LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 96

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96

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
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Loving the neighbor … in your school.
Loving the neighbor … among your friends.
Loving the neighbor … at your work.
Loving the neighbor … amid strangers.

The goal of this activity is to build stronger connections between
members of congregations and people who may not know Christ.
While this is an ongoing work for all Christians, the English District
is making it a priority for the next three years.
Visitation is a key component to the English District’s life together.
As a district that spans the nation and across national boundaries,
geography is the biggest obstacle that stands between many of our
congregations. To address this, the district has emphasized visitation
by way of the circuit visitor, vice-presidents, and district staff. To that
end, a new assistant to bishop/president and missions executive has
been called to assist with this large undertaking. While the primary
focus of the mission executive is working with new congregational
starts, he will also help the bishop/president fulfill his task in visitation and care for the workers of the district.
As mandated by 2013 Synod Resolution 7-04A, the English
District conducted the required assessment of district viability. The
summary of the English District study is as follows:
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The English District provides the necessary resources to fulfill the
required ecclesiastical supervisory functions. This is done in part by
having the district president being deployed among congregations and
church workers to provide ecclesiastical supervision and worker care.
Resources are provided for travel.
The size and scope of the English District makes visitation difficult.
However, through careful planning and utilization of the regional vicepresidents and circuit visitors, the district president is able to carry out
official visitation. Congregations have noted their ability to have the
district president in their locations, when requested.
The English District has a reliable staff that is responsive and very dedicated to serving within our context.
The mission spirit of the English District is alive and well. This spirit
pushes the congregations of the English District to seek the lost with
the saving message of Christ Jesus our Lord.
The English District is arguably the most ethnically diverse district in
the Synod. Service to its constituent members has required keeping up
with the ever-changing ethnic demographic in the United States and
Canada. The interaction of church workers from across North America
has helped to inform others of ongoing cultural shifts and changes.
The English District is financially viable and makes every decision
based on a desire of being good stewards of God’s gifts.

The full details of the survey are available upon request. The summary is clear: the English District is viable, ready, and able to meet
the challenges of the ministry into the future.
Jamison J. Hardy, President
R24

Florida-Georgia District
The Rev. Gregory S. Walton was elected by acclamation to a
third term as president of the Florida-Georgia District, LCMS, at the
district’s 32nd Regular Convention, June 12–14, 2015 in Orlando,
Florida. The theme of the convention was “Engaged in the Master’s
Business,” based on Luke 19:13: “Calling ten of his servants, he gave
them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come’ ”
(ESV).
The focus of “Engaged in the Master’s Business” will serve as the
focus for the district in this triennium. We have a privilege, and the
need is great for Christians to move into the communities in which
God has set us to connect people to Jesus. The opportunities are all
around us as we live out our faith in the One who has claimed us in
the waters of Baptism. The Florida-Georgia District is built upon the
2016 Convention Workbook

Rock of Jesus Christ, where we live in repentance as we boldly confess our faith and rejoice in Jesus! In Him, we are free to serve by
reaching out with the love and grace of Jesus to those who have not
yet heard or experienced it.
During this past triennium, the board and staff began to develop
specialized ministry opportunities to highlight and support our three
critical targets of Leadership, Congregations, and Outreach. In each of
President Walton’s terms, he has focused the district on these emphases as the Florida-Georgia District carries out its witness, mercy, and
life together in Jesus.
Our vision statement says, “The people of the Florida-Georgia
District are equipped, empowered, engaged … connecting people
to Jesus!” This fits in nicely with our district emphasis of engaging
in the Master’s business. We want to equip people for service to the
church and the world. As St. Paul says in Ephesians 4, “To equip the
saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”
(v. 12, ESV). Our desire is to encourage and raise up leaders across
the district for the sake of the Gospel. Over the past three years, we
have worked hard to carry out our vision.
Through the critical target of leadership, we are now providing
leadership training and coaching for workers and are developing
a strategy for how we can best serve and train our laity. Working
with Cornerstone, we have developed Emergent Leaders, a program designed to teach the foundational principles of leadership.
We designed it to reach not only pastors and other professional
church workers, but also laity. In addition, we have entered into an
arrangement with Pastoral Leadership Institute to facilitate missional
leadership training in our district for selected pastoral couples. Our
goal is to build and strengthen leaders for ministries both today and
in the future.
In the critical target of congregations, we have continued a partnership agreement with Transforming Churches Network (TCN) and
have broadened this by focusing on congregational revitalization.
While not every congregation desires or is able to utilize the process
that TCN offers, we have found that the majority of congregations are
in need of some degree of revitalization—as we are daily in renewal
of our Baptism, so our ministries should never lose sight of growing
to connect people to Jesus. The district continues to work with several consultants not only to assess congregational ministries, but also
to offer coaching to pastors to enhance their ability to lead their congregations through change. The district’s revitalization ministry will
continue as long as necessary.
We believe that people are empowered in their faith through the
Word and Sacraments. These are tools that God uses to send us out
into the world to impact people with the love and grace of Jesus. The
Holy Spirit empowers us to proclaim the truths of our faith as He gifts
us with everything necessary to reach out to people with the Good
News of eternal life in Jesus.
Within the critical target of outreach, we began working with
Lutheran Hour Ministries several years ago to develop a pilot project which was titled “The Outreach Initiative” (OI). Several goals
have been set, not the least of which is to create a “culture of outreach” in the Florida-Georgia District. We have begun to see this
emerge as we have worked with congregations and individuals to
help them realize the opportunities that exist right in their own community. Another goal is to help congregations recognize the need to
take ministry beyond the borders of their congregation into the communities where God has placed them.
As we focus on being engaged in the Master’s business, we find
congregations catching a vision for how they can better connect with
their community and really do the work of ministry. If we want to
have a lasting impact for Jesus, we must engage our communities.
We are learning what an impact we can have when we take our faith