LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 106

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106 SYNODICAL REPORTS

Vice-President of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Under his
leadership, daring programs of development for ministry have been
undertaken. Currently the District is seeking an individual to serve
as Gift Planning Counselor and Development Director, that we
may enhance our ministry through increased financial support.

At its District convention, the delegates took note of the so-
called “Celebrate” document and its “Declaration of Eucharistic
Understanding and Practice.” They passed a resolution enjoining
District leadership to sponsor conferences around the District ded-
icated to the study of Holy Communion on the basis of the Scrip-
tures and the Lutheran Confessions. A steering committee has been
appointed to design these conferences that the church may be
helped to address the issues involved and in the process be led to a
deeper appreciation of the Sacrament and a better understanding of
what a responsible stewardship of this treasure means.

In terms of leadership, the 1997 convention reflected a changing
of leadership personnel. Dr. Thomas R. Zehnder, well-loved and
respected District president since 1987, took a call back to the
parish in 1997. The new president, the Rev. Edgar Trinklein chose
not to stand for election. Elected to serve as president was the Rev.
Gerhard C. Michael, Jr., with the Rev. James Guelzow as First
Vice-President and the Rev. Kent Fuqua as the Second Vice-Pres-
ident. Due to term limits, a total of 10 of the 20 Board of Directors
members are new. Meeting together regularly since their election,
the new board has shown that its purpose is the same as the boards
that have preceded it: to build on the sure foundation of God’s
Word and to seek to share it with others, for after all

“The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his
heart through all generations.”

Gerhard C. Michael, Jr., President

R7-05-07
Indiana District

“Our Faith Ever Sharing”

“T pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that
you will have full understanding of every good thing we have in
Christ.” As a Synod our theme is “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing”
itis only appropriate that we as a District grab hoid of the phrase in
that hymn that exhorts us by saying “our faith ever sharing.”

As the Indiana District we continue to focus on the mission our
Lord has given us. The Lord has guided us to a mission statement
that says “The Mission of the Indiana District is to encourage and
assist the Christian outreach and nurture of its congregations and
other ministries.”

As this takes place in the 233 congregations of the Indiana Dis-
trict and among the more than 1,200 professional church workers,
we want to rejoice in how the Lord has blessed us and commit our-
selves to further encourage and assist the people of God.

With that in mind I share this report in the knowledge that by
sharing our faith we come to a fuller understanding of what it
means to “have every good thing in Christ.”

Encouragement

Pastors are called to preach the Word and administer the Sacra-
ments and care for their people and reach out to the lost. As all of
our church workers bring that Word to the people of Indiana and
Kentucky, your District staff and Board of Directors desire to en-
courage them in carrying out that task.

Encouragement comes from four different directions in the Dis-
trict office; The Presidents office, the Missions office, the Congre-
gational Services office and the Financial office. Those offices are
represented by four individuals (myself, Rev. David Dubbelde,
Rev. Eugene Brunow, and Mr. Larry Jung). Our encouragement to
workers and congregations comes from a united desire to serve the
people of the Indiana District. Each of these men bring special gifts
to their task of encouragement.

Whether it is outreach or nurture, we all strive to provide our
workers and congregations with the greatest possible encourage-
ment to grow in the faith and reaching out to the lost. We firmly
believe that God has given us a mission to keep before the eyes of

the workers and churches of the Indiana District, the Great Com-
mission that our Lord, Jesus Christ, has given us. That commission
consists in reaching the lost, and when they are reached to nurture
them in the faith to which the Holy Spirit has brought them. All of
us at the District office talk missions.

I believe that the evidence is abundant in our District that our
people are thinking about and doing the things necessary to “share
the faith.’ The people of the Indiana District are exceptionally ac-
tive in reaching out with the faith. It is demonstrated through the
many new mission starts and anticipated starts; the cutting-edge
ministries to the Japanese, Hispanics, and Chinese that live in our
states of Indiana and Kentucky; and congregations of our District
are directly supporting District missions as well as missions
throughout the world.

Probably, our biggest frustration in the area of encouragement is
that we have a difficult time communicating what is happening to
all of the people of the District. As we travel around, the things that
we take for granted, are real surprises to the people of the District.
It is our great desire in the next triennium to use every means at
our disposal to get the message of missions in the Indiana District
to every worker and congregation of the District. We will be using
personal visits, videos, mailings, and yes, even the Internet. We
want all to be able to hear of our encouragement.

Assistance

Another aspect of our Mission Statement is that we wish to as-
sist our church workers and congregations by providing them with
resources to carry out the great commission of our Lord.

Probably the most important aspect of assisting that has come
on the scene since our last convention is that group of people we
lovingly refer to as our CSAs, What a remarkable group of people
has been assembled by Gene Brunow. They are retired, semiretired
laypeople, teachers, and pastors who can come into a congregation
and work with them in planning their ministry. The great thing
about these people is that they are gifted and have the time to
spend, in depth, in the congregations with which they work. They
have at their disposal all the resources necessary for a congrega-
tion to use in growing in the task of the church.

Once again, assistance comes from all of our departments at the
District office. Gene can provide you with all kinds of resources in
the areas of education, stewardship, youth, social ministry, and
schools. David can provide congregations with demographics that
will help them identify the people living in their area and how to
best minister to them. Larry offers the congregations of our Dis-
trict the ability to invest in Lutheran Church Extension, which in
turn provides resources for building the facilities that our people
use to worship, study, and reach out. The last few years have been
record years for our District for investments and loans to further
the work of Christ.

When I speak of assistance I would be remiss if I did not men-
tion the tremendous gifts from God that we have from the support
staff here in the District office and our resource center and our
radio station. It has been said often, and is very true, that without
our secretaries the work would not get done. They are all profes-
sional, caring, and dedicated to the mission of the District. They
are key to our being able to “have every good thing in Christ.’”

A great amount of assistance comes to the church workers of
our District in the form of our ministerial health workers. Our com-
mittee provides resources for help in the area of physical and emo-
tional needs. We have excellent Christian counselors available. We
also provide mentors and Elijah’s and reconcilers to be of assis-
tance to our workers and congregations when things just don’t go
well.

I have come to learn that our District is one that is filled with
people (110,000) who realize that they have been “Sent forth by
God’s Blessing’’ and they “ever share their faith.’’ All because
they know that Jesus Christ has filled their lives with an under-
standing of all that Jesus has done for them.

+ Share the Faith +

Timothy E. Sims, President