LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 54

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54

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

From the past, in the present, and into the future comes The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, blessed by God in so many
ways, yet significantly challenged by the realities of a rapidly
changing world!

• Adult confirmations—Pilot Event—Sept. 12–13, 2003—
St. John’s, Ellisville, Missouri.

Specific Initiatives During the Past Triennium
Designed to Address Synodical Decline

• Worship attendance—Nov. 14–15, 2003—King of Kings,
Omaha, Nebraska.

In a concentrated and comprehensive effort to address
the 30-year decline in our Synod outlined above, the President’s office has undertaken a number of specific initiatives. Following are summaries of these initiatives.
• Mission 21st Century Task Force—Tasked with assessing the
reasons for the 30-year decline in LCMS baptized membership
and making recommendations to the President of the Synod for
reversing that trend. Convention delegates will hear much about
this report, which is included in this Convention Workbook. Delegates will be considering specific recommendations of the task
force, which will be presented by the floor committee(s) to which
this report has been assigned.

• Adult confirmations—Feb. 13–14, 2004—Concordia, San
Antonio, Texas.

• Ablaze!—An endeavor to reach 100 million people around the
world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Humanly speaking, this is an ambitious goal, initiated by and under the supervision of LCMS
World Mission. It can be accomplished only by God’s Spirit,
working in the hearts, lives, and lips of the pastors, educators, and
people of the LCMS in a partnership of congregations, Districts,
boards, commissions, agencies, institutions, auxiliaries, Recognized Service Organizations, and partner churches of the LCMS.

• Pentecost 2000+—An effort to begin 1,000 new crosscultural ministries in the LCMS. As of the writing of this
report, 906 such ministries have been identified. The face
and shape of our country have changed radically in the
past few decades, with the emigration to the United
States of millions from Africa, Asia, South America, Central America, and other parts of the world. God is bringing the world to our doorstep, presenting a very real and
quite challenging opportunity to reach these people from
many parts of the world with the precious Gospel of our
Lord and Savior.

The 2004 LCMS Convention theme is designed to highlight the
significance of the Ablaze! endeavor by encouraging congregations and professional church workers to focus on igniting the
world with Christ’s love. Great attention will be given to assisting
delegates and their congregations to develop an even greater appreciation for the work we are doing together as a Synod in igniting a worldwide mission movement, ONE Mission—Ablaze!
• ONE Mission—Ablaze! Igniting Congregations—This significant effort is designed to encourage all LCMS congregations in
the accomplishment of the Synod’s mission, “vigorously to make
known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches,
communities, and the world.”
Groups of 30 congregations from throughout the Synod, objectively identified on the basis of statistical data in different categories of ministry during the past five years, are invited to send a
senior pastor and key lay leader to each event. At congregational
or personal expense, they gather on-site at the host congregation,
typically one of the leading congregations in the specific ministry
category receiving attention at the event. Thanksgiving to God is
offered, appreciation and encouragement to congregational leaders are expressed, and ideas, plans, and strategies are shared. With
funding provided by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, special
projects designed to encourage congregations throughout the
Synod to sharpen their focus in this specific ministry area are initiated by the congregational leaders present, who also pledge to
be available to assist other congregations of the Synod in their
mission efforts. The information learned from these events is
posted on the Web site of The Office of the President, The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, at www.lcms.org/president.
Events have already been held that focus on:
2004 Convention Proceedings

• Recruitment and retention of professional church workers—Oct. 24–25, 2003—St. James, Lafayette, Indiana.

Future events, with tentative scheduled dates:
• Ratio of confirmed members to adult confirmations—Oct.
1–2, 2004.
• Rural or small town ministries—Oct. 15–16, 2004.
• Cross-cultural ministries—Nov. 12–13, 2004.
• Development and expansion of new missions—Feb. 4–5,
2005.
• Alternate dates—April 29–30, 2005.
• Alternate dates—May 13–14, 2005.

• What a Way!—Recruiting and retaining professional
church workers in the LCMS in response to the critical
need for such leaders for the future of the Synod. The
first-year class enrollment at both seminaries for the
2003–2004 academic year is the highest in 30 years! God
be praised! Many challenges in this regard face our Synod
in the years ahead, with 50 percent of the pastors of the
LCMS currently within 10 years of retirement age.
• For the Sake of the Church—An initiative begun prior
to the beginning of this triennium to raise an endowment
of $400 million to support the training of professional
church workers and to double the number of LCMS students in our 10 colleges and universities. Recent reports
indicate a significant increase in LCMS students at the
schools of our Concordia University System. Endowment
receipts, pledges, and planned gifts now total more than
$100 million in this huge endeavor. God be praised!
• Next Generation Task Force—Of the teachers in our
LCMS schools, one-third are synodically trained and rostered, one-third are Lutheran but not synodically trained
and rostered, and one-third are not Lutheran and, obviously, not synodically trained or rostered. The report of
this very important task force, appointed to assist in encouraging and facilitating the theological education of
non-LCMS trained teachers in LCMS schools, is included
in this Convention Workbook. Delegates will be considering specific recommendations of the task force, which will
be presented by the floor committee(s) to which this report has been assigned.