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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 153

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to mature manhood, to the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that
we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro
by the waves and carried about by every wind
of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in
deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in
love, we are to grow up in every way into Him
who is the head, into Christ, from whom the
whole body, joined and held together by every
joint with which it is equipped, when each part is
working properly, makes the body grow so that
it builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:11–16, emphasis added).
Arie Bertsch, President
R41

North Wisconsin District
“In your light we see light!” These were the words of our
theme for our 2018 district convention and are from Psalm 36:9.
These words were fitting at the time they were written and still
are today. The psalmist pleads for a continuation of the Lord’s
love. It is there he refers to in your light God is the bright light
needed into today’s world, into our communities. Apart from
Him, we are in darkness. It is the difference between life and
death. “For with you is the fountain of life” the psalmist proclaims at the start of verse 9. Today, more than ever we need to
cling to God’s steadfast love. We need a Savior who calls us “out
of darkness into His marvelous light.” All people need to know
and believe in Jesus who died for the sins of the world, who is
“the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus stated it clearly: “I am the
light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
We need to hear God’s words of assurance proclaimed to
the members of our congregations so that they can stand strong
in their faith as they live in this world that is not “Jesus friendly”
the way it used to be. We need to encourage each other, band
together so that God’s Word continues to be proclaimed in our
neck of the woods in north Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
We need to encourage each other and be a bold witness in our
communities. We need to share the love of Christ in word and
deed inside and outside our churches. We need to share what we
have learned: “In your light we see light!” Our district mission
statement gives us the focus to share the light of Jesus Christ:
Encourage, network and equip Lutheran congregations of the
NWD—LCMS to vigorously make known the love of Christ.
Our latest district statistics tell us that we have 216 congregations (over 45 are dual parishes), 92,729 baptized members,
and 73,267 confirmed. We have 42 preschools, 19 elementary
schools, and 3 high schools.
So what are the challenges facing congregations? In February 2018, First Vice-President of the LCMS Rev. Dr. Herbert
Mueller, representing President Harrison, met with the circuit
visitors of the North and South Wisconsin Districts. He asked
what are the issues facing our districts? Below are the responses
I received from my circuit visitors.
••

Worship attendance

153

••

Aging membership—and they are getting tired

••

Church conflict

••

Our society’s indifference toward church

••

Level demographics in our communities (North Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula)

••

Stewardship

••

Church worker debt

••

Compensation

In 2019, we will have eight pastors retiring. We presently
have 23 congregation vacancies. It is getting tougher to fill the
vacancies as congregations look to the seminaries and learn that
there are not enough candidates to fill all of the requests. The
congregations are facing rising salaries and benefit costs and
budgets that they cannot support. Therefore, more and more
congregations are looking at becoming dual parishes and/or
looking for a retired pastor that will work at a reduced rate.
Congregational support for the work of district and Synod
is decreasing. In 2018, the congregations contributed close to
$1.742 million to our district. In 2007, we received close to $2.3
million. So as you can see, the district is forced to make tough
ministry decisions in an effort to be good stewards with dwindling support.
Many of our congregations are not getting any bigger. In
2002, we had 13 congregations averaging less than 35 in worship. In 2017, that number had grown to 45 congregations. The
result is some of our congregations are closing. That is unfortunate as we need our congregations to let their light shine and
proclaim that Jesus is the light in that community. Is there hope?
As I shared at our convention: “If the answer to this is no, then
it is time to ask some other questions that get you to the real
anatomy of hope: What reason is there to have hope that tomorrow is going to be different? What in the picture is changing
that I can believe in?” God’s Word has not changed, however,
our communities and demographics are changing. We need to
encourage and help the leaders of our congregations as they
move into the future.
Congregations and circuits have been gathering to discuss
how they can work better and smarter into the future. Various
circuits have been offering the “Every One His Witness” workshop to help equip the members of their congregations to reach
out to those they come in contact with and live our convention
theme: “In your light we see light!”We have attempted to encourage and support our congregations by:
••

assisting with vacancies of called workers which
includes the support of the circuit visitors working
with call committees,

••

providing support to boards and committees as they
deal with board governance,

••

offering guidelines to help churches and schools,

••

assisting in conflict situations, and

••

offering one-on-one support to leaders and workers.

In January we offered a leadership training workshop to
deal with servant leadership, strategic planning, critical handbook and policies, financial issues, conflict, change, and com2019 Convention Workbook