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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 135

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
2.

The English District helps its congregations become
and remain healthy.

Our congregations raise up church workers.

Christian education is integrated into serving people
of all ages.

Our church workers and their families benefit from
wellness resources.

Our congregations exercise Christian care of college
and university students.

Our youth and young adults are engaged in the ministries of our congregations, district, and Synod.

Our congregations collaborate on new missions and
ministries.

The goal of this activity is to build stronger connection
between members of congregations and people who may not
know Christ. This is an ongoing work for all Christians, and
the English District is making it a priority for the next three
years. These areas will serve as the End Statements for the district board of directors for the next triennium.
Visitation is a key component to the life of the English District and its culture. With geography being the biggest obstacle
between many of our churches, the district has emphasized
visitation by way of the circuit visitor, vice presidents, and the
staff of the district office. To that end, we are blessed with an
assistant to president and missions executive who has done a
great job helping with visitation. While focusing on new starts,
the missions executive will help the president fulfill his task in
visitation and care for the workers of the district.
The 56th regular convention of the English District was
held on June 19–21, 2018, at Concordia University, Ann Arbor,
Michigan. Elected to his second term as president was Rev. Dr.
Jamison J. Hardy of Finleyville, Pennsylvania. Also elected to
serve:
••

Rev. Jeffery Miskus, pastor at Church of St. Mark in
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, first vice-president,
Lake Erie Region.

••

Rev. Ben Eder, pastor of Pilgrim Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Kenmore, New York, second vicepresident, Eastern Region.

••

Rev. Robert A. Rogers, pastor of Trinity Lutheran
Church, Villa Park, Illinois, third vice-president,
Midwest Region.

••

Rev. Todd Arnold, pastor of Lutheran Church of the
Risen Savior, Green Valley, Arizona, fourth vicepresident, Western Region.

••

Secretary-Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor of Calvary
in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Jamison J. Hardy, President

R26

Florida-Georgia District
The Florida-Georgia District, which celebrated her 70th

135

anniversary in 2018, is the Synod’s district on the farthest shores
of the Southeastern United States, stretching from Key West,
Florida, to Blairsville, Georgia, spanning almost a third of the
East Coast. We are joyfully Lutheran in an area that does not
have many Lutherans, and are committed to proclaiming the
name of Jesus through Word and Sacrament, teaching and instructing young and old in the Word of God, and celebrating
the Sacraments in accord with the Word of God. With very few
exceptions there is a high level of koinonia among the pastors,
teachers, and congregations in the district, with a focus on connecting people to Jesus. Through the work of the Circuit Visitors, true koinonia continues as pastors work together through
their monthly Winkel meetings with great harmony and joy in
their witness, mercy, and life together. Over the past three years,
God has abundantly blessed this work as we have focused on
two specific areas of leadership and outreach.
In the area of leadership, we have worked to continually
strengthen leaders, both professional and among our laity,
which we believe has strengthened our ministries. One key to
this has been a program we developed called Emergent Leaders. This is a ten-day program that helps leaders, including pastors, administrators, teachers, DCEs, musicians, and laypeople,
identify their strengths and build on them. Over 100 participants have been involved. In addition, we have made a number
of additional opportunities available to assist our workers in
their personal growth, including Pastoral Leadership Institute,
DOXOLOGY, and Grace Place Wellness.
Scholarships have been provided for workers to conferences both in our district and beyond. Our own conferences have
featured outstanding speakers to fulfill our commitment in assisting workers in providing ongoing education and growth in
relevant, practical, and theological applications for local ministries. The district staff serves to lift up the ministries on the front
line as they fulfill the staff mission of serving, assisting, and
encouraging ministries in their proclamation of Jesus!
In the area of outreach, we have spent considerable time
reassessing our mission program. With the board of directors
we have determined that the most critically important thing any
of us can do is to proclaim the name of Jesus to a world lost in
the darkness of sin at a time church attendance is diminishing
in many places.
As former Mission Executive Rev. Doug Kallesen returned
to parish ministry, we began working with Five Two, an organization focused on planting new ministry, to assist us with our
mission program. We have determined that as we start new ministries they are to be sustainable, marketable, and have a long
range plan. Leadership teams are assembled by the local ministry, and then assessed with a comprehensive battery of questions that help determine viability and potential of starting new
ministry. This has already resulted in several new ministries, including the Centro de Paz para la Vida (Peace Center for Life)
that will reach into the immigrant neighborhoods surrounding
the church to assist people with all kinds of needs. The district
goal is to plant two new ministries in each region each year for
the next five years, so that when the district celebrates the 75th
anniversary we will have a minimum of 50 new ministries begun
which impact lives for the sake of the Gospel. We have seen all
kinds of ministries being considered, from early learning centers to Alzheimer care facilities. We have also implemented some
Mission and Ministry Facilitators to work directly with congre2019 Convention Workbook