LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 98

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98 SYNODICAL REPORTS

by this heavenly wine—that Christ is our brother, yes, has become our

flesh and blood with us—plainly shows that he is a lost and condemned

man. [May] the Holy Ghost change our heart and help us! (Sermons of

Luther, vol. 1, p. 119)

Millions to Those in Need: In LCMS World Relief/Human
Care, we have the great privilege of seeing and supporting all the
“good things” going on in the church and seeing all the hearts “set
ablaze” in love for Christ and for Christ in our neighbor. Because
of the generosity of donors (individuals and congregations) we
have been able to send millions of dollars of assistance to projects
all over the world; projects that build local capacity, meet local
needs, strengthen local Lutheran churches, and increase the ability
of Lutheran Christians to reach out in love to their neighbors. Yet
the international work barely scratches the surface of all the good
happening in the name of Christ and in the strong confession of the
Lutheran faith. .

Proclamation and Care Belong Together! We are convinced
that acts of mercy have the most impact upon body and soul when
they happen in close proximity to Word and Sacrament. Proclama-
tion and love belong together like a hand and glove. A church con-
cerned about being faithful to Scripture and the Confessions can’t
help but be a church active in loving the neighbor, body and soul.
And for such a church, social ministry may never devolve to mere
social gospel. “The church cannot be better governed and main-
tained than by having all of us live under one head, Christ . . . dili-
gently joined together in unity of doctrine, faith, sacraments,
prayer, and works of love” (SA II IV 9). For a fuller presentation
on the biblical, confessional, and theological foundations for
our church body’s work of mercy, please visit our Web page at
http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=3421, where you
will find our “Theological Foundations” document, which you can
use for individual or group study.

Opportunities Blossoming: The report below highlights many
positives amidst the challenges of the broader church body and fi-
nancial realities we face. This past triennium saw the launch of
LCMS World Relief partnerships with Districts. We are able to
provide matching funds for Districts to achieve the international
mission priorities they have. A new Housing Support Corpora-
tion has been formed. This entity will become a key tool for the
advancement of the Lutheran faith in the inner cities, where af-
fordable housing is such a sad problem and where LCMS churches
still stand against the withering onslaught of cultural chaos and
dereliction. We are aggressively seeking government grants and
creating a banking loan pool for large-scale housing projects. Both
seminaries are now training deaconesses on the graduate level. The
doors are wide open for the service of women in the church and in
churchly institutions, and now more than ever, with the help of
LCMS World RelieffHuman Care, women are being trained for
such tasks of mercy and service. Finally, we are currently taking a
very hard look at issues of “brand,” “identity,” and the way we
raise dollars, so we can serve the church most effectively and effi-
ciently for the dollars spent.

The ELCA/LCMS Intersection—Conviction with Clarity
and Kindness: The Board for Human Care is responsible for
nearly 120 social-ministry agencies, most jointly recognized by
both the LCMS and the ELCA. The LCMS, through LCMS World
Relief, provides funding for Lutheran World Relief, Baltimore;
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services; Lutheran Services in
America; and Lutheran Disaster Response. These agencies together
serve millions and bring countless blessings to those in need. This
intersection is, to be sure, a challenging one, and it means that as
the ELCA continues to wrestle with the issue of homosexuality, it
is vital for the LCMS to be clear, kind, and compassionate with re-
spect to our biblical convictions. This we intend to be, on behalf of
the Synod.

2004 Convention Workbook

It is our studied conviction that the inter-Lutheran work can
only have integrity if the LCMS is independently strong and brings
strong capacity and conviction to the “cooperation in externals”
table. That means we must have capacity and dollars for this work.
It is simply not possible to raise the needed funds in this area from
individual donors. The dilemma we face is that we have a man-
dated $1,000,000 task, but little funding to carry out the function.
The result is that we cannot serve these agencies in the manner they
deserve and require in the areas of leadership development, fiscal
viability, Lutheran identity, and cultivating relationships with Dis-
tricts and congregations. We are seeking innovative solutions to
this challenge.

Blessed and Proud to Serve! It’s not an easy time to do the
work of the church, but I have the great privilege of seeing the
work of the LCMS all over the world. I’ ve seen with my own eyes
many of the thousands upon thousands assisted in the name of
Jesus. I’ve seen AIDS orphans and street children lovingly brought
to Baptism and given food and shelter. I’ve met women sheltered
and victims of disease cared for by Lutheran Christians the world
over—and we at LCMS World Relief/Human Care are humbled
and humbly proud to have the privilege of doing this work on be-
half of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Rey. Matthew C. Harrison
Executive Director
For the Board for Human Care

Next Triennium Major Goals:

1. Engage and inform the church body in dialogue about issues of
human need and well being, providing theologically sound,
relevant, and challenging leadership and resources.

2. Encourage the church (congregational, District, national) to
assume its fullest appropriate stature and participation in the

ublic square as a corporate entity, while informing and
enabling LCMS individuals to act in the public square.

3. Be a catalyst for compassionate action at all levels in our
church body.

4. Engage the church body’s youth in compassionate action, and
challenge young people to pursue diakonic vocations.

5. Develop leadership for and provide assistance to ministrations
of mercy to meet human needs.

6. Intentionally partner with LCMS mission and ministry efforts
through Districts and Social Ministry Organizations (SMOs),
leveraging proclamation with diakonic mercy, thus encouraging
diakonic mercy to be accompanied by proclamation of the
Gospel.

7. Be the point of contact and provide guidance for “cooperation
in externals” efforts of the Synod with other Lutherans and
other Christians.

8. Be an advocate for the spiritual, mental, and physical well-
being of church workers, both active and retired.

9. Act with complete integrity, theological and ethical, in all
contacts with donors, partners, and all other constituencies.

Past Triennium Major Accomplishments:
Grant Administration

LCMS World Relief and Human Care encourages diakonic
mercy accompanied by proclamation of the Gospel through grants
that meet emergency needs and promote self-sufficiency, both in
the United States and also worldwide. Partnership and challenge
grants were added to engage Districts and congregations in di-
akonic mercy. Here are some grant administration accomplish-
ments of the past triennium:

* Three grants totaling $147,000 approved by national LWML con-
ventions for health-related projects benefiting women and chil-
dren in Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, and Latvia.

* Through grant distribution in the United States, $2.9 million
awarded in domestic grants to congregations and agencies, in-
cluding Lutheran social ministry organizations, to initiate new or
to enhance existing human-care ministries.