LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 112

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112 SYNODICAL REPORTS

vocates and new supporters have met the challenges of decisions
made in the past several conventions to continue and increase sup-
port of Pioneer with renewed commitment and an extremely suc-
cessful capital campaign. The objective to make Camp Pioneer a
primary resource for ministry in the District is being achieved at
an increasing level.

For many congregations, schools and preschools remain the ob-
vious entry point into the community. New funding models will be
necessary, constituencies will very likely change, and technology
will continue to generate new and exciting teaching methods, but
the core values and fundamental truths remain. Congregations with
elementary schools, however, face severe fiscal constraints. To help
congregations make that irreplaceable resource a fountainhead for
refreshing change, and to address other funding needs, the District
has partnered with the LCMS Foundation to make the services of a
current giving counselor available to our congregations to help
them explore funding options.

The commitment to mission outreach in the Eastern District de-
mands vision, determination, and a sense of entrepreneurship for
the sake of making a difference in the name of Jesus. The Puerto
Rican outreach in Philadelphia came full circle as at the 2003 con-
vention we received into membership our newest congregation,
Iglesia Luterana Nazaret. That congregation continues to grow and
raise up leaders, some of whom are now being trained to take the
mission to the next generation. Similar ventures are being made
among the Korean population of Philadelphia, centered at Calvary,
Havertown. Work continues among Ethiopians and Messianic Jews
in that city to help them identify ways in which the Eastern Dis-
trict can work with them to make a difference in the name of Jesus.
A Mission Developer has been called to the City of Buffalo. Al-
ready in that city, a new storefront ministry has begun and plans
are underway for a variety of new mission opportunities as well as
the support and development of existing ministries.

The Eastern District is committed to the continuous transfor-
mation of its congregations so that they can make a difference in
the name of Jesus in the next generation as they have in the past.
District staff will work with these congregations to help them find
ways to grow into centers of leadership development, in which ded-
icated disciples learn to commit themselves to the power of God’s
Holy Spirit. As congregations bathe their ministry in prayer, they
also look for opportunities to form strategic alliances for the pur-
pose of reaching out into the communities surrounding them with
the message of the Gospel in a style and language that can be un-
derstood by those who live there.

Apostolic mission congregations will be able to identify their
core beliefs, understand their passion, and know what they can do
better than anyone else. These will be congregations that reflect
their apostolic nature as places of welcome, worship, nurture, and
mission. These are mission outposts on the frontier of a world that
does not know about the message we have of God’s love and for-
giveness—a message we want them to hear.

John G. Brunner, President

R7-05-05
English District

The English District marks its 93rd anniversary as a District in
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in 2004. It also marks
the 132nd anniversary of when the District was first organized as
the English Conference of Missouri (1877) and its 116th anniver-
sary of when the Conference became the English Synod of Mis-
souri (1888). The measure of the District’s stability over all these
years can only be attributed to the grace and wisdom of our
Lord. We praise and thank God for all the blessings showered on
the District over these many years.

2004 Convention Workbook

In the past triennium the church workers and congregations of
the District continued to show forth their response to our Lord’s
Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptiz-
ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.” The English District increased by 43 percent the number of
children baptized (ranking second in the Synod), increased by 75
percent the number of children confirmed (ranked first in the
Synod), and increased by 67 percent the number of adults confirmed
in that time period (ranked first in the Synod). Once again we praise
and thank God for the church workers and people of the District
who take seriously the command of our Lord in Matthew 28.

At the end of 2003, the English District numbered 300 rostered
pastors, 157 congregations, 68 schools (18 elementary, 49 early
childhood, 1 high school), with 371 teachers and administrators
serving those schools. The English District presently has 140 ros-
tered commissioned workers. The English District now proclaims
the Gospel in 17 states and the Province of Ontario, Canada, with
19 different languages witnessing to the Gospel in their native
tongue through our District congregations. Again we praise God
for our District servants and congregations who continue to carry
out the District’s mission statement: “Partners in Christ—Working
Together—Equipping to Gather.”

At the 51st convention of the English District in June 2003,
under the theme “One Gospel—Many People—Share the Joy!” the
convention approved three significant, forward-looking, and very
positive changes to the ongoing ministry of a District alive in mis-
sion and ablaze in the Spirit. (1) Resolved that the English District
Board of Directors increase for the next triennium, on a yearly
basis, both the percentage of offerings given to the Synod and the
percentage of offerings that are devoted to planting new missions
and revitalizing declining congregations in North America. The
District’s Board of Directors has financially pledged a 15 percent
increase in its commitment to the Synod for the year 2004; (2) The
convention approved new core values that will strengthen even fur-
ther a District in mission. Those core values encompass mission
work without geographic limitations, new church planting, and
congregational revitalization, continually offering Christ-centered
education opportunities in our congregations and offering people-
focused urban and special ministries as part of its overall strategy
for “Sharing the Joy of the One Gospel among Many Peo-
ple”; (3) The convention changed the administrative structure of
the District’s mission department by moving from a full-time mis-
sion executive to part-time Regional Assistants to the President:
Missions. One part-time Assistant to the President is placed in the
four regions of the District—Eastern: New York, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Rev. Thomas Spahn,
RAP:M; Lake Erie: Ontario, Canada, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,
Rev. David Thiele, RAP:M; Midwest: Illinois, Wisconsin, Mis-
souri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rev. Dr. Paul Bacon, RAP:M; West-
em: California, Utah, Arizona, Rev. Dr. David Poedel, RAP:M.
Along with a part-time Assistant to the President in the office, Rev.
Ronald Farah, each of the Regional Mission Assistants to the Pres-
ident has oversight over each of the mission congregations in their
region as well as regional Mission Councils that pursue new mis-
sion starts and congregational revitalization efforts.

The English District staff, as a result of the mission structure
change, is now served with minimal! full-time staff: the District
President; Mr. Tim Ewell, Parish Services; Mr. Dale Lewis, VP
LCEF; and recently joining the District, Mr. Dan Miller, Treasurer
and Business Manager. Each of these staff members maintains
high, spiritual focus on the Synod, District, and congregational re-
lationships, recognizing no power over the church but that of Christ
and His Word alone.

As the English District moves energetically into the twenty-first
century as a non-geographic District, one of its objectives is to con-
tinue serving as a progressive, forward-looking element in our