LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 65

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

SYNOD REPORTS

65

His own. The newly baptized, whether young or old, is commissioned
into His service and mission with the words, “through Baptism, God
has added you to be His own people to declare the wonderful deeds
of our Savior, who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Every baptized believer has been called and set apart and
is constantly being sent out, to be a kingdom of priests and to be His
witness to people walking in darkness so that others might know of
Him who is the light of the world (Matt. 4:13–16; John 1:9–14; 8:12).
The mission and ministry of God’s people is to make disciples3 of
all nations. The Great Commission lays the double obligation upon
His people: the strengthening of present disciples in their already
existing discipleship and reaching out to those who are not yet His disciples with the Gospel that they will become His disciples. Therefore,
every task of the Church makes sense only if it serves His mission
of making disciples.
This is the mission that is ours in Jesus Christ as His evangelizing, edifying, and missionary priests and people. The following
statements describe core strategic focuses that will guide the New
Jersey District during the next triennium as we seek to fulfill the Great
Commission (Matt. 28:18–20) and the Great Commandment (Matt.
25:31–46; Luke 10:25–37; John 13:34–35; 1 John 4:7–12, 19–21):

+ Caren Vogt (Lutheran Schools)
+ Caitlin Dinger (Christian Education, Communications and Internet/
Social Media, Family and Youth Ministry)
+ Dave Hildebrandt (Stewardship, Sandy Response Coordinator, and
Adaptive Challenge/Leadership to At-Risk Congregations)
+ Susie Herzberg and Suzanne Bottoms (Professional Church Worker
and Family Care)
+ Elaine Schleifer (Assistant to the District President and District
Secretary)
+ Bill Webster (Business Manager and Finances)
+ Rev. Jim Buckman (Urban Mission Strategist: Formation of
Mission Leaders and Establishing House Churches, Establishing
Congregational Prayer + Ministry, and Training Summer Mission
Teams)
+ Rev. Tim Bayer (Urban Mission Strategist: Designing and Implementing
Models for Congregational Renewal, Formation of Mission Leaders
and Missionary Communities, and Overseeing the Urban Vicarage
Program and the Revitalization of Densely Urban Congregations)
+ Rev. Dick Izzard (Adaptive Challenge/Leadership to At-Risk
Congregations, Congregational Consultant and Advisor to the District
President)

Focus 1: implement a district-wide process that addresses the pressing
issues and adaptive challenges that we are facing as professional
church workers and New Jersey District congregations—a process
that will help us acquire adaptive solutions and form adaptive leaders
Focus 2: connect and network with one another through a Day with the
Congregational Presidents and monthly Learning Communities, as
we form and equip ourselves for ministry and mission in the twentyfirst century
Focus 3: identify 25 pastors for ministry service in New Jersey congregations; they will be the next generation of pastoral leaders to shape
the district’s ministry and mission culture and lead it into the future
Focus 4: strengthen New Jersey District congregations through equipping resources and events that are based upon their needs, along
with the onsite and online ministry of specialized district staff plus
the ministry curriculum of the New Jersey District Leaders and
Learners program
Focus 5: extend His kingdom through the formation of mission leaders,
house churches, and missionary communities
Focus 6: encourage the formation of urban vicars for labor in densely
urban congregational and mission contexts who can mentor NJD
leaders in “Mission Shift”4
Focus 7: design and implement “renewal” models for densely urban and
suburban congregational ministry so that they might experience a
new chapter of ministry
Focus 8: acquire and embrace the counsel and practices of the five
“Word-gifts” from our ascended Lord, given to equip His people
for their work of ministry (Eph. 4:11–16) so that we, as the Body of
Christ, might be an apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and
teaching church
Focus 9: develop a process to interface with and counsel “at-risk” congregations with the hope that they might have a ministry future; if
this future cannot be realized, then to identify and discuss what kind
of legacy options that they might act upon so that His Kingdom
might be extended
Focus 10: explore creative and innovative ministry configurations at the
congregational, circuit, and regional levels

These servants, along with the collective giftedness of the district’s vice-presidents7 and circuit counselors,8 are cause for hope as
we move into this next triennium. As with the Christians in the first
century, we have this good work that is ours in Christ Jesus, and He
is the One working through us to accomplish His saving intentions
toward all people. Therefore, we can rejoice in this “partnership in
the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that
He who began a work in you will carry it to completion until the day
of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:3–6).
Anthony Steinbronn, President

In addition, these two projects will receive significant ministry
attention from now until the end of 2017:
1. The district’s Disaster Response to Superstorm Sandy5
2. Celebrating the 500th anniversary6 of the Protestant Reformation
In closing, the professional church workers and congregations of
the New Jersey District are thankful for the specialized and sacrificial ministry of these special servants:

Notes
1. We have built our fine homes, dine on the finest meats and drink
good beer and wine, yet we have minimized the Lord’s admonition that a
person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his or her possessions
but lies in being rich toward God and rich toward one’s neighbor. We have
often failed to act upon the reality that all of our talents and abilities have
been entrusted into our care so that we might prosper the Master’s business
of making disciples of all nations. We have churches that are well ordered,
with lots of rules, restrictions and traditions, but little mission. We spend a
great deal of our time and energy defining who is “in” and who is “not in”
and little time helping people “get in and stay in” and not perish eternally.
2. One of the great movie scenes that can help us understand the concept of “adaptive challenge,” and the need for adaptive solutions and
adaptive leadership, took place Iin Apollo 13. During the space mission,
one of the astronauts routinely stirs the oxygen tanks, but this time an
explosion occurs, causing all kinds of damage to the spacecraft and creating life-threatening conditions for the crew. The NASA leadership and
engineers engaged in a process that “named the presenting issues” that
they were facing and then began to address, with their collective giftedness, each specific issue and problem that arose with an adaptive solution.
They constructed a “new flight plan” that permitted the crew to experience a much healthier future.
3. What does it mean to be a disciple? A disciple is a believer in Jesus
Christ who is an active member of God’s Word, building his or her life on
the person and Word of Jesus Christ. A disciple does more than just master
the Word; a disciple is stamped and fashioned in the mold of Jesus Christ
and is a living witness to Him. Jesus identified two fundamental marks of
a disciple: If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples (Matt.
7:24–27; John 8:31–32), and if you love one another (John 13:34–35).
4. “Mission Shift” is a twenty-four week curriculum module used during the first year of seminarian formation at Concordia Seminary for those
students interested in acquiring the ministry tools necessary for cultural

2013 Convention Workbook