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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 19

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
The primary objective of re:Vitality is to meet the large-scale needs
for revitalization in the LCMS (ref. 2013 Res. 3-08A, “To Reaffirm
Faithful Church Revitalization as a Priority of the Office of National
Mission”). According to the latest statistics, approximately 78 percent
of LCMS congregations have reached a plateau or are declining. This
equates to more than 4,500 congregations that need to initiate corrective actions. This large-scale need requires a large-scale solution.
The distributed model used by re:Vitality seeks to provide resources
on the large scale needed. The program employs multiple contact
points for congregations to access revitalization resources (by district
or region), makes use of facilitated workshops for resource delivery
by multiple facilitators, and provides a cadre of certified coaches to
assist with implementation.
Our greatest revitalization need is to develop a culture in which
all congregations recognize that revitalization is part of their ongoing
work no matter which stage of vitality they are currently experiencing. This means that congregations that are healthy and growing
would make use of re:Vitality resources for continued health and
growth. Revitalization from strength rather than from weakness is
fundamental to addressing congregational well-being through a proactive approach.
Delivering re:Vitality Resources
Delivered through video presentation in the various workshops,
the content of the re:Vitality training materials is provided through
subject matter experts in the various topics addressed (see Table 1
below for a list of re:Vitality training modules). The workshops are
scheduled, presented, and followed up by re:Vitality volunteers. Lay
persons, clergy, and professional church workers, active and retired,
serve in the roles of coordinator, facilitator, and coach to deliver
re:Vitality resources to congregations in a systematic and iterative
approach that is focused on action rather than simply on education.
(Figure 1 below demonstrates the re:Vitality process, including the
various roles of re:Vitality volunteers.)

Table 1
re:Vitality Modules
Module
Name

Module Description

Module Objectives/Outcomes

Connect to
Disciple:
Inviting,
Welcoming,
and
Receiving
People from
Outside of
the Church

Connect to Disciple is
based on an outreach
strategy built around
the three-part process
of “Create Connections,
Build Relationships,
Make Disciples.” It
integrates personal
witness with corporate
outreach and makes use
of the Outreach Funnel to
illustrate the importance
of intentional means of
moving people through
the three-part process.

•	Define evangelistic outreach
and identify its unique
characteristics
•	Identify and capture the
congregation’s current
outreach activities
•	Develop working knowledge
of an effective outreach
strategy
•	Select activities that have
the potential for effective
outreach
•	Identify and mitigate
obstacles and gaps in the
Outreach Funnel

Joining in
God’s
Mission:
Strategic
Planning for
the
Congregation

Joining in God’s Mission
is a comprehensive
approach for guiding a
congregation through
the strategic planning
process to identify or
clarify its ministry and
to produce an effective
Strategic Ministry
Plan for the Word and
Sacrament ministry of the
congregation.

•	An effective working
understanding of the strategic
planning process
•	A shared vision of the
congregation’s ministry
•	An executable Strategic
Ministry Plan
•	Consensus on and
commitment to executing the
Strategic Ministry Plan

Shepherding
the Strays:
Actively
Serving
Inactive
Members

Shepherding the
Strays begins with an
examination of the types
of inactive members and
the reasons why people
become inactive. It then
continues by exploring
methods of approaching
and serving inactive
members in order to
determine how best to
re-engage them in Word
and Sacrament ministry.

•	A better understanding of
and greater compassion for
inactive members
•	A greater awareness of the
need to minister to inactive
members
•	A realistic, effective plan
for ministering to inactive
members
•	A sufficient number of
trained, equipped, and
motivated active members
for executing the plan

Members of
One Body:
Engaging
Members
Old and New

Members of One
Body explores the
interrelationship of
all of the members of
the congregation and
how their differing
gifts are each a part
of the congregation’s
overall mission.
From this biblical
foundation, Members
of One Body provides
practical approaches for
identifying giftedness
and incorporating those
gifts into the mission
and ministry of the
congregation.

•	A theologically sound
understanding of giftedness
•	An awareness that God
gathers people into specific
congregations based, in part,
on how He has gifted them
•	A plan for identifying
the gifts of members and
incorporating members into
ministries based on their
giftedness

Figure 1
re:Vitality Process

re:Vitality Modules
The re:Vitality modules are comprised of five components: (1)
video instruction by a subject matter expert; (2) adult learning activities conducted in conjunction with the video instruction in a workshop setting under the guidance of a certified re:Vitality facilitator;
(3) experiential learning activities in an actual or simulated environment; (4) prompted journaling for processing what was learned, what
was experienced, and how to put it in to practice on an ongoing basis;
and (5) strategic coaching.

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2016 Convention Workbook