LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 122

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122

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

have state correctional centers built near them. Each week, around
25 volunteers serve about 30 county jails, state and federal correctional institutions, and mental health centers. Our prison ministry
coordinators have worked closely with the LCMS Office of National
Mission in hosting three synodwide conferences in the last 10 years.
The congregations, schools, and workers appreciate having quick
access to the district staff. The district office in Belleville is within
two hours driving time of most congregational and school ministries.
The district is part of a mission partnership between the LCMS
Office of International Mission and the Lutheran Church in Southern
Africa. Volunteers made three trips to visit South Africa to attend
their Synod convention, assess prison ministry, and encourage pastors in Botswana.
There are no communities exceeding 50,000 people in population
within the district. There is, however, a number of smaller communities closely connected in the Metro East region of the St. Louis
metropolitan area. East St. Louis, Cahokia, and Granite City are
examples of industries leaving the area, urban blight, and a declining population base. By the grace of God, Unity Lutheran Church
and Unity Lutheran Christian Elementary School are doing excellent
work in East St. Louis. Unity is spearheading a neighborhood renewal
project called the Lansdowne Community Initiative. Blessed with a
grant from Lutheran Housing Support, several homes will undergo
rehab this summer.
Like congregations throughout the United States, those within
Southern Illinois have their challenges too. Declining rural and smalltown populations are a challenge to supporting once lively, thriving
communities and congregations. One congregation closed in this current triennium. There is an increasing Latino and Hispanic population
throughout Southern Illinois that needs evangelizing. Our efforts have
not proved successful as a good portion of this population is transient
or seasonal. Our parochial schools live on the edge financially from
year to year. Declining birthrates impact them also. Through it all, the
Lord is faithful. He continues to bless and open doors for His Word
and Sacraments to be lived and shared in local churches. We are confident that He who has begun this good work among us will bring it
to completion on the day Jesus returns.
Timothy Scharr, President
R52

Texas District
The Texas District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has
studied its viability since the last convention by reflecting on the questions suggested by the Synod. We thank God for blessing our viability
to carry out His mission and to support and serve congregations and
preaching stations throughout the district.
God continues to bless us with the financial means to aggressively be about His mission of reaching people with the Good News
of Jesus. During the past three years, the district was blessed with
23 new Word and Sacrament congregations. The number of mission
networks has grown. These local networks engage in studying the
community, seeking God’s wisdom in how they can minister to the
community, and starting new ministries.
The Texas District deploys many of its staff throughout the district so that there is a support presence in every area of the district.
These workers connect with congregations and work closely with circuit visitors and area vice-presidents. They spend most of their time
assisting congregations, circuits, and mission networks in seeing and
acting upon the mission opportunities surrounding them.
An Ablaze! goal of starting 200 Word and Sacrament congregations between 2004 and 2017 was set by the Texas District. Today,
our count is around 105 new starts. Setting this high goal has blessed
2016 Convention Workbook

us by maintaining our focus on the ways God is guiding and leading.
He has opened many doors to various people groups, including the
first Arabic-speaking Lutheran congregation, which became a member of the LCMS in 2015. Today, 15 different languages are used in
worship in LCMS congregations in the Houston area alone, reaching
25 different people groups.
The population of the state is experiencing a net growth of five
million people every 10 years. The district continues to ask God to
direct and guide us as we attempt to reach our growing population
with the Gospel.
Kenneth Hennings, President
R53

Wyoming District
By God’s grace, in the Wyoming District the Gospel is purely
and faithfully preached and taught in accordance with Scriptures and
the Lutheran Confessions, and the Sacraments are administered as
Christ has mandated. The district, with the Church of all times and
places, confesses with the apostles, “You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God.” We rejoice to hear the declaration of Christ, “On
this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:16, 18). With repentance and thanksgiving,
the Wyoming District sustains, defends, and promotes the ministry
of this confession.
The Wyoming District is made up of 60 congregations served
by 50 active pastors, including 39 congregations in Wyoming, 20 in
western Nebraska, and one in Colorado. The district mission commitments include the campus ministry at the University of Wyoming
in Laramie and the Wind River Indian Mission in Fort Washakie and
Crowheart. There are five elementary/middle schools in the district
and a total of 13 preschools. The five schools have adopted the classical, liberal arts approach to knowledge and education.
Among the strengths of the Wyoming District is the diligent use
of the circuit pastoral conferences by the pastors, who together study
Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, writings of the fathers of the
church, and other theological and contemporary topics. The district
pastoral conference meets twice annually for three days of speakers,
study, worship, and recreation together. The Day School teachers likewise meet annually for three days, joining the pastoral conference in
worship and sometimes sharing the speaker.
The district expects its president, vice-presidents, and circuit visitors to visit its pastors and congregations at least once every three
years, to strengthen them in their faithful use of the Gospel and
Sacraments, and to encourage them in their challenges and opportunities. The schools are also visited regularly by the education chairman
and the district president. The visitations help to strengthen the confessional unity and bonds of brotherhood among pastors, teachers,
congregations, and schools of the district.
In this past triennium, the Wyoming District pastors entered into
formal Koinonia meetings with the pastors of the Atlantic District.
The pastors of the two districts met in New York City in May 2014 and
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in September 2015. The discussions continued with a smaller group from each district in February 2016. These
meetings may be described as both challenging and fruitful, as the
pastors labor together to carry out the divine mandate of maintaining the church’s confessional unity in the Gospel and the Sacraments
(Eph. 4:3–6).
The Wyoming District faces continuing challenges in declining
rural and frontier communities, aging demographics, and a shrinking
young-adult population that is increasingly alienated from Christ, the
church, and Christian morality. The district responds to these challenges by supporting faithful Gospel ministry, the use of dual parishes