Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2019 · 67th Convention, Tampa › Page 160

LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 160

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

160

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

ple to Jesus. God’s Spirit uses us, His Church, both pastors and
people to be the means by which His mission is accomplished.
The mission of the Gospel and the work of Christ’s Church
is incarnational, that is, it happens through real, live human beings in a particular historical context. Our Slovak forbears understood this when they moved beyond their Slovak language
to worship and do the work of the church in the English language, and when they moved beyond their Slovak identity to
become the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1959.
Sixty years later, it is still the goal of the SELC District to fulfill
our Lord’s calling and to honor those who faithfully laid the
foundation before us. We will continue to seek new and better
ways to understand the world in which we live and to speak in
the language and culture of the people whom we serve, in order
that we might more zealously reach out to the lost and more
faithfully care for those entrusted to us.
For the last century, the ties that have held the SELC together, and the Missouri Synod for that matter, have largely
been ethnic, familial, and cultural. As that generation of people
and pastors is now passing, the “new SELC” is setting a course
to continue to nurture and build new networks among congregations and a new sense of mission and purpose among the pastors and people of our SELC District. The gifts of modern technology and the freedom of being a “district without borders”
enables us to take advantage of the vast resources of the Internet, email, social media, and a host of media platforms available
to our generation to unite congregations and people across the
United States and missionaries around the world. Our goal in
the next three years is to unite the congregations of the SELC,
and their respective members, in a common mission to share the
Good News of Jesus Christ in their congregations and communities across North America by supporting local congregations
and planting new missions.
The witness of the Early Church has defined so much of
the SELC’s identity as a church body and as a district of the
LCMS:
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and
the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And
awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were
being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:42–47 ESV).
Congregations and pastors of the SELC enjoy a deep level
of fraternity and trust. This unity in Christ cultivates respect
and mutual love in our district, which results in healthy conversation and dialog among pastors, allowing the ability to express
both agreement and disagreement while both maintaining and
deepening personal relationships between and among the brothers.
The administrative structure of the SELC District continues to be both blessing and challenge. The part-time district
presidency, no paid professional staff, no ownership of property, no rental expenditures, and all administrative functions carried out by pastors and laypeople who continue serving “where
they are” has been the workable, good stewardship administrative model for all the years of the SELC’s existence. This intentional stewardship of our resources frees up the largest portion
of our district offerings to go directly to mission in supporting
the Synod, our seminaries, and starting new missions.
It is the goal of the SELC District to focus our outreach
efforts in the next decade on starting many new missions, par2019 Convention Workbook

ticularly in the growing number of ethnic and immigrant communities in the United States. Even as the SELC District and
the LCMS have our roots in ethnic immigration to America,
so now our focus is on new groups seeking opportunity among
us, including: Chinese, Indian, and Spanish-speaking missions.
Finally, the SELC is unique in that we “own and operate”
the Lutheran Haven, an independent-living adult retirement
community in Oviedo, FL. It also includes an assisted-living
facility, memory care, home health care, and a skilled nursing
facility. The Lutheran Haven just completed the first phase of
what will be a decades-long upgrade and expansion of their
ministry with the dedication of The Landings, a state-of-the-art
Independent Living Facility for Seniors.
The SELC is zealous to “Show Everyone Life in Christ by
Showing Everyone Love in Christ.” We are excited for what our
Lord is doing in His Church in this next generation.
Waldemar R. Vinovskis, President

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South Dakota District
“Called into Partnership for Mercy” was the South Dakota
District’s theme and emphasis from 2015–2018. As such, the
congregations and schools of the district sought to reflect the
mercy we have received from God into the lives of the people
around us, as His grateful sons and daughters, especially as we
serve our neighbors with good works to meet their needs.
In order to help ignite mercy and witness projects, the
district board of directors began a Harvest Grant program in
2017, with $60,000 set aside for congregations and $40,000 for
schools, each year from 2017–2019. To date, more than 100
Harvest Grants have been awarded, and thousands of people
have experienced God’s love for them through Harvest Grant
projects.
LCMS members in South Dakota have also shown mercy
through their generous mission dollar support, with our 107
congregations remitting about $1 million to the district in each
of the last three years. For every dollar a congregation remits to
the district, thirty-three cents are sent to the Synod to support
the Lord’s work in other places. The offerings we retain go to
work to show mercy in many ways, including through the Native
American mission work we do on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge
Reservations. Rev. Andrew Utecht (Rosebud) and Rev. Albert
Sutton (Pine Ridge) preach God’s Word to a growing number of
people. Baptisms are increasing in number too. And myriad are
the other ways people are being helped through these pastors
and the laypersons who assist them.
In addition, because of congregations’ mission dollar commitment to the district, the deaf are receiving God’s Word and
hospital patients in Sioux Falls are being visited by Rev. Matthew Nix, and college students at South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota are being served through
district-supported ministries. In the 2015–2018 district triennium, in addition to the ministry carried out through the mission
dollars the district receives, many of our congregations, Sunday
Schools, and other groups and individuals rallied to the aid of
Zion Lutheran Church, Delmont, after the devastating tornado
in 2015, which destroyed the church and parsonage. Thousands
of dollars were given in a great show of mercy. The result is