LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 51

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SYNOD REPORTS
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Mission Statement:
The Atlantic District’s congregations, workers, and agencies share
God’s grace in Christ Jesus to nurture Christians and reach out to
others.

Vision Statement:
The Atlantic District is “Engaging the World with the Gospel of
Hope” through
• vitalized congregations that grow in the grace and work of the
Body of Christ through Word and Sacraments while reaching their neighborhoods and the world with the life and love of
Christ;
• sanctified workers who are supported so that they love, teach, and
lead the baptized while seeking the lost and sharing the Gospel
with all people; and
• dynamic agencies that are committed to partnerships in the Gospel that edify the faithful while transforming our society.

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In addition, during the triennium, the Atlantic District’s goals were
redirected by the board of directors and ratified at the convention in
this regard:
1. That every congregation be an active mission station
2. That creative collaboration partnership is encouraged among our
congregations
3. That two hundred homegrown mission leaders be trained and
equipped for the sake of the mission

Each goal is connected to the theme of “Witness, Mercy, Life
Together.”
With regard to the first goal, the Atlantic District Engage Covenant
grants provided close to $300,000 for new mission concepts in 16
parishes and schools during the past triennium for a total of over
$650,000 throughout the past six years. Several congregations have
worship services in three or more languages with a total of 20 different languages in use on Sunday in Divine Services in the district.
With regard to the third goal, there are at least a half dozen men
studying for the Holy Ministry who have come directly from our parishes and their confirmation/youth programs. Additionally, over an
eight-year period, 40 men and women have entered the roster of the
Missouri Synod in the Atlantic District through colloquy, DELTO
(now SMP), EIIT, and alternate route placements.
“Witness in the Public Square,” the Atlantic District Mission
Society’s annual luncheon in midtown Manhattan, has now brought
over $1.5 million for mission-planting resources. The scores of servant trips to bring healing through deeds of love sponsored in the
district as an aspect of our mercy ministries, originally to the areas
affected by Hurricane Katrina and more recently to Atlantic District
areas affected by Hurricane Irene, have most recently become an
amazing “coalition of the willing” in partnership with the national
disaster response team after Superstorm Sandy.
Disaster response after Superstorm Sandy has eventuated in
extensive mercy outreach all along the southern edge of the Atlantic
District. National and district leaders have engaged teams from over
25 Atlantic District parishes as well as congregations from around
the LCMS for the recovery of pastors and teachers, parishioners and
community residents from Staten Island to the Rockaways, Long
Beach, Amityville, and Islip. There is an active plan to begin mission outreach in Far Rockaway underway in creative collaboration
with four LCMS parishes.

51

The congregations, schools, and pastors of the Atlantic District are
committed to engaging the world with the Gospel of hope in Christ
Jesus through every baptized member’s words and deeds.
David H. Benke, President
R3-03-02

California-Nevada-Hawaii
The vision guiding the California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) District
the past several years is that our churches become increasingly
equipped to serve as missionary outposts in their unchurched communities. As such, we have focused on orienting our pastors and
people to minister in a post-churched world, to proclaim the Gospel
in contexts in which the Christian Church no longer sets the rules for
“where,” “when,” and “what the starting places are” for those conversations. Recalling St. Peter’s words to his first-century readers,
we remember that God has called us to be “elect exiles of the dispersion.” Peter’s letter brought reassurance and encouragement to God’s
people at a time of great uncertainty, even anxiety, as they lived out
their faith in a world hostile to the notion that Jesus Christ is Lord.
We in the CNH are also encouraged by the great apostle to understand what it means to live as “cultural exiles” in our own time and
to embrace that role as ordained by God Himself. God planted us in
the soil of an American mission field with an identity and purpose
rooted not primarily in the preservation of our past but in the proclamation of His Son. As Christ’s missionary people, three significant
challenges lay before us:
1. To be outreach churches in an increasingly post-churched society,
that is, a society that finds little significance or value in connecting
with Christian congregations.
2. To confess our cross-centered faith not only in the arena of the
Christian Church but also in the arenas of other religions and religious pluralism.
3. To shift from ministry roles of clergy and laity commonly associated
with a churched environment to roles regularly employed on mission fields.

We in the CNH give thanks to the Lord that we do not face these
mission challenges alone. In concert with Synod’s national revitalization program, Transforming Churches Network (TCN), we have
intentionally focused our district resources on congregational revitalization with a goal of developing locally based mission outreach.
CNH’s “Transforming for Mission” combines team consultations,
continuing education, and coaching for congregations, pastors, and
leaders to become more mission minded and to work to establish
additional mission outposts. Due to his experience in “turn-around”
ministries, the Rev. Ted Hartman oversees this ministry for the district.
Nearly 40 congregations are involved in some level of the process.
Over the past five years, several pastors and lay leaders have arisen
to serve congregations in the revitalization process, including participation in consultation weekends, assisting congregations in next
steps such as missional visioning and congregational governance, and
serving as mission/ministry coaches for the pastors and key lay leaders involved in the revitalization process. A significant revitalization
network has developed throughout the district.
One of the last significant connecting points between our churches
and the unchurched is the education of children. Here is where our
Lutheran schools, preschools, and early-childhood centers continue to
serve as critical mission posts in our communities. We have 74 schools
in our district, with over 7,800 children attending. Approximately
one-third of these children are unchurched. In this last triennium, we
had reported 175 baptisms, 64 adult member transfers, and 186 adult
baptisms or confirmations that have resulted directly through their
ministries. To increase their mission potential, our schools utilize
2013 Convention Workbook