LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 87

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SYNOD REPORTS 87

(Consider Mark 10:45; Phil. 2:5-11.) When they experience

“wholeness” as described previously, they are able to more ener-

getically proclaim, “Christ’s love is here for you.” A healthy min-

ister and his/her family have opportunity to model “wellness” and
provide a positive testimony to the church and to the community
in which they serve.

A grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans provided the
financial resources for Let’s Talk It Over: 10 Conversations on
Supporting Church Workers. This DVD/workbook combination
uses vignettes, discussion questions, and Bible study to investigate
10 areas pertinent to the life of a church worker as he/she seeks to
serve a congregation. The topics (conversations) touched upon are:
Pay and Benefits, Time Out, Self Care, Healthy Family Support,
Time Management, Vocational Development, Spiritual Growth,
Proper Boundaries, Spiritual Warfare, and Empowering and Let-
ting Go. Groups using the DVD and studying the topics are
encouraged to seek ways to support and uplift their church
worker(s) for faithful, competent, and joyful ministry. A preview of
the DVD and the workbook with Bible studies and discussion ques-
tions can be downloaded at cmgs.lcms.org.

The commission is seriously committed to “Worker Wellness.” In
2006, the CMGS partnered with the What a Way Initiative to sponsor
the “Healthy You” campaign at 32 district conventions. This effort
sought to make professional ministers more aware of “small steps”
they can take to improve their physical health by reducing daily
caloric intake and increasing daily physical activity. In addition, the
CMGS sought comments as to what professional workers felt the
commission could do for them to serve them well. By far, the most
frequently listed request was to continue to “regularly provide infor-
mation and resources” (32 percent of all responses).

On Feb. 15-16, 2007, thanks to a grant from Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans, the CMGS hosted the first conference for Advocates
of Ministerial Wellness in more than ten years. The conference was
attended by 58 participants from 23 LCMS districts. Goals of the
conference included:

* Identification and provision of support to individuals leading ef-
forts for ministerial growth and support in districts;

* To energize this “community” of advocates toward specific strate-
gic targets in “Worker Wellness”;

* Provision of small group interaction around “best practices,”
along with resources to promote growth and nurture wellness
among the professional church workers in districts.

Resources for worker wellness were showcased at the confer-
ence from various entities (in addition to CMGS) such as Concor-
dia Plan Services, Grace Place, LCMS World Relief and Human
Care, Parish Nurses Association, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans,
and Wheat Ridge Ministries. Highlights of the conference included:
* Opportunity in small group interaction to support one another in

challenges to wellness that are common among us;

* Celebration of successes in personal efforts toward wellness;

¢ Learning it’s about “we” (marriage/family/congregation/body
of Christ) not “me”
* Accountability (someone to keep you on track)
¢ Grace Place retreats
*PALS
¢ Sabbaticals
¢ Spiritual directors
¢ Parish nurses
* Health risk assessments
* Circuit efforts
¢ Pastors’ wives retreats
* Professional counselors
¢ Networking of support
¢ Clergy support groups

¢ Family weight-loss challenge
* Commitments by participants to “action steps” upon returning

home;

* Renew an emphasis on Care Committees in the congregation

* Publicize wellness thoughts in district newsletters

* Revitalize the District Ministerial Health Committee

* Co-develop a Circuit Wellness Convocation, using parish
nurses and others.

* Introduction of the “Wellness Incentive Grant”—a collaborative
effort of the Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support and
LCMS World Relief and Human Care offering “start-up” re-
sources to districts in their efforts to promote worker wellness.

Another “Worker Wellness” Conference is planned for Oct.
1-2, 2008 in Milwaukee.

Results the Wellness Action Team will be working to accom-
plish in the future include:
¢ Professional ministers who are responsive to the value of personal

wellness in its many dimensions and are connected, with ac-
countability, to the resources available for pursuing wellness.

+ A Synod system that is responsive to the value of ministerial well-
ness with leaders who are engaging and embracing appropriate
strategies for promoting ministerial wellness, including advocates
that are supportive and available to the professional ministers.

* Congregational members and lay leaders who embrace flourish-
ing and vibrant workers pursuing wellness in all of its dimensions.

— The Economic Vitality Action Team—Chaired by Mr. Philip

Meinzen, Mequon, Wisconsin, is creating a living blueprint to help

LCMS professional ministers (ordained and commissioned) and the

church body establish economic vitality.

In August of 2005, Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, asked the Commission on
Ministerial Growth and Support to take a leadership role in the
LCMS for addressing the issue of indebtedness, a financial issue
impacting the lives of many of the rostered church workers of the
LCMS.

The severity of the indebtedness issue had been highlighted re-
cently in statistical and survey results from the Lutheran Church
Extension Fund (LCEF). It was of concern to the LCEF that more
than 30 percent of the applicants for the Rostered Church Worker
(RCW) Loan Program, which is operated by LCEF, failed to qual-
ify due to extreme indebtedness.

As a result of that observation, LCEF and Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans conducted a study of indebtedness among Lutheran
church workers. The study, entitled “Debt and Its Impact in the
Lives of Church Workers,” included 1,377 rostered workers—591
from the LCMS, 394 from the ELCA, and 392 from the WELS.
The study was conducted by Daedalus Research of Mequon, Wis-
consin, and resulted in a series of general conclusions presented in
June 2004:

A. 21 percent of the participants identified that they are in continual
“debt stress’ worrying about making ends meet month after
month.

1. 45 percent in this category report indebtedness greater than

$50K (not including housing mortgage)

2. 10 percent in this category report indebtedness greater than

$100K (not including housing mortgage)

B. 43 percent of respondents indicated they have undergraduate-
or graduate-level educational indebtedness.

C. 40 percent indicated they did not worry about debt while they
were in the process of preparing themselves for their “call.”

D. 60 percent have three or more credit cards; 42 percent have
continuing balances, and 5 percent have at least one card
“maxed out.”

To verify the 2004 Daedalus Research for LCMS professional
church workers and to provide a baseline for the Economic Vitality

2007 Convention Workbook