LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 109

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SYNOD REPORTS 109

involved in helping in times of crisis. We were involved with relief
efforts for Hurricane Katrina, gathering offerings from our gener-
ous people who willingly showed their love for their brothers and
sisters in Christ who experienced some real difficulties. We helped
with two congregations in Gulfport, Mississippi. We also had many
groups of people who went to physically help restore the southern
area that had been severely damaged by the storm.

Christian education is a serious undertaking in our district. Most
of our congregations operate various volunteer education programs,
including Sunday School, VBS, midweek schools, confirmation in-
struction, Bible classes for various ages, and the like.

In addition to the above, 46 congregations are involved in the
operation of 24 full-time elementary schools and 4 high schools.
We also have 33 early childhood programs—preschools and child-
care centers—operated by CID congregations.

Besides the pastors and teachers serving in our district, we also
have over 20 directors of christian education, several DCE interns,
and 2 deaconesses serving in our congregations assisting with
youth, family ministries, music, camp ministry, and campus work
and in other ways.

There is always work to be done in the Lord’s kingdom. He has
assured us that His Word “will not return void but will accomplish
the purpose for which [He] sendf[s] it.” In all that we do for Him,
He reminds us, “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the
age.” Our prayer continues to be that the Lord give to His Church
and His people the strength and the faithfulness to preach and teach
His holy, inspired Word so that we can tell others the joy that we
have because Christ died and rose for us.

David J. Bueltmann, President

RT7-05-04
Eastern District

The Eastern District celebrates 153 years of ministry in 2007.

As it does, it takes extreme delight in the privilege and responsi-

"bility to “Share the Light” of the Gospel of Jesus in central and
western New York, the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and
Garrett County in Maryland. Included in our heritage are the
Synod’s first Church Extension Fund, the first English-speaking
congregations, the first non-German foreign language congrega-
tions (Polish, Jewish, Estonian and Lithuanian), and the first
African immigrant congregation.

In the past triennium, the Eastern District has focused efforts on
outreach opportunities that have presented themselves among a va-
riety of ethnic and immigrant populations primarily in the major
metropolitan areas of the district. Those groups have included peo-
ple of Ethiopian, West African, Asian, Indian, Spanish-speaking
and Korean backgrounds. New church starts have been made in
urban African-American, suburban, and rural contexts. One of
those church starts on the gang- and drug-infested east side of Buf-
falo will soon move into a new facility that was formerly a hydro-
ponic marijuana-growing operation seized by the DEA and made
available to Hannaniah Lutheran Church through the city’s aptly
named “Weed and Seed” program. A generous grant from the
LWML made the renovation of the property possible.

The Eastern District Board of Directors recently reaffirmed its
commitment to focus the efforts of the district staff on the continu-
ous transformation of congregations so they can “Share the Light”
of the message of the Gospel of Jesus—one person, one critical
event at a time. Staff and elected representatives work with con-
gregations to help “Ignite and Light,” a mission movement in their
communities as centers of leadership development in which dedi-
cated disciples learn to commit themselves to the power of God’s
Holy Spirit.

As our congregations engage themselves in God’s Holy Word
and Sacraments, and surrounded by prayer, keep looking for op-
portunities to form strategic alliances for the purpose of shining the
light of Christ in the sin-darkened world surrounding them with a
clarity and brilliance of the Gospel in a style and language that can-
not be missed by those who live there.

Congregational revitalization efforts have been initiated under
the direction of district staff in a process focusing on Apostolic
Congregation Transformation Strategies called A.C.T.S. Utilizing
strategy teams focusing on prayer, vision setting, asset evaluation,
and strategic planning, professional church workers and lay volun-
teers work to map the best utilization of existing resources and the
development of key areas of needed growth to best reach the com-
munity in which the congregation is situated with the Gospel mes-
sage.

“Ignite and Light” began as a capital mission funding effort
seeking to raise $8 million for new mission work in the district.
After several months of initial work on a capital campaign, it was
determined that the anticipated revenue would not be generated by
the process. However, a great deal of enthusiasm was being real-
ized in the training components of the movement. In partnership
with LCEF and the Ablaze! movement, “Igniter Events” continue
to be offered throughout the district in the areas of stewardship
awareness and evangelism.

An unintended but highly successful side benefit of the “Ignite
and Light” campaign has been the sharing of resources from one
congregation to another in a spontaneous process we have come to
call “passing the torch.” Seed money for conducting capital cam-
paigns, stewardship-awareness-emphasis events, or outreach train-
ing in congregations has been returned to the district office over
and over again for the purpose of being shared with one congrega-
tion after another.

Pioneer Camp and Retreat Center remains one of the high-visi-
bility, high-impact ministries of the district. Long-time camp ad-
vocates and new supporters have met decisions made in the past
several conventions to continue and increase support of Pioneer
Camp with a renewed sense of commitment and an extremely suc-
cessful capital campaign. Former District President David Belasic
serves the camp as development director through a grant from
Thrivent Financial. The objective to make Camp Pioneer a primary
resource for ministry in the district is being achieved at an increas-
ing level.

Pioneer offers the only family servant event in Synod and has
recently developed a camping program for children in foster care.
The Buffalo area has the second-highest concentration of foster
care children in the nation. The Eastern District, Pioneer, Bethesda
Lutheran Homes, Lutheran Service Society of the Niagara Fron-
tier, and the Lutheran Association for the Developmentally Dis-
abled (LADD) enjoy a unique partnership promoting disability
awareness and ministry to those with developmental disabilities,
utilizing the gifts of a Bethesda congregational resource contact
person and offering camping opportunities for those with severe
developmental disabilities.

The Eastern District works under the mandate to help train and
equip missional leaders to discover and cultivate resources in order
that congregations become spiritually stronger, better equipped,
more outwardly focused, and fiscally sound mission outposts that
identify and embrace outreach opportunities in their community,
their region, and throughout the world. Apostolic mission congre-
gations are mission outposts on the frontier of a world that does not
know about the message we have of God’s love and forgiveness—
a message we want them to hear. We keep asking, “How can we
best equip and train ourselves to reach into that world according to
God’s command to make more and more disciples of Jesus? How
can we most effectively ‘Share the Light’ ?”

John G. Brunner, President

2007 Convention Workbook