LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 118

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118 SYNODICAL REPORTS

ual members deal biblically with issues of conflict: “Living and
Forgiving as God’s Holy People.” Part of this program will be the
establishing of a Congregational Care Counselor, who will com-
plement our Church-Worker Care Coordinator.

As we look ahead, we pray that our District and our Synod may
remain faithful till Christ comes. We look back with gratitude and
go forth with joyful anticipation guided by these words of Scrip-
ture from our District convention: “For the trumpet will sound. ...
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Al-
ways give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you
know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:52b,
58).

Lutheran
Christians in the
Mission of our
Savior.
Donald J. Fondow, President

R7-05-14
Minnesota South District

“It’s Time to Fish” was the theme for our 2003 District con-
vention, and it serves as the theme for the current triennium. We
are called by our Lord to be fishers of men, and the Minnesota
South District is well-stocked for the work of fishing.

In addition to the growing native population, more and more
immigrants from various nationalities are making their home in
Minnesota. This trend is expected to continue, resulting in an addi-
tional 650,000 to one million people by 2015. Eighty percent of
these new people will move within the boundaries of the Minnesota
South District.

In the past triennium the MNS District supported work among
the Native Americans, Hispanic, Hmong, Laotian, Sudanese, Liber-
ian, and Somali people. Work among the deaf, as well as in campus
and urban settings, also took place with the District’s help. All this
was done in addition to our mission and outreach among the native
Minnesota population.

The Lord has blessed the MNS District with leaders to assist in
and carry out His calling to be fishers of men. Men have been led to
receive additional training through DELTO, the Ethnic Leadership
Training Institute (ELTD, and the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of
Theology (EIIT). Just this past fall two men completed their
DELTO training and were ordained.

Another blessing has been the developing of partnerships with
congregations and church workers of the District. We not only
want to hold up fishing opportunities before the congregations, but
also invite them to join us in the task of continuing and expanding
our mission effort.

We rejoice that several new schools were started this past tri-
ennium. We now have 44 Lutheran early childhood centers, 51 el-
ementary schools, and 6 high schools serving nearly 9,000 students.
These schools, along with their teachers and administrators, help
raise awareness of and outreach to the unchurched within the Dis-
trict.

The next triennium promises even more opportunities and an
even greater population among which to fish. Among the chal-
lenges facing such a mission endeavor is funding. In order to meet
this challenge, the MNS District Board of Directors established a
campaign tied into the theme “It’s Time to Fish.” The goal is to
raise $3 million by asking 1,000 partners to give $1,000 per year
for the next three years.

Another challenge is the spiritual, mental, and emotional well-
ness of the professional church workers and their families. Our pro-
fessional workers, as leaders in our fishing endeavor, are especially
targets of the snares and fiery darts of Satan. The MNS District,

2004 Convention Workbook

through opportunities for renewal and refocusing, continues to pro-
vide support for our workers and families.

Events during the past triennium have reminded us about the
urgency with which we bring the Gospel to unbelievers. Doors are
closing to us in foreign mission fields, yet the Lord is opening new
opportunities here. Through His Word, our Savior daily calls us to
the task of spreading the precious, life-giving Gospel. The lake is
stocked; the catch is waiting; and “It’s Time to Fish.”

Lane R. Seitz, President

R7-05-15
Missouri District

Our triennial District convention was held June 8-11, 2003, at
the Holiday Inn Select Executive Center in Columbia. The theme
for our Missouri District convention was “See His Glory—Tell the
Story!” based on a hymn written by Dr. Paul Ph. Spitz.

During this past triennium our District Board of Directors met
in special sessions to develop a strategic plan for the District. Part
of this strategic planning resulted in the development of mission,
vision, and values statements to direct us in our mission task and
responsibilities. Our developed mission statement is “The Missouri
District is to serve, to encourage, and to empower congregations to
fulfill the Great Commission and to promote unity of the true
faith.” Our vision statement became “The vision of the Missouri
District is of congregations partnering as one church, united in doc-
trine ... ready, equipped, and acting to fulfill the Great Commis-
sion in their unique setting, with their unique people.”

The Board of Directors recommended two basic triennium goals
to our 2003 convention. These were accepted as follows:

Goal 1: To establish and support a leadership development process
for professional and layworkers.

Goal 2: To develop and support a system of communication that
effectively links congregations to one another and to the
District.

A Coordinating Committee, consisting of the Chairmen of the
District’s four boards, the Mission and Ministry Facilitator Coor-
dinator, and the Gift Planning Counselor will meet regularly with
the District President to help every entity of the District to fashion
goals and objectives and events that measure up to our mission, vi-
sion, and values, and also the two goals established by the conven-
tion.

At our 2000 convention the District adopted a new constitution
that marked a movement away from helping congregations find
programs to one of helping them see their mission challenges. A
number of our executives became “Mission and Ministry Facilita-
tors” and have continued to serve congregations to help them im-
prove their mission and ministry outreach into their respective com-
munities.

At the present time our District numbers 297 chartered congre-
gations. We still have a number of mission starts that have not been
chartered. Among them are Chai V’ Shalom (a ministry to the Jew-
ish community of St. Louis); our Hispanic congregation in Sedalia;
our Chinese congregation meeting at Immanuel, Olivette; Pointe
of Hope Lutheran Church, Blue Springs; New Beginnings Lutheran
Church, Eureka; Jefferson Hills Lutheran Church, Jefferson
County; and a new mission start at Ashland.

During the past triennium two new congregations were offi-
cially received into the Synod: Child of God Lutheran Church, St.
Peters; River of Life Lutheran Church, Springfield.

Our baptized membership as a District hovers around 143,000.
Our congregations are served by 261 parish pastors. Lutheran
schools in Missouri have continued to grow. Currently we list 48
early childhood centers not affiliated with an elementary school.
The enrollment of these is 2,631. Our District lists 64 elementary
schools with an enrollment of 10,652 students. We have six high