LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2010, Page 138

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

138

SYNOD REPORTS

along with two SYNOD REPORTS projects. By God’s grace, by
the end of September of this past year, the Lord’s people contributed over $504,000! In addition, LCMS World Relief and SYNOD
REPORTS matched these gifts dollar-for-dollar. The essayists for
the 2009 District Convention included Bishop David Tswaedi of the
Lutheran Church in Southern Africa and Dr. Wilhelm Weber, Rector
of Lutheran Theological Seminary.
The district convention voted to continue raising funds into the
coming triennium, dividing the contributions between international
and national missions. Ministries to be funded are the seminary in
South Africa and the Lutheran Hispanic Mission­­ary Institute (which
trains of Hispanic men and women to be missionaries to their fellow
Hispanics). A Church Planting Fund will also be set up for outreach
within the district.
Igniting Church and Culture for Christ! remains the district’s mission theme, focusing on God Himself to enliven His Church by the
Word—as a fire—to keep penetrating the culture for Christ with the
enlivening words of Christ. Even though the district has five critical targets, its focus has narrowed to two: (1) new ministries and (2)
healthier ministries. Essential for the triune God’s mission are new
mission outposts of Word and Sacrament ministry as well as established churches made up of pastors and laity who live repentantly
beneath the Lord’s compelling grace.
Present and ongoing challenges for His people in the Rocky
Mountain District include:
• remaining a broken people fully restored and absolutely
sturdy in the Lord’s favor;
• having eyes to see the harvest (John 4:35);
• seeing each of the 17 circuits as mission fields where pastors
and laity strategically plan and work for Gospel outreach;
• being fully committed in love to each other (Col. 3:14), realizing that other churches, pastors, and the district are also
important;
• recruiting and training qualified teachers and administrators
for our schools, and qualified, trained directors, teachers, and
aides for our early learning centers;
• strategically addressing the financial decline of the whole
church while believing that the Word and the Sacraments
ever remain the church’s greatest treasure;
• deeply valuing and loving the confessional fellowship of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and working together with the other 34 districts, its seminaries, and its colleges and universities for the preservation and proclamation
of the Lord’s pure doctrine to the world; and
• engaging unbelievers in their places of vocation and on
their own turf because they are completely incapacitated by
original sin and therefore damned eternally without faith in
Christ.
A quotation from Luther’s commentary on 1 Peter exemplifies
by God’s grace the purpose and urgency of the work of the Rocky
Mountain District:
We have no other reason for living on earth than to be of help to others. If this were not the case, it would be best for God to kill us and let
us die as soon as we are baptized and have begun to believe. But He permits us to live here in order that we may bring others to faith, just as He
has brought us. (LW 30:11)

Solely to the glory of God!
Randall L. Golter, President

R7-02-28

SELC District
“The Changeless Christ … for a Changing World!” was the theme
of the 2009 SELC district convention. The need for the changeless
Christ is evident to all who are already believers; and believers know
that the changing world desperately needs the security and the hope
that only the changeless Christ can provide. It is the desire of the
SELC to be faithful to the changeless Christ, and to do whatever we
can to bring Him to the changing world.
Many resist changing anything, because, for the most part,
change is uncomfortable. One of the most difficult things to change
is “assumptions.” The SELC has not had the word Slovak in our name
since 1950, but we are still called the “Slovak District.” Most of our
congregations have as little to do with Slovak as any other LCMS
congregation has to do with German.
Among the assumption statements of the Blue Ribbon Task Force
on Synod Structure and Governance PowerPoint presentation to all
the LCMS district conventions (including the SELC) was:
“Number 11: Consider Future District Configuration. Current
Problem or Deficiency: Districts without ‘critical mass ’ or geographical proximity (in the case of non-geographic districts) lack the resources
to provide congregations with the most effective and efficient support.”

For the first 70 years of our existence, the SELC was a separately incorporated synod, and an equal partner with the LCMS in
the Synodical Conference (during its existence); and now in 2010,
the SELC celebrates 108 years of continuing ministry, serving the
needs of our congregations while not owning or renting a building
or office, having no full-time employees or staff, and not paying any
full salaries or benefits. All clergy officers continue to serve as parish
pastors, and all lay officers are volunteers. The year 2010 also marks
the 83rd anniversary of the continuing SELC District youth organization known as the Luther League, annually sponsoring both circuit
gatherings and district conventions, with all officers being elected by
the youth in convention. The SELC also oversees a Lutheran independent living retirement, assisted living, and nursing home facility
known as the Lutheran Haven in Oviedo, Florida, established in 1948.
How is the “critical mass” of the SELC deficient?
Look also at the 2008 statistics from the 2010 Lutheran Annual:
The SELC ranked #1 out of all 35 districts in percentage of growth. It
ranked #8 (note the numbering is printed in reverse order) for “average in per confirmed member” giving to the Synod. The SELC, the
“smallest” of the LCMS districts, provided more undesignated dollars
to the Synod than the Atlantic, New England, New Jersey, Eastern,
Southern, Montana, and the Wyoming Districts. Plus, the SELC annually provides separate undesignated support to both seminaries in the
amount of 10% of our committed pledge to the Synod. In the recent
alumni fund-raiser by Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, the SELC was
#1 in percentage of alumni who provided support gifts or pledges.
The SELC District fosters cooperation and mutual respect among
our professional church workers and our congregations. We encourage and are dedicated to reaching out with the Law and the Gospel to
be used by our Lord to reach the lost. The SELC continues to stand
for “Showing Everyone Life in Christ by Showing Everyone the
Love of Christ!”
Carl H. Krueger, President

2010 Convention Workbook

2010 Convention.indb 138

4/15/10 2:39 PM