LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 113

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
Finally, in compliance with 2013 Res. 7-04A, “General Principles
for Judging the Viability of a District,” at our 2015 district convention, we asked our delegates to respond to the statements or questions
that were provided by Synod to show whether the North Wisconsin
District is viable. These same questions were also given to our district board of directors and the district presidium.
Rev. Dr. Timothy Roser, first vice-president, was given the task to
present these questions to the convention and gather their feedback
concerning the district’s viability. Using electronic voting to register
their answers to the eight questions, Dr. Roser summarized the findings with these words: “In summary, in answer to Synod’s question,
yes, the North Wisconsin District does believe it functions well and
should continue to do so as an independent district of the LCMS. That
being said, it should also be noted that no new structures or possibilities of district design were offered as alternatives. Without such a
choice, it is natural to support the status quo. Perhaps the next step
to consider is to answer the question: ‘Is there another way we could
do districts?’”
The overwhelming response of the delegates was that the NWD is
a viable LCMS district of 216 congregations that have been working
together as a district for 100 years and will continue to move forward
in the next 100 years. God has blessed us in the past and will continue
to do so into the future. He’s by our side!
Dwayne M. Lueck, President

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Northern Illinois District
We continue to remind each other in the Northern Illinois District
(NID) that the district is not the district office or staff or board of
directors, but rather the district is the girls and boys, men and women,
believers in Jesus in 220 congregations, missions, and multi-sites. So
the district is not “them”; it’s “us.”
We concentrate all things on two critical targets: pure doctrine and
vigorous mission outreach in every congregation. Everything considered for action is measured on the basis of these targets. Another
way to say this is that we work together for two main purposes. One
is the “ecclesiastical stuff”—working and praying with each other in
guarding our life and doctrine, in seeking new pastors and other rostered church workers, in seeking godly resolutions to conflicts and in
other issues. The second is to help each other to carry out the Lord’s
mission in our own communities and, through the national Synod and
through short-term missions, internationally to the ends of the earth.
The local mission we call “New Starts … New Believers.” Every
congregation can always find at least one new way to reach out to its
own community with the love of Jesus. We go out into our communities to be His hands and feet, and then, when people ask, we are His
voice, connecting them with the Word and Sacraments in our congregations. We do the new starts and we pray for the Holy Spirit to
multiply new believers.
A new start can be large or small—from as big as planting a new
congregation to as small as distributing diapers and other baby items
to families in need and anything in between. We have a growing number of congregations doing new starts of all sizes, and we continually
pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His harvest and
for the Holy Spirit to add to our number day by day those who are
being saved.
Many of our new starts are with our Latino neighbors. Iglesia
Luterana San Pablo in Aurora has raised up and sent out six new
Hispanic LCMS pastors in the last few years with more in the
pipeline. This started slowly and has grown into what is now San
Pablo’s Escuela Misionera/Missionary School. We have an excellent

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partnership with the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia
Seminary. The district is currently carrying out a support campaign
called ¡Enviando!, Spanish for “Sending!”
Lutheran Urban Kingdom Expansion/LUKE has resulted in six
pastors and one deaconess being called to four congregations in the
city of Chicago, two of which have Lutheran schools. These four
congregations all are willing to make significant changes in order to
reach their neighborhoods with the pure Gospel. This was made possible by a large offering from a donor family.
Our three mission facilitators have developed several Learning
Communities, clusters of four or five congregations with Lutheran
schools or preschools, learning to use their Lutheran schools not simply as a ministry for members (as good as that is) or as a revenue
stream, but actually to use the school intentionally as an outreach
to unchurched people. Both the pastor and the principal/administrator must agree to participate fully in order to be part of a Learning
Community.
The NID has also been an active participant in the Synod’s
Koinonia Project; currently there are three groups of about ten pastors each. We have found that we truly do learn from each other and
that we express our doctrine and carry out our biblically based practices better when we sit down together for prayer and study of the
Scriptures and the Confessions.
District President Dan Gilbert is in his fourth term and will not be
eligible to serve another term, so we are praying and talking with each
other about who the new district president will be in 2018.
Finally, in keeping with 2013 Res. 7-04A, the NID conducted
a survey of rostered and lay leaders within the district, including
all members of the district board of directors. A total of 101 people
responded to the survey. Ten questions were asked, and those ten can
be summed up well with the last question on the survey: “Based on
general principles in the questions above, I personally consider the
Northern Illinois District capable of carrying out its purpose and functions.” Here are the responses: Strongly Agree, 26%; Agree, 49%;
Don’t Know, 10%; Disagree, 14%; Strongly Disagree, 1%. Based on
these responses, the NID leadership gives thanks to God that in spite
of challenges, our work together as a district in guarding our life and
doctrine and in carrying out the Lord’s mission continues to be viable.
Dan P. Gilbert, President
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Northwest District
The Northwest District is comprised of the ministries of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the states of Alaska, Idaho,
Oregon, and Washington. Church of All Nations Lutheran Church in
Hong Kong is also a member of the NOW District. During the past triennium, the English District has established a congregation in Moses
Lake, Washington.
Approximately 20 years ago, the NOW District board of directors adopted the Policy-Based Model of Governance as its way of
doing business. During this time, formal annual reviews of the performance of the district president and the district’s ministry have been
conducted, and copies of the report have been shared with the Synod
President’s office.
The staff of the NOW District has determined that leadership
development is the target and focus of the work we do in caring for
and supporting the ministries within our borders. Leadership development builds on the congregationally based polity that forms a core
value of the Synod (see LCMS Constitution Art. VII). It also provides
the opportunity for greater flexibility within the diverse communities
in which our ministries are located and allows the Body of Christ in a
location to respond creatively and personally to those people God has
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