LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 59

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
Another major duty of a Synod that wants to be and
remain an Evangelical Lutheran Synod is that it not
seek its own glory, but only the glory of God, being intent not so much on its own growth, but rather on the
growth of Christ’s kingdom and the salvation of souls.
You see, dear brethren, we are assembled here not
for our own sake. We are in the faith, and by this faith
we hope to be saved! But there are still many millions
who have no faith! This is why we are here—so that we
might bring salvation to as many people as we possibly
can, so that the sad state in Christendom and the corruption of the poor, blind heathen might be remedied.
Only for this reason does our gracious God allow
Christians to live on earth, that they might bring others
to the saving faith. Otherwise God would immediately
take a Christian to heaven as soon as he is converted.

The other day I was speaking to a person who said that
he thinks part of the problem is that Christians do not adequately realize just what a privilege and responsibility
they have to share the forgiveness of God in Christ. Time
and again, it is simply a matter of opening our mouth and
speaking. That’s it! That’s all! It is all about actually doing
it—actually telling the Good News about Jesus. We do this
in a kind, respectful, humble, and caring manner, but we
do it! We actually tell the Good News about Jesus.
That is what this emphasis our Synod has embraced is
all about. Acts 8:35 informs us that “Philip opened his
mouth and beginning from that Scripture he told him the
Good News about Jesus.” This is not about a far-off mission field. This is not about something across the country.
This is not something miles away. This has to do with the
people we work with and live with every day. We sometimes fail to realize that God’s mission exists not only
overseas in distant lands, but in our own homes. It exists
right across the street. It exists right across the airplane
aisle or in the seat next to you. The mission field is anywhere and everywhere we find people who are hurting, in
trouble, lonely, sick, worn down by life, and dejected. The
mission field is where there are people who are lost in
their sin, struggling with temptation and with guilt. In
other words: God’s mission field is everywhere!
The “Tell the Good News about Jesus” emphasis has
three key emphases. First, that we all be involved in a
much more intentional and purposeful manner in being in
the Word and prayer. Second, that we emphasize telling
the Good News to those who are around us. And, third,
that we emphasize making our congregations an encouraging place for those telling the Good News and a welcoming place for those who have heard it. May God continue to guide and bless this effort among us.
Encouraging and Supporting One Another in Telling the
Good News about Jesus

During the past three years the President’s Office has
been pursuing a number of activities intended to help encourage the congregations of our Synod to become more
personally involved telling the Good News about Jesus. I
have been impressed by the number of our Districts and
District Presidents who have also become involved and
supportive of our Synodwide effort to heighten and increase commitment in our congregations to the “Good
News” emphasis. I was pleased to notice how many of our
District conventions picked up the theme of the “Tell the

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Good News about Jesus” emphasis as their convention
theme.
First Vice-President Robert Kuhn and I have visited
each of our Districts during the last triennium to meet
with them and discuss the emphasis, meeting with the
District President and key leaders of the District and discussing and sharing encouragement back and forth about
this effort as well as other issues in our Synod.
There have been a number of resources made available
to our congregations for the sake of this emphasis. A special insert in the Reporter has appeared four times a year
offering helpful articles, Bible studies, and other suggestions. “O Lord, Open Our Lips” is a resource provided for
Circuit convocations. It was sent to all of our Circuit
Counselors and District Presidents and each of our colleges and seminaries. It is available on the Web site and
remains a helpful collection of resources for both Circuits
and congregations.
A special bulletin insert series has been produced by
Concordia Publishing House and made available to the
Synod at an extremely generous price—only one penny
each! This series is entitled “Touched by the Word” and offers stories of personal evangelism designed to encourage
and strengthen personal commitment to witnessing
among our people.
I have also been very appreciative of the manner in
which our Department of Evangelism, headed by Dr.
David Mulder, has provided much-needed leadership and
support for the “Tell the Good News about Jesus” emphasis. It is only natural that our Synodwide emphasis be
closely linked with our Department of Evangelism and in
turn with all of our District executives responsible for the
area of evangelism. This partnership continues to grow
and become stronger.
Another key element of the “Tell the Good News about
Jesus” emphasis has been our District coordinators. An individual from each of our 35 Districts, appointed by our
District Presidents, has served as a point of contact for the
“Tell the Good News about Jesus” emphasis in our Districts.
The Evangelism Outreach through Congregations
grant program is an initiative to help congregations in the
Synod identify very concrete ways they can move ahead
with evangelism and outreach. It has been generously
supported by the Schwan Charitable Foundation, which
remains a very good friend and supporter of our Synod. In
this program’s first year, grants totaling over $1.1 million
dollars were distributed to congregations across our
Synod. In its second year, the EOC grant process will be
making another one million dollars available to congregations. This is a first for our Synod, providing a way for
congregations to directly apply and receive support for
their evangelism emphases.
The EOC grants are targeted primarily toward smaller
congregations that have a vision and desire for outreach
but need resources. Congregations that had few new adult
members in the past several years were especially encouraged to consider innovative and creative ways they
could move ahead with outreach. Multi-year projects were
encouraged moreso than single one-time projects.
200l Convention Proceedings