LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 104

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104

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

Our 2018 convention celebrated the plan to renovate University
Lutheran Chapel in Lincoln and the district office in Seward. Both
of these renovations are now complete with over $3.5 million donated. Ministry has benefited greatly at both locations. Accessibility and larger meeting space has allowed more groups to gather for
planning, workshops, and training at both locations. Partnerships
have developed with Concordia University, Nebraska, and GracePoint Institute for Relational Health to use the Chapel. Pandemic
and cultural stress has brought more and more people through our
doors. Mission to our campus students and community remain first
priority, but so much more ministry has been enabled by these renovations.
The Nebraska District has four campus ministries. University
Lutheran Chapel in Lincoln has been in ministry since 1923. We
also provide funding for campus ministry in Omaha, Wayne, and
Kearney. Ricky Jacob continues to serve faithfully in Native American ministry in Winnebago. Hispanic and African immigrant ministries continue to make known the love of Christ. More and more
of our churches are looking at ways to reach out to ethnic populations in their own backyard.
In all this work, we seek but one thing: to preach Christ and Him
crucified. To God alone be the glory.
Richard L. Snow, President
R38

New England District
Although New England is a fairly large geographic area that
encompasses six states, the district is one of the smallest in the
Synod as far as the number of congregations, parishioners, and
church workers. The years 2021–2022 were a very difficult time
in the district, and not only because of COVID-19. The former and
much-loved president, the Rev. Dr. Tim Yeadon, became seriously
ill in March 2021 and had to go on disability. This necessitated that
I, as the first vice-president, assume the role of acting district president (while also pastoring my congregation in Norwalk, Connecticut). President Yeadon was taken home to heaven in January 2022,
and I was subsequently elected as district president in June 2022.
Through this difficult time, our gracious Lord strengthened and
upheld President Yeadon and his family; the pastors, other church
workers, and congregations of the district; and especially me and
my congregation. I thank and praise Him for His grace and mercy
in Christ, and I also extend my thanks to President Harrison and
the leaders of our Synod who, along with my brother district presidents and their staffs, often responded to my questions and calls
for help. Above all, I thank the wonderful people of St. Peter in
Norwalk, whom I had the joy to serve for over 28 years. Their love
and support made a difficult 18 months not only doable but often
enjoyable. May our good Lord raise up many such congregations!

A. Congregations
There are 67 congregations in the district, most of which are
small (less than 200 members) but several of which are fairly large
(over 500 members). In the first quarter of 2023, there were 17
congregations that were without a pastor. Some were in the process
of calling a pastor, and some were being served by pastors who are
retired or are currently without a call. In fall 2022, I sent a letter to
the congregations of the district who were being served by pastors,
asking if they would be willing to allow their pastor to serve a vacant congregation one Sunday every three months or so, while they
2023 Convention Workbook

themselves had a lay-led service that day. Many gladly indicated
their willingness to do so, and this not only has been a blessing
to the vacant congregations of the district but also has helped to
further unite our congregations. Although the New England states
are some of the most unchurched and secular in the nation—and at
times even boast of their opposition to basic Christian teaching and
morality (in their support of abortion, for instance, which all the
New England states offer with little restriction)—our pastors and
congregations enjoy great peace and unity. New England is not an
easy place for pastors and other church workers to serve, but the
Lord has blessed us with joy by His Holy Spirit as we proclaim
Christ crucified and bear His cross.
Grace Lutheran in Nashua, New Hampshire, had the honor of
being chosen to participate in a pilot project headed by the LCMS
Office of Pastoral Education. Set Apart to Serve is providing resources and training to pastors and lay people to assist them in talking to youth about pursuing church work vocations. May the Lord
bless this effort by raising up many workers for the harvest fields!
Since the last Synod convention in 2019, New England has been
blessed with five new graduates from our seminaries, one graduate
of the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program who completed his
studies and is now a general pastor, and one new SMP student. Our
seminaries are training and graduating excellent pastors, and these
men are proving to be a great blessing to our congregations. Thanks
be to God!

B. Schools
There are three LCMS elementary schools in the district (one in
New Hampshire, one in Massachusetts, and one in Connecticut),
each of which is connected to a congregation. Although the past
years of dealing with COVID-19 have been difficult, this has for
the most part been a blessing for our schools. Enrollments are up,
and the schools are doing well. We also have 11 preschools being run by district congregations. This ministry of our schools is
increasingly important in a region where ignorance of, and even
opposition to, the Gospel is strong and is growing.

C. Missions
In fall 2022, the district called the Rev. Adam Teferi as a missionary-at-large to serve a growing population of people in the Boston area from the Oromo tribe of Ethiopia. Pastor Teferi is himself
an Ethiopian immigrant who was received into the LCMS as a pastor through colloquy. He is leading this growing group in weekly
worship in one of our church buildings, and we hope that by the
time of the Synod convention, they will be a newly constituted congregation of the district and the Synod.
Another mission that started in the last triennium is in the Lakes
Region of central New Hampshire. This small but growing group
of worshipers is being led primarily by retired pastors in the area.
We thank God for their continued zeal to serve!
Mission work to serve our neighbors in their bodily needs is
also taking place. “Hands of Grace” is a food and clothing bank
outreach of St. Paul’s in New Hartford, Connecticut. It is led by a
specific ministry pastor from the congregation who also provides
spiritual support and worship to those who are served. Two other
congregations in Connecticut also support similar ministries: “The
Bridge” in South Windsor and “Caring Shepherds” in Hebron.