LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 103

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SYNOD REPORTS
in dealing with ELCA leadership, whom I have personally heard
confess that there is salvation outside of faith in Christ. The decisions on homosexuality are symptomatic of a fundamental difference
with them on what the Bible is and what the Gospel is. It has been
supremely challenging to kindly but firmly insist on respect for the
LCMS’s biblical positions, and to do as little damage as possible to
agencies that serve so many with mercy. That said, the status quo with
the ELCA cannot hold.
It has been a hard road too, guiding LCMS World Relief and
Human Care through the complexities of a Synod bureaucracy that
is severely strapped for cash. Through many hard decisions, especially over the past year and a half of economic downturn, we have
been able to operate well in the black, and our financial position as
of March 2009 is, frankly, outstanding. Some time ago the LCMS
President’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Funding the Mission recommended that perhaps LCMS World Relief and Human Care become
a synodwide corporation (like CPH, or the LCMS Foundation or
LCEF) because we are “fully funded” by donors. Some twenty years
ago, the Seventh Day Adventists (a church body smaller than the
LCMS) did this with its mercy arm, which became the “Adventist
Development and Relief Agency” (www.ADRA.org ). ADRA has
grown from revenues similar to LCMS World Relief and Human Care
($10–20 million per year) to $170,000,000, and has vastly increased
the impact and influence of that church body worldwide. We should
do the same with LCMS World Relief and Human Care. We could
vastly increase the work of mercy worldwide and benefit millions.
“Could we have the vision and foresight to do the same? Because of
constant overspending and weakening revenues, the Synod headquarters is deeply dependent on donations to LCMS World Relief and
Human Care for operating cash (from $5–15 million dollars at any
given time over the past triennium). The financial crisis of the Synod
can be quickly addressed. As every businessperson, every farmer (and
even the occasional person in government) knows, expenditures must
not exceed revenues.
For whatever the strengths and weaknesses of the LCMS board
system, thus far the Board for Human Care in the present system of
bylaws has formed a reasonable firewall in the face of a Synod headquarters starving for cash and constantly (understandably!) looking
for ways to ease its condition. I believe the proposed elimination of
our board will erode that firewall further, and decisions about funds
given by donors for mercy will increasingly be made in view of the
Synod’s financial crisis and less in view of the need of people in trouble. (On stewardship and God’s priorities for mercy, see 2 Corinthians
8–9.)
In any case, I am at peace. Our board and staff have given everything they have, even risking their own lives and well-being at times,
for the advance of mercy in the name of Jesus all over the world. The
following report is but a small snapshot of the work done. I am humbled and honored to have had this opportunity to work with such
fabulous staff, to be so humbled by the generosity of so many thousands upon thousands of donors, to be able to mine the depths of
the Scriptures on mercy, and to have had this message resonate so
profoundly all over the Synod and the world. And I am, finally, profoundly optimistic. The Lord has blessed this work so abundantly
through so many difficult times when the road ahead seemed impossible, and He will continue to do so—but always in his way—under
the cross. “Be ye merciful, as your father in heaven is merciful.”
With profound thankfulness, I remain convinced that mercy—the
mercy of Christ to and for us—and our demonstration of that mercy
to those within and outside the Body of Christ is the key to the future

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of the Church. Mercy is the key to mission and stewardship. It is the
key to living our Christian lives together in love and forgiveness. We
desperately need to learn more deeply of the mercy of Christ so we
may learn how to care for one another in the Church. Mercy is the
key to moving boldly and confidently into the future with courage in
the Gospel—a confidence and courage based on conviction (Christ
Have Mercy: How to Put Your Faith in Action, p. 11).
Matthew C. Harrison
Executive Director
Overture from BHCM to Synod Convention Regarding
BRTFSSG Recommendation 18
Whereas, the LCMS is considering a restructuring of the Synod
and such restructuring has both short- and long-term implications for
ministry, the Board for Human Care Ministries (LCMS World Relief
and Human Care) respectfully requests that careful consideration be
given to the following:
Whereas, in 2010 Haiti experienced an earthquake of overwhelming proportions, and LCMS World Relief and Human Care Ministries
had the expertise, ground resources, and contacts to respond by providing some of the first Mercy Medical Teams to meet the needs of
the Haitians; LCMS World Relief and Human Care was among the
first relief organizations on the ground with a network of volunteer
medical and pastoral personnel. Will the restructuring plan improve
the Synod’s ability to initiate and nurture a sustainable network on
the ground in the United States and around the world that can be as
responsive to an earthquake, tsunami, flood, or hurricane as the current structure has allowed? and
Whereas, a significant portion of the work of LCMS World
Relief and Human Care involves domestic grants to churches, pastors, church workers, and RSOs that experience significant human
care needs, and responding to these needs requires experience and
resources; will the restructuring plan improve the Synod’s ability to
attract, maintain, and foster the expertise and resources that have been
developed over past several years? and
Whereas, domestically the inter-Lutheran collaboration known
as Lutheran Services in America provides nearly $16 billion of service to communities and individuals, with the assistance of leadership
from the LCMS provided to this network; and
Whereas, LCMS recognized service organizations depend upon
this human care network to improve quality and maintain and provide
advocacy and care for the most vulnerable citizens in America; will
the restructuring plan improve the Synod’s ability to strengthen, oversee, encourage, and advance this network and thereby serve increased
needs as an expression of God’s love in Christ? and
Whereas, in a rapidly shrinking world, where global interaction is
increasingly common, long-standing values and cultural perspectives
are being challenged and eroded; LCMS World Relief and Human
Care has been at the forefront of discussions of and advocacy for
life issues; will the restructuring improve the Synod’s ability to lead,
speak and partner in such a way that God’s plan for humankind is
advanced and He is honored? and
Whereas, Human Care Ministries has met external benchmarks
established by the Better Business Bureau, regarding administrative and fund-raising costs, and the best possible rating according
to Charity Navigator for combined administrative/communication
expenses; will the restructuring improve the Synod’s ability to meet
these external benchmarks? and
Whereas, Disaster work, human care, Mercy Medical Teams, Life
Ministries, and many other ministries of mercy are global and interconnected national and international efforts, does splitting whatever
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