LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 123

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 123

New Regional Structure Now Fully Implemented

The reorganized regional structure, adopted by the 1997 con-
vention of the District and put in place at the end of the 2000 con-
vention of the District, is now fully operating. It continues to serve
the District well. A single Board of Mission and Ministry is re-
sponsible for all areas of congregation life, mission, and service!
For the first time, Mission Development, Stewardship Life, Chris-
tian Education, Singles Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Human Care
Ministries all will be in dialogue together as they seek to serve the
congregations of the District.

Designed for flexible response to changing congregational
needs, the structure has responded to expressed needs and provided
important shifts in organization. In 2001 a new approach to the de-
velopment of new mission congregations and new ministries has
been developed. Four Regional Mission Outreach Teams replace
the former District Mission Board and Evangelism Board. By plac-
ing these two ministry thrusts under one group, the outreach that
leads to mission development and the actual development of that
mission will flow more smoothly and be in the hands of congrega-
tions of the very region in which the new ministry will take place!
In 2003 the Board for Mission and Ministry established a Young
Adult Ministry Team, staffed it, and gave it its charter to support
ministry to post-high school young adults.

Congregational Services Staffing

Closely tied to the regional structure are the Executives for Con-
gregational Services, replacing the former “Executives for Pro-
gram,” which had served the District in the past.

One of the key roles of the executives ties in closely to the de-
velopment of new missions and ministries as they serve as staff to
the four Regional Ministry Outreach Teams.

In addition, they serve a significant portion of their time as fa-
cilitators for long-range and short-range planning in congregations
of the District. Above all, these staff members continue to serve to
greatly enhance the communication between congregations and the
District leadership.

Ministry Initiative in Housing Continues

In 1999 the District Board of Directors authorized a loan of $1
million secured from the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, provided
interest free (interest paid by the District budget), to support a “‘Ne-
hemiah” type project of housing development in the city of Chicago.
Now renamed “The Ezra Housing Plan” (a Chicago commercial firm
has taken the Nehemiah name), this effort involves the city of
Chicago, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the Episcopal
Diocese of Chicago, and African American churches. In similar fash-
ion as the first Nehemiah project in Brooklyn, N.Y., supported by a
loan of $1 million from The Lutheran Church Extension Fund, this
project will enable the creation of hundreds of quality homes for low-
income, first-time home buyers. Housing sites are planned within the
nearby communities of one of our congregations, giving us an op-
portunity to serve that new community with the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We are thrilled to be able to give this evidence of our
Savior’s love in caring for people’s physical needs as well as spiritual
needs. With the project now reorganized, we look forward to con-
tinuing our support for the next triennium.

New Ministry Initiative to Fight Racism

In early 2001 the Northern Illinois District received a grant from
Wheat Ridge Ministries to fund in part a project aimed at “dis-
abling systemic racism in our congregations and communities!”
Under the title “One Lord, One Faith, One God and Father of Us
All,” this three-year project will train teams of God’s people within
congregations and institutions of the District to deal with the still
persistent evil of racism. The first three teams were trained in

2001-02. Congregational teams are now in the early stages of de-
velopment. Without the recognition of a multicultural mission field
all around us, the Northern Illinois District will not be able to faith-
fully serve the Lord of the church in all of our communities. We
pray God’s richest blessings on this effort to clearly and power-
fully witness to the fact that there is truly “One Lord, One Faith,
One God and Father of Us All!”

The Lord of the church continues to set great challenges before
us. We look to the years ahead with great excitement and with great
expectations.

. William H. Ameiss, President

R7-05-23

Northwest District

“Tn all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because
of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now,
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippi-
ans 1:46).

The past three years in the Northwest District have certainly
demonstrated God’s faithfulness. It has been a time of dynamic
change. At the beginning of the Triennium, President Warren Schu-
macher had been re-elected for his fourth term and restructuring
was working. Then change came, which in human terms could
have been considered negative: Mission Executive Rev. David
Hoover was called to his eternal rest suddenly in November 2001,
not long after the economy took its downward spiral which neces-
sitated far-reaching budget cuts. But the Lord used these events to
work for good.

Congregational Services Executive Dr. Denny Langston was se-
lected to work in Expanding Ministries. He began re-thinking how
to do outreach. Budget constraints also dictated that we could no
longer do “business as usual,” which impacted how District mis-
sions and ministries were supported. From this, “Tracking the
Spirit” was born. Key to “Tracking the Spirit” is local ownership
and new outreach approaches appropriate to specific areas. Con-
gregations, ministries, and individuals are forming Coalitions of
Encouragement and thereby strengthening their purpose in Christ
and outreach to their communities.

The outreach in Alaska has expanded due to the growth of the
Alaska Mission for Christ, under the full-time leadership of Rev.
Dr. Chris Reinke. Courses are offered in the Northwest District
Leadership Advancement Process (LAP) system online for the
training of laypeople for enhanced service to the church.

The Circuit Rider Ministry in sparsely populated areas of South-
ern Idaho expanded under the umbrella of the District’s “Tracking
the Spirit” initiative. Ministries to various ethnic groups have
grown beyond expectations and include Vietnamese, Korean,
Latino/Hispanic, Native American, Oromo-African, and Indian cul-
tures. Many additional cultures are being touched with the Gospel
message through the work of the Tacoma Seaman’s Center, which
shares Christ with seafarers on ships docking in the Tacoma, Wash-
ington port.

Over 50 of our 271 congregations have participated in “Track-
ing the Spirit” training held throughout the District (which encom-
passes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska). The Northwest
District is the largest geographical District in the Synod. (It repre-
sents one-quarter of the land mass of the United States.) A goal or
dream is to purchase a motor home to make the ministry teams of
the District more mobile and available to our 270 congregations
and 38 schools scattered throughout the Northwest District. (And
we thank Synod for their support of this project!) Additionally, the
Northwest District also has strong partnerships with many of the
ministries and schools in the Pacific Rim countries.

Our original goal was to plant 33 churches and mentors, 396 in-
terest groups, and count 4,750 new believers in Christ by end of
2004. We underestimated God’s blessings! As of April 2004, we
have over 50 new churches that will come to fruit in 2004-2005,
over 500 interest groups, and have reached over 20,000 people with

2004 Convention Workbook