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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 47

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music
What an unspeakable joy this was in 2017 as we gathered at
Concordia University Chicago and spent three days pondering
the theme: “The Just Live by Faith: Make It Clear in Sermon,
Service, and Song” in honor of the 500th anniversary of the
Lutheran Reformation. Over 400 musicians, pastors, and interested laity joined in the event. Aside from the excellent keynotes
and workshops, the conference sang the debut of two new settings of the music for Divine Service Setting Five, one of which
was geared for congregations with smaller musical resources
and the other for congregations with larger musical resources.

Ecumenical Cooperation

your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matt. 6:21).
Faithful, biblical, cross-focused stewardship is a key aspect
to congregational health. In the past triennium, it has been our
joy to help foster this stewardship across our Synod. Here is an
email we received the weekend after our last More Than Giving
workshop:
Let me extend a thank you your way for your
words of scriptural truth and the practical application of them. On Saturday afternoon I received a text from one of the couples in attendance saying that they had been thinking and
talking about stewardship all day. That’s not
normal! I may never receive another text like
that again. Our stewardship board had a great
meeting last night and have taken some first
steps toward making some needed changes.

Worship continues to work with the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians in a partnership that seeks to strengthen
the artistic excellence of our musicians. LCMS Worship has
published a listing of resources in its publications, and Pastor
Weedon has been asked to provide for their CrossAccent journal
a written copy of a paper that he delivered at the Good Shepherd Institute on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.

We receive feedback like this after every workshop we conduct: there is a hunger for solid, Lutheran teaching on stewardship across the Synod. We bring that teaching and training out
to the districts in the following ways.

Resources Online

Stewardship Workshops

Worship continued to roll out helps for congregations and
pastors and musicians for free, usually by PDF downloads at
the worship resources site on the LCMS website: https://www.
lcms.org/worship/planning-resources. A totally updated version
of Kids in the Divine Service was produced with excellent graphic presentation and keyed to Lutheran Service Book. For Bible
study, we’ve released The Word in Song: Hymn of the Day Studies. These are still being issued, but they’re almost complete.
LetUsPray and Lectionary Downloads continue to be popular.
We also have released Suggested Hymns for both 3-year and
1-year series; suggested Lenten and Advent Midweek Propers;
Advent and Lenten Family Table Devotions; and much more. Additionally, Worship has continued its creative partnership with
Lutheran Public Radio, providing numerous series in liturgical catechesis, hymn studies, and commentary on the Church’s
feasts, festivals, and commemorations.

Pastors and lay leaders gather at the circuit, bi-circuit, or
regional level to learn the theological foundations and the practical implementation of faithful stewardship. This is our most
potent tool in effecting real, positive change in the stewardship
life of congregations: face-to-face instruction with pastors and
lay leaders. In the past triennium, we held workshops in more
than half of the districts. Several districts have asked us to hold
a workshop in each circuit! We have also had great success in
our two-day conferences in partnership with Doxology, which
typically draw in participants from multiple states.

Consultation
Pastor Weedon and Deaconess Bowers continue to field
questions related to best worship practices as these arrive at the
International Center (through our Church Information Center and via direct email and phone calls). In all of these, it is
our aim to provide prompt and accurate replies so that in the
worship of our congregations “the Word of Christ may dwell
among [us] richly” and that the joy of Christ’s people in His saving gifts may increase.

Stewardship Ministry—Rev. Heath Curtis, Coordinator
By working with the districts of the Synod,
LCMS Stewardship Ministry helps pastors and
congregations teach the Word of God regarding
one aspect of Christian sanctification: imitating
God in sacrificial generosity. “By the mercies of
God: present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy
and acceptable to God,” (Rom. 12:1) for “where

Generational Generosity Workshops
Many of our congregations serve in demographically challenging areas, which has a real impact on the financial health of
a church. Our Generational Generosity workshop helps pastors
and lay leaders understand the demographic landscape around
them and how to make faithful stewardship plans in response.

Online Resources
We maintain a curated collection of stewardship resources
at our website (lcms.org/stewardship) for the entire Synod to
utilize. All resources are provided free of charge, and we are
continually looking for new resources. In the past triennium,
we produced a major new resource to help Lutheran congregations make faithful use of Financial Peace University, the most
popular and effective personal financial management program
in the country. Each month, we produce newsletter articles and
bulletin blurbs keyed to the lectionaries so that the Synod’s congregations can continually keep faithful stewardship before the
eyes of the people.

Specialized Pastoral Ministry (SPM) and
Worker Wellness
This program ministry is currently supervised by the ONM
executive director, assisted by several contracted individuals,
and includes Institutional and Emergency Services (ESC) Chaplaincy, Clinical Pastoral Education and Pastoral Counseling.
2019 Convention Workbook