LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 4

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4 . SYNOD REPORTS

Since 1968, the number of annual adult confirmands has re-
mained virtually the same, just under 30,000. Statistically, it re-
quires the efforts of 115 LCMS members to result in one adult
confirmation.

We are facing significant financial challenges that will chart the
course of the Synod in the years ahead:

* Total annual LCMS congregational contributions have risen
from $200 million to more than $1 billion in the past 30 years
($1.3 billion in 2003 and $1.4 billion in 2006).

¢ Congregational contributions to the LCMS budget through the
districts of the Synod have declined from just over
$25,000,000 to slightly under $25,000,000, not adjusted for
inflation, in the past three decades ($22.5 million in 2003 and
$20 million in 2006).

LCMS communicant membership has risen from 1,875,000 to

1,950,000 in the past 30 years, a sign of the graying of the

LCMS.

LCMS baptized membership has declined from 2.8 million to
Just under 2.6 million in that same period of time.

* We are blessed with a strong commitment to biblical and con-
fessional theology, yet average attendance at worship, Sunday
School, and Bible class continues to decline in many of our con-
gregations.

LCMS Bible study trends indicate Sunday School pupil enroll-
ment dropped from 850,000 thirty years ago to under 500,000
today, with youth and adult Bible study group participants in-
creasing from 310,000 to 340,000 during that same period.

LCMS total weekly worship attendance has declined from
1,140,000 to 960,000 in the past 30 years, a decrease of more
than 15 percent. Approximately one of every three baptized
members of our Synod attends worship each week.

We struggle with reaching and retaining people in our congrega-
tions, including our children and grandchildren:

¢ Almost 50 percent of the infants baptized in our congregations
are not confirmed in them.

* Almost 50 percent of the children confirmed in our congrega-
tions are not active in them at age 21.

We are currently experiencing critical shortages of professional
church workers, including both pastors and educators. Many of
our workers are stressed. Some are depressed and on the verge
of burnout. Others are contemplating resignation due to family
and/or financial pressures.

Since 1988, the LCMS has lost approximately 1,750 more or-
dained ministers and more than 3,000 more commissioned min-
isters 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

2007 Convention Workbook

this moment in time, the Lutheran church has no meaningful
presence in the minds of most Americans, especially non-
white, 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 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!

SEG IGG oi za IG kk kak ge ka aa

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 ex-
perience challenges of many kinds.
At the same time, I am greatly encouraged by the growing de-
velopment of a mission spirit exemplified by the increasing number
of congregations and organizations that have become focused in-
tentionally 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 extra-curricular 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,