LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 112

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112

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

largest Lutheran school in the country. The convention encouraged
and resourced the almost 300 congregations and 150 schools of the
PSD to aggressively engage in God’s mission as He does far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at
work within us (Ephesians 3:20) and as we reach out to 36 million
people in six major metropolitan areas across three states.

Eight Critical Areas of Engagement
The PSD is resourcing congregations and schools in eight critical
areas of mission and ministry (references to 2019 Synod resolutions where appropriate):
1. 100 in 10 Initiative is a commitment to launch 100 new
Gospel-proclaiming ministries (they may or may not be new
congregations) over the next 10 years, by the time of the
100th anniversary of the PSD in 2030–31 (Res. 1-02, “To
Encourage the Planting of Churches”).
2. Congregational Partnerships assist congregations of all
sizes to work together in mission to their communities. This
results in stronger and healthier ministries through creative
partnerships, sharing of church workers for Word and Sacrament ministry, multicampus ministries, mergers, multicongregation parishes, etc. A “Small Church Essentials Conference” was offered remotely to district congregations during
COVID-19. This outstanding one-day conference is available on our website: psd-lcms.org/psd-videos (Res. 1-03,
“To Study Shared Ministry among Small Congregations”).
3. Leadership Development identifies, trains, and deploys
leadership coaches to serve 100 PSD church and school leaders, believing that healthy visionary leaders result in healthy
visionary ministries that are more effective in Gospel proclamation and Word and Sacrament ministry multiplication.
4. Expansion of Multicultural and Immigrant Ministries
emphasizes the PSD’s commitment to celebrating the increasing diversity of the cultures and people God brings to
our communities. To create a pathway for effective multicultural engagement, the 2022 PSD convention approved a
resolution to reject racism; rectify past wrongs of commission and omission; and recognize the PSD’s successes, failures, and opportunities in ministry within its communities.
Additionally, the PSD in convention called upon its pastors,
leaders, and congregations to continue to cultivate, from our
immigrant, non-Anglo communities, new leaders who are
intentionally engaged in the mission of God and memorialized the Synod in convention to encourage the seminaries
to maintain and strengthen their nonresidential, learningin-ministry, and distance programs and to award financial
aid more equitably toward the students in these programs.
Another very important step toward ministry equality included the creation of Korean and Hispanic affinity circuits
to provide greater fellowship, cultural awareness, support,
equipping, and ownership of specific-culture ministry (Res.
1-05A, “To Strengthen Multi-Ethnic Outreach”).
5. The Mission Training Center (MTC): The PSD has joined
with the California-Nevada-Hawaii District and Northwest
District and Concordia University Irvine to provide online
and on-demand training for laypeople who serve alongside church workers to give greater biblical and theological knowledge, insight, and missional application. The MTC
provides great opportunities for continuing education for
all church workers (Res. 12-03A: “To Encourage Lifelong
2023 Convention Workbook

Catechesis in the Home and Church”; Res. 6-04: “To Support, Encourage, and Expect Continuing Education for all
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Pastors”).
6. Retain-Remodel-Replant is the strategy implemented by
the PSD to properly steward the resources of declining and
legacy ministries, redevelopment of property for new ministry, and maximizing facilities for mission. The Mission
Training Center in Norwalk, California (Los Angeles), is an
example of the R-R-R strategy where asset-based community development and spiritual formation work side by side to
reestablish connections to the community for Gospel proclamation. It is our goal to establish additional context-specific
outreach training centers in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Phoenix (Res. 1-02, “To Encourage the Planting of Churches”).
7. Creation of LuTEC: LuTEC is the first career and technical education Lutheran micro-high school in the nation serving as a model to assist urban congregations with underutilized church and school campuses to reestablish relationship
bridges with their neighborhoods, to educate students, to
evangelize families, and to care for underserved communities. The PSD schools report an increase of 6,000 new students over the last year (Res. 12-01A, “To Commend and
Give Thanks for our Lutheran Early Childhood Centers, Elementary Schools, and High Schools”).
8. Church Worker Care provides regional, local, and individual support for workers, counseling referrals, workshops,
retreats, and on-demand resources. The PSD said goodbye
to beloved district pastor-counselor, the Rev. Ron Rehrer,
who entered glory after 30 years of service to ordained
and commissioned ministers. A new team of five dedicated
individuals with unique gifts and areas of counseling specialty are now serving in partnership with the district president’s office to provide expanded opportunities to support
and care for our church workers. Visitation of congregations and schools continues to be an important part of this
focus (Res. 3-04A, “To Encourage Training of Our Pastors,
Church Workers, and Congregations to Recognize and Provide Pastoral Care for Those Suffering from Clinical Depression, Mental Illnesses, and Other Mental Disorders”).

The 2022 Pacific Southwest District Convention:
1. Made the necessary adjustments to bring its bylaws into
compliance with the resolutions passed at recent LCMS
conventions (Res. 9-01, “To Amend Various Bylaws for Purposes of Clarification”).
2. Committed itself to pray for and enlist workers for the harvest field by identifying, encouraging, and financially supporting the formation of future church workers, through all
available pathways, as commissioned and ordained ministers. (Res. 6-02, 6-03A) These resolutions include the following:
a. Making a concerted effort to increase the number of PSD
men and women preparing for church work professions for
service in the PSD, understanding the increasing difficulty
we are experiencing in calling church workers from other
parts of the country to serve on the West Coast.
b. Asking Synod to establish a third route to colloquy for
LCMS members who receive a Master of Divinity equivalent from an accredited non-LCMS seminary. Currently,