LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 137

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SYNOD REPORTS
and an enlarged high school outreach program to help our youth learn
how to share the Gospel with their peers.
The Holy Spirit continues to work dynamically within and through
the 82 congregations of the Oklahoma District. Equipped with the
effectual Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, many new
people groups are being touched with Christ’s grace. In the panhandle of western Oklahoma, new outreach has occurred among the
Burmese Karen people, and Camp Lutherhaven is being refined for
greater outdoor ministry. In central Oklahoma, Hispanic ministry
continues to grow and flourish, and an Islamic outreach pastor is in
place for one-on-one witnessing in the Oklahoma City area. In eastern Oklahoma, doors are miraculously opening as outreach continues
among Hispanics and in a new ministry among the Hmong people.
Camp Lutherhoma is in the process of a major building expansion
and is continuing to reach out to hundreds of youth and adults. New
preaching stations are being developed throughout the district, with
some serving as satellite sites for well-established congregations. And
in southeastern Oklahoma, a prison ministry continues to bring blessings to the Oklahoma State Prison at McAlester.
Even in these economically trying times, the saints of the
Oklahoma District continue to give generously of the resources
entrusted to them by God. We thank God that He has counted us
worthy to serve Him through our place in The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod.
Barrie E. Henke, President
R7-02-26

Pacific Southwest District
The Pacific Southwest District (PSW) is comprised of 310 congregations and 205 schools in southern California, Arizona, and southern
Nevada. Established at our district convention, June, 28–30, 2009,
the PSW three-year theme is “Inviting Conversations—Empowering
Words” based on John 17:20 and John 4:29. In John 17, Jesus prays
for His followers, in verse 20 praying, “My prayer is not for them
alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message.” It is in our conversations with those who do not believe that the
Holy Spirit comes with power to create faith. As we share the hope
that is within us with those who do not know Christ, we “invite” them,
empowered by the Holy Spirit, to meet Jesus.
The second “inviting conversation” comes from a Samaritan
woman who meets Jesus at the well in John 4. After her conversation with Jesus, she runs to those who have abandoned her with the
invitation, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?” (v. 29). Even before she is confident of
who Jesus is, she invites others to come and meet Him. And they,
too, came to believe in Him.
In the PSW, 70 of our 310 congregations have at least one worship
service in a language other than English. With 278 first languages spoken in the Los Angeles Unified School District and throughout our
district, we live in a culturally diverse corner of God’s kingdom. Our
Culture Specific Ministry Counsel brings together representatives
of the major culture-specific ministries to discuss church planting,
lay leadership training, and common challenges faced by these missions. Through “Planting Churches Across Cultures,” congregations
in changing communities are trained in how to welcome people of
different cultures and languages and how to share space and time in
their facilities for the good of the kingdom.
Participation in Fan into Flame began in the PSW during 2008.
The first major gift designated for planting new cross-cultural

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ministries made possible a new Chinese ministry and outreach to
Mixteca-speaking people from central Mexico. This latter group of
people do not speak Spanish and have never had the Scriptures translated into their language. Current outreach is possible in Santa Paula,
north of Los Angeles, because of this Fan into Flame gift.
Through Frontera, a partnership with the Rocky Mountain and
Texas Districts, church planters and lay leaders along the Mexican
border are being identified and trained to plant new churches north
and south of the border. This ministry continues to expand as God
provides the workers.
The PSW continues to be blessed through its Lay Training
Program where men and women are being equipped to serve their
congregations and beyond. Currently approximately 180 men and
women have been licensed as deacons or certified as parish ministry assistants.
The two Ablaze! priorities for the current triennium are “Planting
New Churches” and the revitalization of existing congregations
through the Transforming Churches Network (TCN) and “Cures and
Connections,” designed for smaller churches. We currently have 34
“Covenant Congregations” committed to plant a new ministry in the
next five years, on our way to our goal of 50. We have our first six
congregations involved in the TCN process, with five more to begin
in the spring of 2010, on our way to our goal of 100.
With over 200 preschools, elementary schools, and high schools,
we seek to support these schools in the midst of some very challenging
economic times. Through the “Grantparent Program,” scholarships
are provided to support students in some of our urban schools. The
schools in Arizona are blessed with a state tuition tax credit which
enables more individuals to support the work of our schools.
In our district’s report to the 2007 convention, we were able to
report that several of the fastest growing counties in the nation were
located in the PSW. Those same counties are now some of those hardest hit by the economic recession, placing significant challenges on
the ministry of our churches and schools. As in other parts of the
Synod, the PSW seeks to be good stewards who are faithful in mission with declining resources.
The PSW is blessed with a close partnership with Lutheran Church
Extension Fund and we are grateful for its support. While in these difficult economic times we have seen churches and schools challenged
with increased debt and decreased income, we are grateful for the support of LCEF in working with them.
The PSW mission statement is “effectively [to] resource congregations and schools to fulfill the Great Commission.” As we enter
the second decade of the twenty-first century, we seek to implement
our Ablaze! goals with passion for those who do not know Jesus as
their personal Savior.
Larry Stoterau, President
R7-02-27

Rocky Mountain District
The Rocky Mountain District—with its 185 congregations and
more than 2,000 students in its Lutheran schools—is privileged to be
the Lord’s mouth, hands, and feet to broadcast His saving Word far
and wide. The district, which includes the states of Colorado, Utah,
and New Mexico, also has parishes in El Paso, Texas; Paige, Arizona;
and Venango and Big Springs, Nebraska.
A significant milestone reached at the 2009 district convention
was the culmination of a three-year effort to raise $500,000 for the
Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa,
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