LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 94

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

94

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

volunteering to serve in their congregations and communities. We
are blessed!
Who would have guessed at the 2019 Synod convention that
COVID-19 would attack us and those we love? The impact on our
society, our communities, our churches, our families, and each of
us as individuals will not be fully known for years to come. At first,
we didn’t know what we were dealing with, and so society virtually
shut down. All the schools in the state ended in-person education
from the middle of March until the end of the school year in 2020.
Many of our churches suspended in-person activities, including
public worship services, at least for a few Sundays. Our pastors
and leaders did the best they could in determining when and how to
conduct worship services, how to deal with the issue of masks and
social distancing, and how to care for church members in their time
of distress and loss. It was a challenge for us all.
Not everyone was happy with the decisions that were made.
I am sure mistakes were made and unkind words may have been
exchanged. This is why the proclamation of the Gospel is so very
important. We hear again and again the sweet words of the love
and mercy of Christ for us. When your pastor says following your
confession, I as a called and ordained servant of Christ forgive you,
know for certain it is true! Forgiveness is not based on what you
did or did not do during this pandemic, it is based on the life, death,
and resurrection of God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ. With the
word of absolution, we don’t have to be caught up in the decisions
we have made in the past. We preach Christ crucified. The blood
of Jesus makes us bold to continue, as frail, flawed, and imperfect
people, to share this Good News of God’s love for us.
This past year, Iowa and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
both celebrated 175th anniversaries. The partnership we share with
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a blessing. The seminaries and the colleges are providing pastors, commissioned ministers,
and lay leaders for now and the next generation. In the last four
years, the congregations of IDW have provided $2,693,850 for our
work together with the LCMS. We are blessed! Mission Central
is a unique partnership between IDW, the Nebraska District, and
LCMS International Mission. This year, people from all over the
world partnered through Mission Central and sponsored nearly
100 missionary families. Our partnership with missionary Gary
has made Mission Central the single largest missionary supporting
ministry in the Synod.
This partnership in the Gospel is lived out every day in the congregations of IDW. Our urban centers have more people and a diverse demographic. Our rural communities may be getting smaller,
but they also have a more varied population. Long-time members
remember when the church was packed most Sundays and enjoyed
an active ministry. They look at declining attendance, facilities in
need of repairs, an aging congregation, and wonder why this is happening to their congregation. COVID-19 has not helped with these
fears.
There is no easy or simple answer to these challenges. I believe
congregations who wish to thrive into the future need to be preparing today. Partnerships will prove to be helpful in serving these
changing communities. Pastors and congregations need to know
what the mission of God is in their communities. This begins with
an intentional and intensive study of God’s Word. This is a time of
reflection on God’s will and God’s promises. God invites us in difficult times to call on Him in prayer.
I was recently visiting with a congregation going through the
2023 Convention Workbook

call process and was asked the question, When should we be looking for a partner congregation to work with us in calling a pastor?
That is a great question and I wish I had a great answer! It depends
on a variety of circumstances and one answer does not fit all situations.
One blessing of being in Iowa West is that our communities are
close together. Congregations have opportunities to work together
to care for members and to engage the unchurched population in
their respective communities. This is the time for congregations
to consider how they can partner together for God’s Mission. New
models (beyond just dual parishes) are being developed to be able
to care for the growing number of small congregations. There
needs to be a desire to pool resources for efforts to engage communities. Dialogue between pastors and lay leaders of congregations
is necessary to consider the needs of their respective flocks and to
explore mission opportunities.
God is sending us the opportunity to share this Gospel with the
world, right here in Iowa. Who would have thought 40 years ago
we would have waves of immigrants coming to our state? In 2021,
your congregation partnered with other congregations in Iowa West
to call a full-time missionary to the Spanish speaking people of
Iowa. Pastor Pedro Lopez is now serving Christ and bringing the
love of Jesus to our communities. God is sending African refugees
to cities and small towns in Iowa. These brothers and sisters in
Christ with their own Christian pastors are coming to us and asking
us to help them become Lutherans.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession
have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created
new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and
substance use disorders. During the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults
in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from 1 in 10 adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019. Compassion fatigue is a term that describes the
physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological impact of helping
others—often through experiences of stress or trauma.
IDW has a long history of partnership with Lutheran Family
Service (LFS). Their professional counselors have consulted with
our pastors and commissioned church workers, assisting them in
ways they care for members of their congregations. Our church
workers themselves have turned to the counselors at LFS during
these dark days.
I value these and all the other partnerships we have in the Gospel. I join my words with the words of St. Paul, “I thank my God
in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for
you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in
the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3–5).
Your Partner in the Gospel,
Steven D. Turner, President
R30

Kansas District
Our work in the Kansas District is aptly reflected in the theme
of our 2022 convention: “Proclaim. Teach. Share.” We are the baptized, royal priests of Christ, called to proclaim His excellencies
(1 Pt. 2:9–10). Fed and strengthened by the Means of Grace, we
serve as the baptized disciples of Christ with a free and joyful spirit,
free to proclaim, teach and share Jesus to all nations; free to love