LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 120

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120 SYNODICAL REPORTS

R7-05-33
Southern Illinois District

“May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your
spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

The church is that “assembly of all believers among whom the
Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are ad-
minstered according to the Gospel.” (AC VII). The real “action” in
the church mandated by God takes place in the congregations as
God’s people worship, baptize, preach, teach, confess, absolve,
gather in the Lord’s Supper, and most of all, reach others with the
saving message of Christ. Here is where God is faithful to His
promises. The Missouri Synod (and its local expression in the
Southern Illinois District) is a federation of congregations united
by the same confession of Christ. It exists to help the congrega-
tions do together what they cannot do separately.

Therefore the Southern Illinois District consists of 98 congre-
gations served by 97 pastors (of a total 108 active pastors). These
congregations include 44,143 baptized souls. Enrollment in our 23
parochial schools (served by 158 full-time and 42 part-time teach-
ers and 23 administrators) is 4,076. We have 34 preschools, 19 of
which are part of Christian day schools. There is also one Lutheran
high school with an enrollment of 217, served by 19 full-time fac-
ulty. (These are 1996-97 statistics.)

The mission of the District is to support the work of these 98
congregations, enabling them more effectively to share the Gospel.

Between conventions the District operates through a Board of Di- ©

rectors chaired by the President. As a result of the 1997 District
Convention the Southern Illinois District reduced the number of
program boards from eight to the following three: a Board of Spir-
itual Care and Supervision (Circuit Counselors and District Prae-
sidium); a Board of Missions, and a Board of Congregational Sup-
port. One member from each board also serves on the Board of
Directors. In addition to the boards listed, the District also has a
Commission on School Matters, a Commission for Communica-
tion, a Finance Committee, and a number of other committees. The
ministry areas of evangelism, education, human care, stewardship,
and youth are handled through the Board of Congregational Sup-
port assisted by various ad hoc task forces.

District work is conducted from an office building at 2408
Lebanon Avenue in Belleville, Ill. Besides a full-time President,
the District Board of Directors calls a full-time executive assistant
for the areas of missions, education, youth, evangelism and stew-
ardship. Also working full time are a secretary to the President and
a secretary/bookkeeper. Those working part-time for the District
include a mission developer, an older adult ministries coordinator,
our LCEF Area vice-president and a part-time secretary. President
Emeritus Alvin V. Kollmann serves the District in various capaci-
ties, most recently as our 150th anniversary director. Truly God has
blessed our District with faithful workers.

The Circuit Counselors and District Praesidium form the Board
of Spiritual Care and Supervision. In addition to its Circuit Coun-
selor duties, this Board is concerned with the spiritual welfare of
District workers and congregations. The board offered support
activities and workshops to the congregations (¢.g., annual pastor/
elder training workshops and an annual spiritual retreat for church
workers). The board also supervises the Ministerial Health Com-
mittee in the District and sponsors annual renewal retreats for pas-
tors and teachers and orientation for new church workers in the
District. The Spiritual Care Board spends considerable time in the
study of theological issues affecting our congregations and func-
tions as a “support group” for the District President in his work.

Southern Illinois always places a strong emphasis on missions.
Our newest mission, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Caseyville, Ill.
(actually a re-start of a congregation that had been assumed into a
neighboring parish) was received into membership in the Synod on
Nov. 30, 1997. Other locations for new missions are being prayer-
fully studied.

The Mission Board not only is involved in new mission con-
gregations but also in a strong prison ministry in the state prison
institutions in our geographical area. We support the work of six

part-time chaplains and one vicar in the prisons of Southern IIli-
nois. Two new prisons are under study. District campus ministries
are also carried on at Southern Illinois University campuses at Car-
bondale and Edwardsville.

The District Church Extension Fund, which is part of the
Lutheran Church Extension Fund, holds annual meetings for report
purposes and encouragement for congregational representatives.
Our present area vice-president has been serving in that position
since 1996.

The Comission on Communications (with the Board of Con-
gregational Support) actively promotes blanket subscriptions to The
Lutheran Witness in our District, as well as assists congregations
in other communications endeavors, such as communications
workshops and secretaries’ workshops.

The Board of Congregational Support responds to the requests
of congregations to provide workshops and support activities for
the mission of congregations. Through a Recruitment Committee
we continue to encourage the recruitment of church workers. The
Commission on School Matters advises the executive assistant in
the support of the work of our Christian day schools and pre-
schools. This board also supports singles gatherings, promotes
Bible studies and Bible study workshops and encourages atten-
dance at synodical youth gatherings. In addition, the District held a
joint youth gathering with the Central Illinois District in August
1996.

The Older Adult Advisory Committee sponsored an older adult
retreat together with the Lutheran Council of St. Louis in 1996 and
again in 1998.

Two braille centers are located in our Southern Illinois District.
The one at Concordia, Granite City, has been in existence since
1979, and the other at Immanuel, West Point, has been in existence
since 1989.

The District has a close working relationship with Lutheran
Child and Family Services of Illinois and assists them in an East
St. Louis Fathers’ Center, helping fathers with a holistic approach
that includes family and spiritual counseling and employment en-
hancement. Another joint endeavor is helping to provide the pro-
fessional workers of the District and their families with counseling
services through an ordained LCMS pastor who is also a family
counselor. The District older adult ministry is carried on in con-
junction with Lutheran Child and Family Services.

Since April 1987, the Southern Illinois District has been in a
partnership arrangement with the Central Illinois District and the
Synod in using the services of a gift planning counselor for the two
Districts. In 1998 this arrangement was adjusted, so that our Dis-
trict gift planning counselor is no longer shared with the Central
Illinois District but now works half time for our District and half
time for the LCMS Foundation office in St. Louis. The Southern
Illinois District is pleased to be an integral part of our Synod in car-
rying on the work of our Lord to bring the Gospel to the people of
Southern Illinois.

Herbert C. Mueller, Jr., President

R7-05-34
Texas District

The state of Texas experiences an annual net growth of more
than 300,000 people. Retirees and winter Texans from the North,
high tech workers and executives from the West, corporate head-
quarters transferees from the East, and Central American and Mex-
ican immigrants from the South contribute to the burgeoning pop-
ulation of this second most populous state in the U.S.

Reaching the unchurched portion of the 19.5 million residents
of Texas is the task which our Lord has placed before us. We ap-
proach that task with faithfulness, creativity, and vigor, trusting the
Lord’s promise that His Word will accomplish that which He
pleases.

The mission of the Texas District is to strengthen congregations

* to reach the lost;

« disciple the saved;

* to care for people;

* locally and globally.