LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 88

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88

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
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connection and collaboration: promote a culture of
God’s people working together;

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leadership development: effective leadership in recruiting, retention, and training;

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growing ministries: create and strengthen new and existing ministries;

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worker wellness: provide resources to enhance physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being; and

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effective use of resources: establish an effective clearinghouse of people and resources.

Congregational additions to our district during this time included Trinity Lutheran in Chowchilla, California; Shepherd of the
Valley in Galt, California; and St. Matthew in Kauai, Hawaii. We
also added a micro-school and two preschools, as well as two additional “other language” ministries. The challenges of the pandemic
led the CNH District into a greater focus upon Worker Wellness
and Health. Intentional connections, training, wellness and respite
training, and options were made available to all workers at no or
minimal cost. Creative ongoing Worker Health initiatives have
been created and are in the process of being enhanced.
Three new executive staff leaders were added during this triennium. Ms. Denise Lo was promoted to the position of Executive
Director of Operations. The Rev. Joseph Robb was called to serve
as Executive Director—Mission Leadership. Mr. Joel Wahlers was
called to serve as Executive Director for Education and Congregational Services. All serve as assistants to the Office of the President.
LINC Bay Area, under the direction of the Rev. Aaron Putnam,
continues to serve as a trusted partner for the development of leaders and mission assistance, especially in the greater Bay Area. The
Missio Dei West Foundation, an independent nonprofit, serves as
an independent holding, investment, and granting source with the
single purpose of supporting mission and ministry of the CNH District.
The CNH District continues to offer grants and mission loans for
newly planted outreach ministries and for the purpose of enhancing congregations and making new inroads for intentional Gospel
proclamation into their communities. These grants are funded by
congregational remittance as well as the generosity of individual
donors. Additional education grants for residential students as
well as continuing education are made available upon request. The
CNH District took ownership of the Mission Training Center this
past triennium together with the Northwest and Pacific Southwest
districts. This lay training platform partners with Concordia University, Irvine, to provide quality theological and missiological
training in support of the congregational and pastoral ministry. The
CNH District has emphasized the identification and education of
“in place” servants for pastoral ministry. Four more former lay deacons were processed through the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP)
colloquy program, and of the remaining two lay deacons operating
with Word and Sacrament Council of Presidents (COP) exceptions,
one will begin SMP studies. The CNH District’s need for welltrained pastoral leadership has not waned. We continue to explore
ways in which workers can be identified, appropriately educated,
called, and sent to serve both the gathered and the scattered. We
will intentionally raise up and train lay leaders for disciple-making
ministry, equipping them for works of service and proclamation in
their communities and beyond.
Natural disasters have continued to be a part the CNH District
landscape during this triennium. Family homes and one of our
2023 Convention Workbook

churches were burned out during this triennium. Congregational
members around the district have been supportive, giving of their
treasures and their time. Comfort Dog ministries have doubled in
our congregations, which have given those congregations involved
unprecedented access to difficult and challenging ministry opportunities. Connections have been made by our church and local school
ministries to partnership opportunities in East Asia and Africa, and
support has been provided for a PhD student who is a primary missionary leader in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
(EECMY).
Michael R. Lange, President
R23

Central Illinois District
It seemed like nothing was normal these past four years in the
Central Illinois District (CID). While the first year of the triennium
started out like others, global pandemic disrupted our routine for
several years—even adding a “bonus year” to the triennium. The
government, state and federal, tried its best to limit possible exposure to the widest population and we ended up with limitations in
the public square, at the workplace, and in the markets and businesses that had a direct effect on how we did things. The economy
took a hit. The state determined that the church was an unessential
activity and curtailed how we could worship and how many could
be gathered. The three Illinois district presidents made a joint attempt to school the governor of our state about the church’s essential nature and still it took the opinion of a Supreme Court justice to
make him change his mind. Still, churches scrambled to comply as
best they could, without deserting the Lord and His people.
Congregational leadership, pastoral and lay, sought to provide
an online presence to continue to reach out to members who were
staying at home but had computer access. This affected how outreach was done in a vast number of congregations. Some pastors
had parking lot services where the congregants stayed in their cars
and listened by an FM radio signal. When we were told that only
ten people could be assembled in the church for worship at any
single time, some pastors increased the number of services they
conducted over the weekend so that they could accommodate
the ten-person limit as many as ten times on Saturday and Sunday. Communion was especially hard. The common cup was not
used for a period. People were kept apart from one another in the
pew and at the rail. Antiseptic practices were put into place, and
we cleansed, sanitized, and wiped down more than ever before.
Hymnals were replaced by full and disposable bulletins. Offerings
were gathered as you entered. Handshaking was not done. Some
stopped singing for a while. In 2020, the high festival of Easter was
canceled in the vast majority of our churches simply because the
illness came, and its restrictions were set upon us at such speed and
at an inconvenient time. Our state had large outbreaks in metropolitan areas, but huge swaths of rural territory were far less affected/
infected. Yet the restrictions did not take these matters under consideration. There were tensions that arose in the congregations between pastors and leadership regarding how many, how long, and
what form these limitations would take locally. In some places law
enforcement questioned the churches about their meetings, while in
other locales some refused to enforce the mandates.
It was a confusing and very difficult time, but on the basis of
God’s promises, when all was said and done, the devil could try
his worst, but he could not (and we knew he would not) prevail