Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 150
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 150

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

150

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

LGBTQ platform has won the day in New England (though
Christ Jesus has won the eternal war).
Because we live in one of the most rapidly changing environments for mission and ministry with that growing antipathy
and even hostility to Christianity, we are doing our best to meet
changing needs. One area had some concern in that the financial
resources coming to district from congregations have as in many
areas become harder and harder to determine ahead of time. We
have made budget cuts to become “leaner and meaner” but also
stronger in our way of doing ministry. Concerns exist that we
have had to use estate gifts and endowments to do some ministry of the district but we are grateful to the Lord that He has
provided a healthy reserve of financial resources for us at this
time. We have truly “trimmed the fat” in the New England District. Ironically, though, it is also my firm belief that the smaller
and more personal/intimate nature of our district is ideal for the
kind of ministry that occurs in New England and it certainly
allows me as district president to have a more personal relationship with my workers and congregations. One concern that I
do have, however, is that there seems to be a struggle to get the
younger workers to accept positions of leadership—undoubtedly in part because their hands are full with their ministries in
their equally small-staffed congregations. But this would be one
goal for this triennium of our district—to raise up with the Holy
Spirit’s guidance and help new and younger workers to replace
those who are aging.
With our synodical foundations of hope and blessing, it is
my hope and the hope of all New Englanders that the light will
continue to shine and shine in a greater way. Numbers are not
everything but we do want our numbers to increase as the Lord
provides and allows. But we want it to increase for His glory and
for the salvation of those for whom Jesus was born, lived, died,
rose again, and reigns on high.
Timothy Yeadon, President

dance of 3,650 souls. Like many other districts within Synod,
we continue to see that many of our congregations are growing
smaller in terms of both baptized and communicant membership, and that the average age of those who worship is getting
older.
The crisis situation in which we find ourselves is this: we
no longer live in a churched culture but in an unchurched and
de-churched culture. This state of affairs both challenges and
invites God’s people to acquire a proper ministry balance between edification and evangelism and becoming more missionary in our posture and orientation toward the growing number
of U.S. citizens who are not Christians.
Several of the many pressing ministry challenges that are
before us:
••

How do we witness to, and evangelize, people who
have built their lives upon non-Christian narratives,
especially the growing segment of the U.S. population that has “no religious or spiritual preference”?

••

How do we effectively reach, and communicate with,
the younger generations with the Gospel, recognizing
that 44 percent of the New Jersey residents are under
the age of 36?

••

How do we pay our bills, adequately compensate our
church workers, and maintain our physical buildings
and properties; while making known His Gospel and
extending His kingdom, to the ends of the earth as
He encourages us to do?

••

How do we communicate the biblical message in oral,
print, broadcast, and digital culture; and how do we
steward social media effectively for ministry engagement in the “public square”?

••

How do we address, and minister to, a culture that
perceives and judges the Christian message to be irrelevant in answering the “big questions,” and dealing
with the day-to-day problems, that people have in,
and with, life?

••

How do we defend and communicate the Christian
faith in a secularized and pluralistic culture in such a
way that we are “able to give the reason for the hope
that lives within us, yet with gentleness and respect”
to the many, many kinds of people who are trying
to make sense of life, and the realities around them,
without the hypothesis of the triune God?

R39

New Jersey District
Our Demographic Situation and Pressing Ministry Challenges
The 2017 New Jersey population was estimated to be
8,953,745 people, residing in 21 counties and 566 municipalities, with 59 percent of the residents being white, 18 percent of
the residents being Hispanic, 13 percent of the residents being
black, and 9 percent of the residents being Asian. In terms of
age distribution, 1 percent of the residents are of the G.I. generation (1901–1924), 8 percent are of the Silent generation (1925–
1945), 18 percent are of the Boomer generation (1946–1960), 28
percent are of the Gen X generation (1961–1981), 29 percent are
of the Millennial generation (1982–2004), and 16 percent are
of the Homeland generation (2005–2025). It is estimated that
nearly one-third of all New Jersey residents identify themselves
as having no religious preference.
Despite residing in a state that has the highest population
density, the New Jersey District has become the smallest LCMS
district, numbering 10,168 baptized members, 8,418 communicant members, and experiencing a total average worship atten2019 Convention Workbook

The District’s Ministry Plan in Light of the Permanent and Triennial Objectives of Synod
God is working out His saving plan in and through His
chosen and redeemed people, and each disciple has a responsibility for advancing the saving purposes of God in the world
(Matthew 4:19–20; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 1 Peter 2:5, 9). Moreover, our present life and ministry1 is timed by God’s own clock,
His fixed times, the kairos determined by God; consequently,
for each disciple, there exists a divine kairos of opportunity for
advancing His mission purposes.
So that His mission might be accomplished in the lives of
His people, and in the world, God has entrusted His people (and
our Synod) with four ministries: