LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 117

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
to incorporate within our annual celebration of life an encouraging call to repent of all sins against the equal value of life created
in God’s image, including, but not limited to, all sins devaluing
people due to their tribe, language, skin color, or people group.
The Southeastern District is a place where Gospel witness and
wellness opportunities abound as people of every race and nation
live in our neighborhoods, communities, and cities. Thus, praising the name of Jesus in native tongue is both happening and has
mission potential through Hispanic ministry, Ethiopian ministry,
Hmong ministry, and in each of the language groups that call this
region home.
As the Southeastern District seeks to connect people with Jesus
so that lives are transformed and God’s kingdom grows, we give
thanks for the faithful workers in the district: DCEs, DCOs, musicians, deaconesses, teachers, administrators, lay deacons, pastors,
and all workers partnering with the laity to glorify the Lord, serve
His people, and fulfill His mission and vision in this part of the
LCMS.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that
we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21).
William A. Harmon, President
R52

Southern District
Grace, peace, and mercy be unto us all in the name of our triune
God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!
The Southern District is a geographically large district that encompasses Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Panhandle of
Florida. Within this large geographic area, we currently have 155
LCMS congregations—32,000 baptized members—served by 206
called and ordained pastors. In addition, we currently have 16 early
childhood development centers, 10 elementary schools, and 1 high
school. All told, these 25 schools serve 2,000 students through the
ministry of our 250 teachers. The Southern District staff includes
the president, a full-time district president administrative assistant,
one full-time business manager, and one part-time administrative
assistant.
With a small and limited staff, we are focusing on five important
and interconnected areas:
1. Clergy health
2. Congregational health
3. Outreach/Evangelism/Witness
4. Facilitating small congregations in forming shared ministry
agreements that will help to provide pastoral ministry to congregations that are unable to call a full-time pastor of their
own
5. Prayer
Our clergy are under stress from a myriad of issues including
crushing student loan debt, shrinking congregations and the corresponding financial burden that creates, health and weight issues,
and a lack of awareness and willingness to engage the help that
is available. Pastors experience burnout and depression at higher

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rates than other professions. For a congregation to be healthy, its
shepherd/pastor needs to be healthy.
Congregations can become unhealthy and turn inward upon
themselves. Unhealthy congregations do not normally grow as
they most often do not have a heart to reach the lost and do not
intentionally reach out to their community with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; healthy
congregations led by healthy pastors reach lost people in Christ’s
harvest fields. Once the LCMS had a vital outreach and mission
heart for those in our communities who are lost, dying, and going
to hell without coming to faith, Baptism, and discipleship in Jesus
Christ. A people who are focused on Christ and Him crucified are a
people who have the joy of the Lord’s salvation and joyfully desire
to share the hope we have in Jesus Christ alone with our family,
friends, neighbors, and community. We as confessional Lutherans
have what our world is looking for. Too often our pastors and congregations do not make reaching the lost with the Gospel that has
been given to us a priority. As a result, we are seeing many congregations growing smaller and unable to afford a full-time pastor
who will shepherd them and provide Word and Sacrament ministry. This is a rapidly growing area of great concern. We are focused
on helping facilitate smaller congregations to form shared ministry
partnerships with other congregations so that together they can afford to call a pastor.
All these things we bring to the Lord in prayer. We cannot face
the difficult road ahead on our own. In prayer, we confess our dependence upon the Lord; cry out to Him for His mercy, strength,
and grace; and beseech Him to use us, His church, His baptized
children, as His witnesses in our world where people desperately
need Christ, His Gospel, and His church. We pray to the Lord of
the harvest to raise up workers in His fields that are ripe for harvest
in every community.
Over this triennium, we in the Southern District will be working to help our pastors and professional church workers to become
healthier in body, soul, and spirit so they can lead healthy congregations that will in turn reach outside the walls of the church building and into the community with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We receive Christ and His good gifts in the Divine Service, and
as we are filled to overflowing with Christ’s Word and Sacrament,
the Holy Spirit overflows those good gifts out of us to others who
don’t yet know Jesus as Christ. Orthodox, confessional Lutherans
want to share the gift of the Gospel; they want to go and be workers in the Lord’s harvest fields; they want to pray for the church,
the world, their family, friends, neighbors, and community to come
to faith; and they pray to be used by the Lord as servants in His
harvest fields all around us. Being faithful in Word and Sacrament,
we are faithful to the word go, and we desire everyone to be saved
and do all we can to share the Gospel with people who are lost in
the world without God.
We have many struggles and problems facing the church today. We in the Southern District believe that in addressing the
five main issues of clergy health, congregational health, outreach/
evangelism/witness, shared ministry, and prayer, the Lord would
be pleased to use us as His servants to speak His life-giving Gospel
to the world around us, trusting Him to cause the growth of the
Gospel seeds we sow and to help us face the struggles on the road
ahead with grace and mercy as His church and witnesses in our
communities.
Eric C. Johnson, President
2023 Convention Workbook