LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 56

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56

SYNOD REPORTS

As we preach, teach, and share this holy message, we find a multitude of reasons to rejoice and celebrate God’s unconditional love in
Christ! We experience what Jesus said is celebrated in heaven: “I tell
you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
do not need to repent.”
We enjoy the opportunity to provide financial support for pastors who have high student loans and other financial challenges. We
have a Ministry Excellence Fund that grew out of a Lilly Foundation
grant of nearly one million dollars. This program functions under the
leadership of Dr. David Ebeling and a volunteer task force. Requests
are reviewed and grants provided to those qualifying pastors. We are
striving to maintain the corpus of the original grant so that this can
be an ongoing blessing.
We are amazed by the growth and vitality of many of our congregations. We see a variety of approaches to establishing satellite
missions, daughtering new congregations, and launching new mission
starts from some of our larger congregations. We have pastors and circuits working at restarts and new starts in many areas of our district.
We remain convinced that our working and walking together will
be enhanced by strong circuits and cooperative efforts in local communities. Our circuit counselors work hard to encourage this spirit.
God continues to bless these efforts as we see a variety of ministry
projects growing up in every region of our district. We encourage
and bless one another as we partner to cooperate in a lot of work in
this district! This is not only the history and tradition of this district;
it is also a dynamic and profound definition of who we are as a people of Christ!

as Christians and as a church we also profess, proclaim, and share in
many ways and on every day!
Education

Our Lutheran schools (preschool, elementary, secondary) are vital
treasures and a powerful aspect of our ministry to children and youth.
While Lutheran education is never easy and never inexpensive, it is
increasingly important and vital for our young people. Some of our
schools are carefully working with the voucher program in Indiana
as a way of making a Lutheran education accessible to those in need.
We are working to encourage the opening of new schools and the
health and expansion of existing schools. We also attend to the other
educational agencies of the church (Sunday School, adult education,
youth ministry, and VBS).
Endurance, Encouragement, and Unity

It would be a very lengthy list if we were to name all of the entities and agencies in our district; although we cannot catalogue all of
them in this report, they are wonderful partners and great blessings!
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you
a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that
with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.” It will always be critical for us to strengthen the
relationships and partnerships we have with one another as we move
ahead with faithful determination and a burning desire to be God’s
faithful people in this place now and all the way to the Father’s house!
May God bless us as we mark our 50th year of celebrating God’s Love
as the Indiana District!
Daniel P. May, President

Outreach

As a district, we commend ourselves to seriously and faithfully
taking God’s Word to heart and to the world. We are aware of the
growing number of unchurched, dechurched, and lost people living in Indiana and northern Kentucky. What a blessing 100,000 of
us can be as we look for ways and opportunities to share our faith in
Jesus Christ!
New Congregations

We look forward to establishing more new congregations that
will serve people from every segment of our changing society. We
anticipate some “daughtering,” satellite, and fresh mission starts. As
we collaborate with one another, we anticipate more Spirit-powered
celebrations that come when the lost are found. Jesus tells this short
parable: “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does
she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she
finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors
together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the
same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner who repents.”
Our prayer is that God’s working in and through us will provide
great encouragement, regular celebrations of God’s love, and a strong
witness in the world! What we do and how we do it is an example
that reaches far beyond our district borders. Jesus said, “You are the
salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out
and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill
cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a
bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in
the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they
may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
This is my prayer, and I know that it is yours too as we work and
walk together as the Body of Christ in this place. What we confess
2013 Convention Workbook

R3-03-08

Iowa District East
Iowa District East is comprised of 121 congregations. It has a baptized membership of approximately 55,000. We have a mixture of
rural and city congregations with the district office located in Marion,
a suburb of Cedar Rapids.
The goal of the district remains what it always has been. We desire
to remain faithful to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions.
Our commitment to them calls for us to reflect the face of Christ from
the chancel as well as in our daily vocations. The extended mission
effort to accomplish this is carried out at our two campus ministries,
prison ministry, and two congregations to the deaf as well as three
more preaching stations, the district camp as well as other local opportunities. We look for areas of population that have no LCMS presence
and work with the circuit or nearby congregation to plant churches
in those communities. We also team up with the Synod from time to
time in efforts to proclaim Christ Jesus in the foreign mission field.
The well-being of our church workers is of top priority. We regularly schedule conferences and workshops to build one another up
in the faith as well as strengthen fraternal relationships. Our pastors
and commissioned workers are encouraged to make use of a father
confessor for the blessed Absolution. In the past three years, we have
concentrated on sermon evaluations of our pastors. We involve the
district president, circuit counselors, and Winkel brothers to do this.
The goal is to assist the pastors with preaching the Word of God in its
truth and purity for the sake of God’s sheep. The Church deserves the
best preaching it can receive. The circuit counselors meet three times
a year with presentations on theological and practical topics. The presenters are from among the brotherhood as well as men brought in
from outside the district with specific expertise in certain areas of
interest. The circuit counselors take these studies to their Winkels and
may use them for further study, discussion, and growth.