LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 59

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
• Since 1988, the LCMS has lost approximately 1,750 more
ordained ministers and more than 3,000 more commissioned ministers than we have gained.
• A vitally significant challenge faces our Synod as we address the issue of caring for and retaining these special
gifts of God, while recruiting and training new workers to
lead us into the future.
Some Reflections and Insights to Address These
Present Realities
1. God’s church, to be living, vibrant and productive, must
rely on the power source of the church’s vitality, namely,
God’s means of grace. In the same way that we are
saved by grace through faith and our works flow from
that God-given faith, so also our powerful God provides
vitality in the church through the proclamation of His
Word and the administration of His Sacraments. The
result in the New Testament was rapid growth of the
church! The marginal vitality in our Synod challenges
us to address a genuinely spiritual problem. What
resides in our heads must also find a prominent place
in our hearts!
2. God has chosen to use people, His imperfect instruments,
to distribute the Word and Sacraments in order to
accomplish His will that all might be saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth. In the past several decades,
American and global culture has changed from
“churched” to “unchurched,” making communication of
the Gospel message much more difficult. At this moment
in time, the Lutheran church has no meaningful
presence in the minds of most Americans, especially nonwhite, non-upper-middle class Americans. We have
much work to accomplish in faithfully and fruitfully
communicating the Gospel of Christ to unbelieving
people in America in this 21st century!
3. A national church body such as the LCMS is dependent
upon the spiritual and organizational health and vitality
of individual congregations for its own corporate health
and vitality. Achieving holistic congregational health
and vitality with a passion for mission requires
significant effort, including concern for the holistic
health of its members and its workers, as well as a
proper concern for both doctrine and practice.
Congregational health and vitality with a passion for
mission must be the focus of our national Synod and its
35 districts.
4. Denominational finances are mostly dependent upon
the health and vitality of individual congregations.
Both the source and system of giving has significantly
changed in Synod’s funding over the last decade. For
example, 30 years ago, the national Synod received $25
million from congregations through the districts of the
Synod. This year (2004) these gifts amount to $22.5
million, not including special and designated gifts from
individuals and congregations in the districts. (In 2006
the national Synod received $20 million in unrestricted
gifts from the 35 districts of the Synod.) We must
address the question of whether we still want the
national Synod, on behalf of the 6,148 congregations of
the Synod, to conduct worldwide and national

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ministries such as missions, higher education,
congregational services, human care, etc. If so, from
where will come the funding? The bottom line is that
no program of funding or development will revitalize
the LCMS. The issue is not a funding or allocation
problem. Funding follows mission.
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!
******************************************************
While some of the facts and figures stated above have
changed in the past six years, I believe these observations still
capture and articulate in succinct fashion the state of the
Synod. Along with most other major U.S. church bodies, the
LCMS continues to experience challenges of many kinds.
At the same time, I am greatly encouraged by the growing development of a mission spirit exemplified by the increasing number of congregations and organizations that
have become focused intentionally and intently on expending
the precious resources of time, energy, and money on reaching lost people for Christ. All of this is necessary, even vital,
for the renewal and revitalization of the mission and ministry
of our Synod at every level. Consider the following:
• More and more LCMS congregations have become
directly involved in mission initiatives, both in their
communities and around the world.
• Our seminaries have incorporated into their curriculum
a distinctively mission-oriented focus.
• Our colleges and universities continue to develop a
mission emphasis, both in curricular and extracurricular endeavors.
• Ablaze! initiatives in the districts of our Synod have
increased significantly in the past triennium.
• Fan Into Flame donors have committed millions of
dollars to mission activities in and beyond their local
congregation.
• Our Synod’s auxiliaries, the Lutheran Women’s
Missionary League and the International Lutheran
Laymen’s League, continue to provide leadership in
prayer, financial support, mission involvement, congregational training, and media and printed resources for
the people and congregations of our Synod.
All these and many more initiatives are aimed at assisting congregations and their members “vigorously to make
known the love of Christ, by word and deed, within our
churches, communities, and the world.” (LCMS Mission
Statement)
Ablaze! and Fan Into Flame Goals
Although these goals have been stated numerous times in
multiple ways, I believe it is important to state them here
once more. By 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, under the blessing of Almighty God, we pray that the
Spirit-guided efforts associated with the Ablaze! movement
will have resulted in accomplishment of the following goals
adopted at the 2004 Synod convention:
2007 Convention Proceedings