LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 112

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112

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

The North Dakota District has proven herself to be sustainable
in the past and is confident of being so in the future. Congregational
giving continues to increase each year and 34 percent of congregational giving is remitted to Synod in our Life Together. The North
Dakota District continues to operate in the black under a balanced
budget. Most of all, the North Dakota District believes that it is the
Holy Spirit who creates and sustains faith. This is done through the
faithful teaching and preaching of the Word of God and the distribution of our Lord’s blessed Sacraments through faithful pastoral care.
As the Word is preached and the Sacraments are administered, the
North Dakota continues to be most sustainable.
The North Dakota District is blessed to have extremely faithful
pastors and congregations who rejoice in being Lutheran for this
Moment. Though our pastors and congregations are familiar with
living under the cross of Jesus Christ, their faith and life is a daily
confession of “fixing their eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of
their faith” (Hebrews 12). Soli Deo Gloria.
James A. Baneck, President
R39

North Wisconsin District
The North Wisconsin District (NWD) is comprised of 216 congregations, including one Hmong congregation, in the northern half of
Wisconsin and 11 counties in the western half of the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan. The baptized membership is a little over 95,000, spread
over 19 circuits. We are blessed to have 22 schools and 48 early childhood centers.
In June of this year, our district will be 100 years old. The North
Wisconsin District was formed on July 7, 1916, when the Wisconsin
District was split at the district convention in Milwaukee. The district
began with 100 pastors and 22 teachers. At the time of the division,
Hermann Daib, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Merrill, was
president of the Wisconsin District. He had been elected at the 1906
convention. He later became the second NWD president in 1918 and
served until 1936, and also served as the mission counselor for the
district.
For 100 years, the congregations of our district have faithfully
built on the rock of Jesus Christ by administering the Word and
Sacraments. God’s people, Sunday after Sunday, have repented of
their sin and heard the good news they have been forgiven through
the blood of Jesus, confessed their faith in the Lord and Savior, and
rejoiced to call themselves the sons and daughters of the King of kings
and Lord of lords. For 100 years, we have been blessed because of
our good and gracious Lord. The theme of our district convention
was “He’s By Our Side” from Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress.”
Ohio District President Rev. Terry Cripe was our convention essayist.
Our Lord has certainly been by our side during these first 100 years.
The focus of our district work has revolved around three outcomes
proposed by the district board of directors:
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Congregations are equipped and engaged in the mission of making
disciples of Jesus Christ.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, NWD pastors and other professional
church workers are motivated to grow disciples in Jesus Christ.
Missions and outreach ministries are fully utilized to make disciples
of Jesus Christ.

These outcomes have been developed to reflect our Mission
Statement: Encourage, network, and equip Lutheran congregations of the North Wisconsin District LCMS to vigorously make
known the love of Christ.
To encourage our church workers, a district pastor (former counselor) provides confidential counseling to church workers. Another
district pastor visits with congregation leaders and urges them to
2016 Convention Workbook

encourage their workers and deal with their health issues. To encourage our DCEs (directors of Christian education), we have a retired
DCE going around and meeting with them individually.
Every January, we have Leadership Meetings. The goal is to be
in every circuit every three years to share resources and ideas, and to
network our congregations to help our lay leaders carry out their ministry. This year, our topics included “Protect Yourself: Critical Policy
for Current Legal Issues,” “Stewardship,” “How are you? Measuring
the Health and Wellness of Our Church Workers and Leaders,” and
“Understanding Conflict.” President Lueck shared the overall outlook of ministry in NWD and words of encouragement to those in
attendance.
During the past triennium, we held three joint circuit visitor meetings with the South Wisconsin District. One theme was “God’s Gift
of Marriage” by Rev. Tom Eckstein. The other two were led by Ted
Kober of Ambassadors of Reconciliation, with the first one focusing
on reconciliation training and the second one a Bible study entitled
“ ‘Go and Be Reconciled’ What does this mean?”
In the area of missions, the district continued to support three
Hmong ministries in Green Bay, Appleton, and Eau Claire, and is
looking to start a new ministry in Wausau. There is one full-time
campus ministry at Stevens Point, one chaplain serving the veterans
at Wisconsin Veterans Home in King, and a deaf ministry at various
locations throughout the district under the direction of Pastor William
Knaack, who retired at the end of 2015 but will continue to serve on
a part-time basis.
For the past couple of years, the district has supported the LCMS
mission work in Lima, Peru. Presently, there are five mission sites.
In 2015, this ministry was supported through the “Hearts for Jesus”
effort. Rev. Mark Eisold and Deaconess Caitlin Worden have visited
the district to share with congregations and schools the ministry taking place in Peru. Hopefully we will have the first mission team from
our district going this summer.
For the past two years, we have offered a total of $20,000 in mini
mission grants to congregations. In 2015, all the funds were spent, as
17 congregations used the money to support various outreach efforts.
Camp Luther continues to thrive in the northwoods, with around
400 children attending during the summer, along with the various
offerings throughout the year. Camp Luther is currently running a
campaign called “Filled with the Spirit,” with the majority of the
funds going to build a new dining hall.
Dr. Paul Maier has been an annual seminar leader every fall to
approximately 300 in attendance. His presentations dealt with the
apostle Paul, Martin Luther and the Reformation, and Islam and
Christianity.
The challenges that our congregations, workers, and leaders face
are not new, but we continue to address them as staff and board:
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Get the people into the Word to see what God’s Word has to say.
Presently, many of our congregations are getting smaller and older and
are having a tough time dealing with the affordability of a worker and
benefits.
Matching of pastors’ God-given gifts with the congregation needs.
Congregations developing ministry plans that are in alignment with
the needs of its members and community.
Engaging the lay members of the congregation in ministry.
Reduce and deal with conflict. Understand and live reconciliation.
Recruit and support future church workers.
Encourage our church workers

Our district continues to be served faithfully by district staff.
Dennis Johnson continues to serve as the LCEF director. Mr. D. J.
Schult joined the staff in 2013 as our school executive, along with
helping direct our communications and mission trips.