to find the most cost-effective method to print
• Supervising and coordinating actual print production and/or dissemination of the completed print pieces or Web placements
This work requires knowledge of the Synod itself, computer
design programs, International Center print procedures and requirements, mailing standards, print specifications, and local printing
companies. It also calls for considerable computer design capabilities. In concert with other staff throughout the International Center,
Editorial Services produces about 250 projects each year.
In sum, this unit networks with other entities of the Synod, helping them tell their stories and share their messages as they respond
to the needs of congregations, professional church workers, districts,
circuits, mission areas, and others.
Public Affairs & Media Relations:

In its ongoing work to promote the missions, ministries, and positions of the Synod to the public, this arm of the BCS serves across
the LCMS, assisting boards, commissions, districts, congregations,
schools, auxiliaries, and inter-Lutheran agencies.
Key accomplishments over the past triennium have been to
strengthen relationships with members of the secular and Christian
media, increase the number of media placements, provide crisis consulting in light of some seriously negative news stories, and assist
a number of LCMS ministries with major marketing campaigns.
The Public Affairs arm also has been instrumental in the launch
of official LCMS social-media sites, including Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube accounts. As of this writing, we count some 13,000
Facebook “friends” and 1,300 Twitter “followers.”
News clippings have increased from 170 in 2007 to more than
500 in 2009, with placements appearing in such major publications as
Christianity Today, Readers Digest, USA Today, Wall Street Journal,
Washington Times, Chicago Tribune, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
Washington Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch, and a multitude of other
publications and broadcast outlets.
Public Affairs has worked with the Synod President and a number of LCMS ministries headquartered at the International Center on
such projects as
• raising awareness of the Ablaze! movement and Fan into Flame
campaign.
• directing the launch of a major fundraising initiative—The
Themba Girls with The Erin Bode Group CD—for LCMS
World Relief and Human Care in 2007.
• advancing the LCMS position relative to the protection of traditional marriage during the 2008 election campaign.
• promoting the church’s participation in the annual March for
Life events in Washington, D.C.,—including the first-time
involvement of an LCMS sitting president in the pre-march
rally in 2008.
• orchestrating the opening of the IC-based Concordia Historical
Institute Museum in 2009.
• assisting the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and
Governance in communicating the process of its work during
its four-year tenure.
This listing represents but a “tip of the iceberg” sampling of such
projects.

2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 52

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