LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 37

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SYNOD REPORTS
he wants. He just sets up his preferences, and the information will
keep coming automatically.
Also as of January we were far along in developing an LCMS
mobile strategy/mobile Web content flow that will lead to the launch
of a mobile-friendly lcms.org.
Meanwhile, we remain keen on driving more traffic to the Synod’s
full Web site. One way of doing this, besides making the day-to-day
improvements that come from our own ideas or from the feedback of
site visitors, is to offer at least certain parts of the Web site in multiple
languages. As of this writing, we are nearly ready to offer a Spanishlanguage landing page (along with Spanish-language locator tools),
with the hope of adding similar resources in Mandarin, Arabic, and
other languages down the line.
The Synod currently is the dominant Lutheran denominational
presence on social media, and we aim to grow our numbers. Through
our social communications, our followers learn about everything from
our disaster-relief efforts to missionary sending, from the significance
of holidays and festivals to the day-to-day celebration of opportunities
that our members have to be a blessing to others. Our posts engender
lively and informative discussion of theology, mercy works, church
music, and the definition of marriage, among many other topics.
Through such vehicles as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, we will
continue to create awareness about the LCMS, its beliefs, practices
and activities, building online communities for LCMS members and
others to learn more about the Synod and to share their spiritual experiences with one another.
We have been and will continue to forge closer bonds with our
corporate partners: the LCMS Foundation, Concordia Plan Services,
Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Concordia Publishing House,
Concordia University System, and Concordia Historical Institute.
These corporations are in some ways siloed by our structure
because they are separate legal entities with different core missions.
We are brought together in the Synod Handbook with a common mission, but that doesn’t change the fact that they have their own things
to do and their own ways of communicating those things to their own
constituents.
Still, in many cases, those constituents, those audiences, are our
audiences too. We are swimming in the same pool. Yet, we don’t
always know what the others are doing. While we help one another
from time to time—and increasingly so of late—there are ways for
us to coordinate our communications better.
The same can be said about our relationship with our Recognized
Service Organizations, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League,
and the Lutheran Laymen’s League (Lutheran Hour Ministries).
Regarding the latter, certainly there is potential for more cooperative ventures in light of the League’s presence on some 1,400 radio
stations in the United States and Canada and its network of ministry
centers and broadcast outlets in 30 countries.
We want to work with our districts in strengthening the communications output of their congregations. To that end, we are in the
midst of a pilot project with four districts seeking ways to enhance
congregational communications in their communities across all communication domains: print, Web, social media, public and media
relations, crisis management, and so on.
Notably, Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) for years offered Parish
Media Teams, helping congregations strengthen their communication
outreach. While LHM no longer is doing this, they still have expertise
in this regard, and we would benefit by working with them in coming
up with our own approaches and resources.
We will continue to intensify our work with LCMS Mission
Advancement. There are things we can do (we are doing a number of

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them now) to take better care both of our donors and of our Principal
Gift Officers. We want to help Mission Advancement increase unrestricted giving to the Synod. We want to help deepen donor trust in
the church’s stewardship of their funds and show them the great sense
of applying ample resources to “where needed most.”
As for our publications, it is our perennial goal, shared by our
publishing partner, CPH, to increase subscriptions to The Lutheran
Witness. Given the sinking trends of denominational magazines over
the years, this is a daunting task. But we will keep trying, not least
through the aforementioned digital Witness and Witness app, brought
to us courtesy of CPH.
Reporter is mailed, free of charge, to rostered church workers,
congregational lay leaders, and current convention delegates. Happily,
some 2,000 laypeople not on the gratis mailing list are paying for their
own private subscriptions. We would encourage others interested in
the affairs of their national church to do the same. That being said,
people should know that Reporter, in its entirety (save for advertisements and caption-only photos), is freely available, along with added
and updated content, at the Reporter Online Web site.
Such is the demand for videos that Digital Media constantly finds
itself in the position of being asked to produce more videos than it
reasonably can and at a greater cost than our national offices and ministries can afford to pay. Already in this current triennium (January
2013) we are forced to scale back on the number of video projects
produced for the sake of doing the highest-priority ones.
Going forward, we will continue this practice of providing limited
but high-quality video work. When a request for a video is made, we
will consult with our prospective client and ask, “What is the reason
for creating this video? Does the purpose go beyond the notion that
‘it sounds like a good idea’? Is it worth the money?”
Finally, LCMS Communications looks forward to working
with the Office of the President and others in planning and executing a fitting celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant
Reformation in 2017.
Conclusion
The Synod has a window of national and international opportunity
to make a difference for the kingdom of God through an intentional,
coordinated effort to enlist all synodwide resources in a united work.
The Synod is in a position to be the premiere catalyst of a seamlessly
connected global network of confessional Lutheran partners united
in mission to Witness to the Gospel, manifest Mercy, and enhance
Life Together. Synod’s confessional teaching, preaching, and care
are steeped in the Scriptures. The world and the Church Militant
are in desperate need of hearing the inspired truths of Scripture.
Faithfulness, unity of purpose, and mutual trust are the necessary
components to make the most of this time of opportunity, and Synod’s
purpose is for times as these—historic moments of opportunity—to
work together to share more effectively the life-saving message of
Christ come in the flesh, Christ crucified, Christ risen, and Christ
coming again. We are collectively this enduring witness to the world.
Now is the time for the church to stand united to call sinners to repentance and to share the Good News that Christ has come to forgive
sinners. Let us ever be faithful to this our witness to the world.
Gregory K. Williamson, Chief Mission Officer

2013 Convention Workbook