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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 15

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
God continues to open doors for outreach to international students (there are now over 1 million studying on our soil), as well
as to those who have either lost the faith or are simply searching
for truth.
We are uniquely positioned to effect change in the academic
square on campus, precisely by being who we are—joyful and
faithful confessional Lutherans. That which is lacking on the collegiate quad is precisely what we have been given to confess.
LCMS U is The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s official campus-ministry network. There are currently 256 LCMS U
chapters with various levels of engagement; some are engaged in
full-time work, while others simply recognize the importance of
reaching out to this particular demographic in their communities
and serving them with Bible studies and various other means.

•

Publish findings from the Church Planting Study in a series
of practical monographs.

•

Distribute funds to the locally identified church-planting endeavors through CPI grants.

C.2. Revitalization
The Revitalization Initiative was launched in January 2015. The
suite of resources developed in support of the Revitalization Initiative are distributed through the re:Vitality program.
At present, re:Vitality resources are available to LCMS congregations at no cost to the congregation. The 2016 Res. 1-03 affirmed
re:Vitality and encouraged the use of re:Vitality resources.
Accomplishments over the Past Triennium
•

Developed and released the production versions of “Shepherding Our Strays: Actively Serving Our Inactive Members” and “Serving in God’s Mission: Strategic Planning for
Congregations.”

In spring 2023, we have scheduled a Campus Ministry practitioners conference, with the goal of gathering our most active partners
(and those who are not so active) in encouraging one another and
learning best practices from one another. We’re hoping that this is
something that we can replicate on an annual basis.

•

Revised “Connect to Disciple: Engaging the Non-churched
People in Our Community.”

•

Created and piloted “Beyond the Classroom,” a resource for
outreach through Lutheran schools.

C. Church Planting, Renewal, and Support

•

Developed “Members of One Body: Prospering in the Body
of Christ,” the assimilation and incorporation module of
re:Vitality.

•

Implemented a major revision of the CADDS self-assessment tool.

The impact of COVID-19 continued to linger in our campus
ministries. The second century of LCMS Campus Ministry has begun with many campus ministries seeking to get reestablished.

The Church Planting, Renewal, and Support ministry area of
ONM is focused on the first mission priority of the LCMS: plant,
sustain, and revitalize Lutheran churches. This ministry area is the
primary ministry area for planning and executing activities in support of the Synod’s current triennial mission emphasis, Making Disciples for Life, with special attention to three of its four domestic
themes: evangelizing the lost, strengthening congregations, and
planting new churches and schools.

C.1. Church Planting
Planting new churches is an essential activity of a church body in
order to maintain or expand its presence. A study of LCMS churchplanting practices during the 20th century and first part of the 21st
century showed that over the past 30 to 40 years, our church body’s
planting pace has fallen far below the maintenance rate.
In compliance with 2019 Res. 1-02, the Synod’s Church Planting Initiative (CPI) was launched during this triennium to address
the rate of and approach to church planting. The initial focus of the
CPI is evaluating past, current, and future church-planting practices
to determine how we can, under God’s blessing, increase churchplanting activities and improve church-planting results across the
Synod.
Accomplishments over the Past Triennium
•

Completed the Church Planting Study.

•

Developed and implemented training for church-planting
teams.

•

Created the grant-making process and protocols to financially support church-planting endeavors.
Plans for the Next Triennium

•

Expand the CPI to encourage local groups to identify churchplanting opportunities.

•

Support the locally identified church-planting efforts with
training and resources.

Plans for the Next Triennium
•

Complete production versions of in-process modules.

•

Develop Creating Community Connections, a self-directed
version of the former Gospel Seeds program.

C.3. Supporting Congregations
The ONM is chartered to support LCMS congregations through
their districts. The support that ONM provides is primarily through
the resources that the unit develops, distributes, and supports.
Because congregations across the Synod vary in size, ethnicity,
settings, and other contexts, Church Planting, Renewal, and Support is organized to provide support for various types of congregations.

C.3.a. Witness and Outreach
Through promoting and enhancing Every One His Witness,
the Witness & Outreach Ministry seeks to equip the priesthood of
believers to be “3rd article witnesses, telling the 2nd article story,
using their 1st article gifts.” Since its release in September 2017,
Every One His Witness has been used to equip upward of 20,000
Lutherans for sharing the Word of God in their everyday lives.
Every One His Witness core module resources are also available
in Spanish. The program has been widely used in Latin America
through the Office of International Mission (OIM).
The 2019 Res. 1-01A encouraged LCMS congregations, districts, and other entities to make use of Every One His Witness to
equip people for evangelism.
Accomplishments over the Past Triennium
•

Created a self-study version of the core module workshop
for use by individuals during the COVID-19 restrictions.
2023 Convention Workbook