LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 62

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62

SYNOD REPORTS

new work in the Big Timber and Livingston area with the hopes of
another congregation.
In addition, we launched a new method of serving remote areas
through the use of technology. The congregations in Wolf Point,
Plentywood, and Glasgow are served by one pastor, who each Sunday
visits one of the congregations and live streams his Bible class and
worship service to the other two congregations. Proclaiming the
Gospel in sparsely populated areas brings challenges. The district is
determined not to close the doors of even tiny congregations. In fact,
the goal is to find ways to open even more.
God has also blessed us with faithful servants ordained and commissioned. These dedicated men and women give of themselves so
that the Gospel is proclaimed in its truth and purity and the Sacraments
administered according to it. One interesting note is the ordination of
Park Timber, our first Cheyenne pastor serving the Cheyenne people
in the communities of Lame Deer and Ashland.
One big challenge in the future is proclaiming the Gospel in the
Bakken oil boom communities of northwestern North Dakota and
northeastern Montana. The population in this area is expected to quadruple during the boom. Our congregation, Concordia, Williston, has
worked hard at welcoming the transient population so that it can hear
the Gospel. The Montana District is working with the North Dakota
District to find new and innovative ways to proclaim the Gospel under
the very difficult circumstances of an oil boom.
The Montana District looks forward with great joy and anticipation to the next triennium as God uses His people to “Go into all the
world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.”
Terry R. Forke, President
R3-03-17

Nebraska District
The mission of the Nebraska District is to resource congregations,
leaders, and related organizations in their mission of discipling the
saved and proclaiming Christ to a lost and changing world.

The Lord has blessed the Nebraska District of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) over 130 years with congregations
who preach the true Word of God and administer His Sacraments, as
well as Lutheran schools who teach the truths of Holy Scripture and
the Lutheran Confessions.
The 2012 convention of the Nebraska District gathered under the
theme “The Good Life … The God Life,” based on Galatians 6:9–10:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to the family of believers.”
LCMS Second Vice-President Rev. Dr. John Wohlrabe Jr. preached
the sermon on the convention’s biblical theme for the opening service at St. John’s Lutheran Church of Seward. He also reported on
the mission and ministry of the Synod. LCMS President Rev. Dr.
Matthew C. Harrison also addressed the convention and engaged in a
helpful question-and-answer session. Convention Essayist Rev. Rick
Marrs, Professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, unpacked from
the Scriptures a theology of reconciliation and congregational reengagement into community mission fields. The district’s board of
directors continues to seek the Lord’s guidance to monitor a strategic
plan for resourcing its congregations, schools, missions, and professional church workers in their mission to disciple the saved and reach
out to those who do not have Christ.
It was a joy for the convention to again meet in the arena of the
Walz Health and Human Performance Center on the campus of
Concordia University in Seward, where students are prepared for
servant leadership for the church and world. The Nebraska District
and Concordia University Nebraska continue a strong partnership
2013 Convention Workbook

in the Gospel. District congregations and individuals are moved by
the Spirit to support the mission of Concordia University Nebraska
as well as the two LCMS seminaries at St. Louis, Missouri, and Fort
Wayne, Indiana.
The Nebraska District is blessed with 248 congregations, 39
Lutheran elementary schools, 4 Lutheran high schools, and 39 preschools. Camp Luther continues to offer outdoor opportunities for
growth in the Word and Christian fellowship, offering the only
Christian camp in Nebraska for developmentally disabled individuals.
God continues to provide amazing opportunities to share His
grace in the person and actions of Jesus Christ. Nebraska is experiencing some population growth in some communities, as well
as a growing population of Hispanic, African, and Asian immigrants. The African Sudanese population in Nebraska is the largest
in the United States, and Sudanese Lutherans participating among
Nebraska District churches continue to be great blessings. There are
four Sudanese American LCMS pastors and two Hispanic American
pastors in Nebraska. The ongoing outreach to the Native American
Winnebago Tribe continues by a school association of congregations
and the Nebraska District. Campus ministries by congregations at
the University of Nebraska Kearney, Wayne State College, and the
many higher education institutions in Omaha, as well as by the district at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, offer to university and
college national and international students the Good News of salvation in Jesus.
Nebraska District congregations and schools continue to be moved
by the Holy Spirit to a strong commitment to personalized mission.
Youth and adults are active in mission servant events in the district
and on international mission fields. Pastors, teachers, and directors of
Christian education are teaching and serving on various international
mission fields. Nebraska District pastors who serve as military chaplains have been deployed to war zones and disaster sites. The Orphan
Grain Train, based in Norfolk, Nebraska, continues its worldwide
human care ministry. The Nebraska District and Iowa District West
enjoy a partnership to involve congregational members and church
workers in personal mission prayer, financial support, and servant
events through the work of Mission Awareness Developer Gary Thies
and Mission Central in Mapleton, Iowa.
The Nebraska District also continues to work together with the
Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to
offer quality human-care service through Lutheran Family Services
of Nebraska.
The four district vice-presidents and twenty-three circuit counselors assist the district president in supervision and services for the
professional church workers, congregations, schools, and missions of
the district. The district also provides church-worker health care to its
ordained and commissioned professional church workers through an
executive assistant to the president for church worker health.
The LCMS Foundation Gift Planning and Lutheran Church
Extension Fund are special blessings in the Nebraska District. The
district is also participating in the Transforming Churches Network
for revitalization of the congregations.
Christian stewardship is once again being emphasized around the
district. The District Stewardship Committee has offered to all congregations of the district a DVD stewardship Bible study series developed
for the district by Dr. Joel Biermann of Concordia Seminary in St.
Louis.
Over the last nine years, nine congregations have been birthed by
the Holy Spirit in the Nebraska District. Praise be to the Lord of the
Church! Many rural and small-town areas of Nebraska are experiencing population decline and new socio-economic populations. At the
same time, urban areas of the district are also experiencing immigration and population changes. Still, opportunities to share the Gospel of