Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 42

LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 42

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

To that end, RSTM partners with the districts of the
LCMS in order to provide support for these rural and smalltown congregations. This is so that they are supplied with the
necessary resources to carry out mission and ministry in their
specific context. In order to provide that support, training, and
equipping, RSTM provides the following resources:
Our primary training vehicles are our Engaging Your Community (EYC) and Engaging the Wandering (ETW) events.
These day-long interactive seminars encourage congregational
leaders to examine how their congregations reach out to those
around them, be they members who have wandered away or the
community at large. The EYCs encourage congregation leadership to examine their communities and demographics, and consider ways in which they can serve the unique needs of those
communities, identify the assets with which their congregation
has been blessed and make a plan to utilize those resources to
actively engage their community. Herein, RSTM assists those
congregations in attendance to utilize practical approaches to
develop an action plan to engage their community with the
Gospel. The ETWs encourage congregations to do self-examination regarding the motivation for reaching out to those who
have absented themselves from the congregation’s life. Through
scriptural study, participants recognize why this ministry is
an imperative. They are also educated on the varying reasons
why members become inactive and are coached on methods
of securing congregational participation and methodology for
reaching out to inactive members. During the past triennium,
RSTM has partnered with 18 districts to host over 20 events.
These events assisted more than 600 participants representing
nearly 150 congregations.
While the EYC is our primary event, RSTM also takes advantages of invitations to provide training through other events
such as pastors conferences at the district and circuit level, congregational mission festivals, and LWML and LLL events, such
as zone and district rallies. We have even conducted the worship
service twice at the Missouri State Fair in partnership with the
MO District LLL as well as the Nebraska State Fair in conjunction with the NE District LLL. We have presented at numerous regional and district mission festivals and convocations
throughout several districts in the last triennium. We have also
presented and preached at a number of regional Reformation
Day convocations and celebrations.
Another way RSTM provides rural- and small-town-specific training, support, and resources for our congregations is
through our annual National Rural and Small Town Mission
Festival. Held in November each year, the National Mission
Conference has hosted nearly 500 participants representing
dozens of congregations and districts. Through these events,
participants have grown and been encouraged through exploring the themes of “Standing Where You Are Planted: Living
Your Vocation Where God Has Planted You,” “Standing On
Our Heritage: It’s Still All About Jesus,” and “Have No Fear:
With God All Things Are Possible.” These conferences bring
together best practices and practitioners in a broad range of
ministry areas and then share and connect with rural and smalltown congregations, so that professional church workers and lay
leaders in these settings will be trained to understand their role
in rural culture, help trigger surface changes that lead to productive outreach ministry, and most importantly, lead dynamic
change by being in God’s Word.
2019 Convention Workbook

RSTM continues its initiative to support church workers, which was kicked off in 2015 at the first National Worker
Priest Respite Retreat. In partnership with Grace Place Wellness
Ministries, LCMS RSTM will again be hosting a bi-vocational
pastor’s retreat for pastors and their families who are currently
engaged in that unique type of ministry. Because bi-vocational pastors and their families are seldom supported in the very
unique challenges of that type of ministry model, RSTM sought
to provide for them a time of rest and retreat. RSTM will also
be endeavoring to explore and research the future needs for bivocational ministry as well as varying staffing models for rural
and small-town congregations. RSTM is also looking into research possibilities and concepts for parish partnership models,
including multisite models as well as partnerships made up of
larger congregations assisting and supporting small ones within
their region.
In order to provide a consistent stream of practical ideas
and resources to rural and small-town congregations, RSTM
hosts monthly live webinars on timely and important topics
as well as providing the opportunity for people to view the archived webinars from the RSTM website. Congregations have
reported they use the archives for things such as elder training
and Bible study. There have been a wide range of topics covered, and they have reached people from coast to coast. These
webinars have covered topics which range from how to best put
together congregational publications to assimilating new members to care for church workers and their families.
Another way we strive to communicate timely resources is
through our RSTM newsletters. We publish a quarterly printed
newsletter, which includes resources and information about the
work of RSTM congregations. We also publish a Monthly ENews, which is a brief newsletter which continually provides
information and ideas about particular themes related to mission and ministry in rural and small-town areas. We continue
to provide resources, updates, and archives of our materials
through the RSTM page on the LCMS website. This provides
a place for us to direct people for the calendar of events and
archives of newsletters, webinars, and other forms of media. We
also utilize the RSTM Facebook page to facilitate the sharing
information regarding our events and services, other LCMS entities and pertinent information about RSTM, the LCMS, and
our faith lives. Our Facebook page is currently being followed
by over 1,500 users.
In an effort to promote continuity of support as well as
provide another avenue for training and resources, RSTM continues to develop and strengthen relationships with district rural and small-town mission task forces. We are also providing
training to districts which currently do not have these groups
to promote the support of RSTM congregations. RSTM is also
endeavoring to assist pastors in their transitions to rural and
small-town congregations. To this end, RSTM has hosted rural
immersions for seminarians which seek to familiarize these new
future pastors with the climate and rigors of RSTM pastorates,
congregations, and rural and small-town life in general. RSTM
also has partnered with Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort
Wayne, to provide on-campus instruction for seminarians as
well. RSTM also developed, in conjunction with LCMS Urban and Inner City Mission and LCMS Post-Seminary Applied
Learning and Support, a resource for new pastors transitioning
into the parish.