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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 45

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
planting of the very first LCMS campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While we certainly rejoice in
the tremendous gift that our campus ministries, big and small,
have been to the life of the church over the past century, and still
are, we also have exponentially increasing opportunities going
forward. We cannot abandon our young precious sheep at the
time that they need us most, but we also have endless opportunities in the academic square to confess the faith, reach the lost,
and maintain a much-needed place in the academic incubator
of ideas.
The continued rebirth and revitalization of direct support
for campus ministry in the Synod through LCMS U has now
been taking place for five years. Much of the focus during the
last triennium has been on the continued development of LCMS
U and its integration within the Synod’s new structure, while
tackling the tough issues that college students face on campus
in a timely manner and increasing resources for congregations
and others to start and develop campus ministries.
A major highlight continues to be the national biennial
conferences which afford LCMS students and campus ministry
workers the needed opportunity to gather together for worship,
study, fellowship, and collaboration. As a follow up to TABOO,
the 2015 National LCMS Campus Ministry Conference, which
focused on marriage and sexuality issues, LCMS U held the following two national events that were each attended by approximately 350 college students and campus ministry workers:
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LIBERTY, the 2017 National LCMS Campus Ministry Conference was held in metro Washington, DC,
and specifically at the University of Maryland in College Park. Speakers from throughout the LCMS and
local groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom
helped provide college groups and students tools for
not only protecting their own rights on campus but
for encouraging religious liberty for all on campus.
The conference also served as the site for “The Great
Mustache Shave Off ” between Synod President,
Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, and Montana District
President, Rev. Terry Forke, that ended with both
men cleanly shaven. At the closing Epiphany Divine
Service at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Hyattsville, MD, our LCMS U chapter at the University of
Maryland, students raised over $1,550 in a special offering that was split to support Redeemer’s outreach
to internationals, immigrants, and refugees and the
Synod’s efforts to develop the Lutheran Center for
Religious Liberty.

••

WITNESS, the 2019 National LCMS Campus
Ministry Conference was held in Fort Wayne, IN, at
Purdue University Fort Wayne and Concordia Theological Seminary, with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in
downtown Fort Wayne hosting most of the prayer
offices for the conference as well as the closing Divine
Service. College students and campus ministry workers from around the nation had a timely introduction to the Synod’s Every One His Witness Lutheran
evangelism program by Rev. Dr. Mark Wood and
learned about witnessing in various other areas of
most interest to them in their college contexts. They
also had the chance to spend quality time getting familiar with one of the Synod’s two seminaries. At the

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closing Epiphany Eve Divine Service, students raised
over $1,400 in a special offering that was given to the
Shepherd’s Hand Community Outreach Center in
Fort Wayne, an organization affiliated with Shepherd
of the City Lutheran Church, our LCMS U chapter
at Indiana Tech University.
The LCMS U radio program on KFUO, “The Student
Union,” continues to grow in popularity as a weekly opportunity to connect college students, campus ministry workers,
parents, and all who love the young people of the church while
providing opportunities to highlight our individual LCMS U
chapters. Topics range from apologetic interests, the intersection of science and academic pursuits, issues of marriage and
sexuality, the support of religious liberty, the cultivation of
one’s spiritual and devotional life.
All campus ministry is ultimately local. The heart and core
of our efforts takes place in, with, and through local congregations and in conjunction with districts, circuits, and recognized service organizations. There are now over 240 intentional
LCMS U chapters throughout the United States, ranging in
size from large full-time campus ministries and part-time town/
gown congregations to congregations taking initiative to reach
out to students at a nearby college campus. This represents a 20
percent chapter increase since this same time in 2016. In some
circumstances, campus ministries are supported directly by districts, entire circuits, regional mission societies, and recognized
service organizations. The necessary consultation and support
for this growth will continue to be provided for campus ministries as they seek to expand their outreach efforts going forward.
In the past triennium, LCMS U, in response to 2016 Convention Resolution 16–05, “To Increase Our Efforts to Retain
College-Age Youth,” began the process to develop a “COLLEGE BOUND” initiative to help provide high school seniors
with the resources and worldview training necessary to get prepared for the world they step into as they prepare to go to college. A roundtable was held on the topic of college preparation
and the transition that college students face; resources are in
development, and initial beta COLLEGE BOUND retreats for
rising seniors will be held this June 2019, aiming at fine tuning
the experience with a full round of mini-conferences to coincide
with the 100th anniversary of campus ministry in 2020. This
effort will also include an unprecedented comprehensive strategy to connect rising college freshman to one another and our
LCMS U chapters well before they begin their freshman year.
It is no secret that reaching out with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in the collegiate square is not easy. There are many barriers on the battleground of ideas, and our campus ministries
need all the support they can get, spiritually, organizationally,
and, yes, financially. As we begin this second century of LCMS
campus ministry, there are ultimately four reasons to CARE
about campus ministry that we continue to champion through
the efforts of LCMS U both at the Synod and local chapter
levels:
Catechizing and caring for our own
Apologetics in the academic square
Reaching out to those who are lost
Engaging a dying culture with Christ
Catechizing and Caring for Our Own—This is our number
2019 Convention Workbook