LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 123

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SYNOD REPORTS
Even though our district staff has been reduced in size and our
budget decreased for 2010–2011, our pastors, teachers, lay leaders,
and congregations together with district staff are figuring out effective
ways to proclaim Jesus Christ in our U.S. and Canadian communities and expand the mission.
The English District has replaced some district communications
with an improved Web site, a new missions quarterly, bulletin mission-story inserts, and our “Servant-to-Servant” and Parish E-Note
communiqués. The English Channels monthly continues to tell mission and ministry stories. We share a unique diagram called “The
Church’s Life, Mission, and Ministry” in Bible classes, congregational assemblies, and pastoral conferences, helping congregations
and schools centered on the Lord Jesus Christ to address the foci of
worship (leitourgia), witness (martyria), and SYNOD REPORTS and
service (diakonia). We also provide care for our workers through an
exceptionally talented Ministerial Health Commission.
The 53rd District Convention, noted above, was held June 18–20,
2009, under the theme “Let the Children Come to Me.” The district
focused attention and theological reflection on Jesus’ words. At the
convention, children’s choirs sang and youth delegates distributed
317 hand-made quilts from our congregational members to five different Milwaukee area venues (mercy and youth ministry combined!).
Re-elected as English District president was the Rev. Dr. David
Stechholz. The elected Praesidium included: 1st Vice President Roger
Ellis of Sarnia, ON; 2nd Vice President Wayne Morton of Pinetop,
AZ; 3rd Vice President Martin Bangert of Muskego, WI; 4th Vice
President Jamison Hardy of McMurray, PA; and District Secretary
Robert Fitzpatrick. The newly-elected district board of directors is a
bit younger—men and women of different backgrounds and ethnicities. They have a collective zeal for leading the lost to Christ.
New to the English District staff is Mrs. Teresa Fairow, Planned
Giving Counselor and Development Director, deployed in Iowa.
Besides Teresa and the undersigned, the executive staff includes
Tim Ewell, Parish Services/School Ministry Executive; Dale Lewis,
LCEF Vice President; Sally Naglich, Business Manager/Treasurer;
and the Rev. David Thiele, Missions Executive/Consultant. The support staff consists of three dedicated Christian women. We are blessed
with local volunteers at our district office. One other uniqueness of
the English District is the use of the words circuit “visitor” (counselor) and the biblical term “bishop” (“overseer”) as a servant of Jesus
Christ along with the title of “president” of the district.
In faithfulness to the Lord of the harvest, we evangelical Lutheran
Christians in the English District, LCMS, pledge to work with our
sister districts in the LCMS and LCC and in volunteer service in 24
countries. We invite you to share our vision and winsomely share the
uplifting joy of confessing Jesus Christ in this second decade of the
twenty-first century.
David P. Stechholz, President
R7-02-06

Florida-Georgia District
“The love of Christ urges us on” (2 Cor. 5:14)—these words set
the tone for our district convention but also serve to guide the mission
and ministry of the people and the congregations of the Florida-Georgia
District.

The Florida-Georgia District experienced tremendous blessings
during the last triennium. It observed its sixtieth anniversary during
the first half of 2008 with a variety of activities. A special anniversary service was prepared for use in each of the congregations in
February near the actual date of the district’s founding convention. (It

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was hard to do it on the actual date, since in 2008 that date was Ash
Wednesday!) More than $320,000 in gifts and pledges were gathered
for the Servants for the Future Endowment Fund, to provide student aid for church work students, to support the Concordia House
of Studies, and for campus ministry. Almost 200 of our professional
church workers contributed to this fund. It is hoped that this endowment fund will continue to grow to provide a steady revenue stream
for this important aspect of the district’s work in providing future
workers for the church.
On the Saturdays and Sundays of the Easter season, convocations
were held in each of the district’s 22 circuits. District staff members were present at each of these gatherings to lead participants in
celebrating God’s blessing on the district’s first 60 years. Circuit leaders provided blueprints and resources for “Following in Faith,” the
anniversary theme, that each circuit’s congregations might expand
their outreach. An inspirational anniversary booklet, “Pioneers of
the Faith,” shared vignettes and mini-biographies of 14 individuals
and couples who had been instrumental in moving the mission forward. The circuit convocations capped a visitation program that had
taken place over the previous four years, when each congregation was
visited by a staff member and then representatives from each congregation met in circuit gatherings to consider how they could work
together, to share resources across congregational lines to strengthen
one another and to collaborate on common endeavors such as planting
new missions. Undergirding the entire effort was the conviction that
the district would be “stronger together” when the individual members and congregations were wound together as a cable with Christ
at its center. Strengthened by partnership in the Gospel, it would find
the needed strength to rise to the missionary opportunities God was
placing before us.
The district convention saw a change in leadership as Gerhard
Michael completed his term as the Florida-Georgia District President,
and Gregory S. Walton was elected to serve. The convention was very
congenial and provided a great opportunity for strengthening unity in
the district and fellowship among delegates.
Sad for the district was the decision of the board of directors
to downsize staff, which included terminating the director for the
Concordia House of Studies due to financial constraints. While the
Concordia House of Studies will continue, the district is in the process of reshaping it to meet the needs for the future. The downturn in
the economy, while challenging, has also sparked many new opportunities, including a guideline for reduction in force and a focus on
re-examining all that we do to find more efficient and effective ways
to do ministry in the name of Jesus Christ. The Florida-Georgia
District also has invested considerable time and energy into the
Transforming Congregations Network. A pilot program was conducted in the Fall of 2008, and we are only now beginning to learn
the result of this. We have trained men and women to serve on consulting teams, and have also done some coaches training. The follow-up
and coaching will become a greater focus in the next few years, as
we involve more congregations in revitalization.
As we look to the future with new leadership, we continue to strive
to encourage “each church [to] be a mission and every member a missionary with all of us working together under the Lordship of Jesus
Christ, empowered by His Gospel to share His love.” We go into the
future holding fast to the words of Jesus, “You did not choose Me,
but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will
last.” (John 15:16)
Gregory S. Walton, President
2010 Convention Workbook

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