LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 69

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SYNOD REPORTS
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him
who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not
grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb. 12:2–3)
Paul Linnemann, President
R3-03-24

Ohio District
Greetings in the name of Jesus, by whom we are enriched in every
way!
The theme for the district convention came by way of a Synod convention resolution, which urged the districts to focus on the theme
of stewardship. This was done by way of the convention essayist, a
segment of the convention that was devoted to planning the next triennium, as well as the district president’s report.
The Ohio District Board of Directors established three ends policies for the district six years ago. This report is organized around
those three goals, as provided to the district convention.
Healthy Congregations: God has indeed enriched us as a district. My travels have revealed a wealth of talented and committed
Lutheran Christians desirous of serving the Lord using the talents He
has given to them. New pastors, new teachers, new DCEs, DCOs, and
deaconesses come with a high level of dedication and desire to serve
the Lord and His people.
The spiritual health of our congregations, based on my visits, is
good in many places, large, medium, or small. More of our congregations are looking past their own four walls to serve the communities
in which they live. More have asked the question, “If we no longer
existed, what impact would that have on our neighborhood or our
community? Would we be missed?” They have begun to be better
managers of the gifts that they could be for their communities. They
have begun to hold four or six events each year that enable them
to interact with their neighborhoods. A few more congregations are
beginning to see that if their schools are to be missions to the community, they must have a healthy working relationship with the pastor.
Without his knowing and interacting with the kids on a regular basis,
the chances of maximizing the school as a mission drop significantly.
But for our congregations to continue to grow, for them to find
the strength to serve, quality food must continually be set before the
members. The quality and consistency of our congregations’ worship remains problematic. Were we a chain of restaurants throughout
Ohio, West Virginia, and the part of Kentucky that is our responsibility, our inspectors would not be entirely happy. Many serve nourishing
Gospel to their hearers, who return home rejoicing in God and willing to serve Him in response. But we have problems: Some patrons
would find unfriendly wait staff. Some would find food unfit for their
consumption because it is bitter and harsh. Others would find food
with a pleasant enough taste, but later learn they had consumed only
a bunch of empty calories. Some offer very fine worship; others need
great improvement. Issues of quality affect traditional, blended, and
contemporary styles.
The quality of adult Bible classes is worrisome too. Churches
are excited if they can get 20 percent of their members in a Bible
class. What would you think our nation’s economic future would be
if only 20 percent of our people had a high school education? How
can we grow into spiritual maturity if we are not studying God’s
Word together regularly? The reasons why this is not happening are
many, but the effect remains the same—a dismaying low level of spiritual maturity coupled with a very parochial attitude toward the Body
of Christ. Yet there are some shining stars among us, congregations
with large percentages of their people in regular Bible classes. These

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are led by pastors who are gifted teachers. By their skill, they draw
hearers into the story. With skilful questions, they make their hearers
think. They are able to move past just the “facts” of the story to help
the hearer apply what is taught to their daily lives.
The triennium has seen the closure of several congregations and
mission starts: St. Luke, Cleveland, OH; Immanuel, Dry Ridge, KY;
Shepherd of the Hills, Portsmouth, OH; River of Faith, Waterville,
OH; and Emmaus Journey, North Ridgeville, OH. Invariably changing
neighborhoods, a continued aging population, and a feeble economy
have all played some part in this. But that’s not all. To some extent,
several of these closures were due to human problems with pastor,
people, or both.
Healthy Professional Church Workers: The economy continued to exert a powerful negative force on our workers. The Concordia
Planned Services (health benefits) costs continue to put pressure on
congregations. Several have begun to function as dual parishes, and
more will follow. A few others, relying upon sizable endowments,
have seen those investments shrink and may find themselves having
to make some important decisions about their viability in the near
future. When congregations close or enter a dual parish relationship,
workers have to move. The current real estate market has hampered
pastoral mobility or has divided families, as when the pastor moves
to his new call but his wife and family have to remain until the house
can be sold. For a long time, parsonages had fallen out of favor; now
they may be a blessing to those who can leave them for the new call.
Other workers are staying in their calls longer because of the economy. This has had an effect on congregations who otherwise would
be calling a new pastor upon the current pastor’s retirement. So for
the present time, it is still not accurate to say that we need more pastors. Within the next five years there will be more retirements, but that
will be accompanied by a growing number of congregations unable
to afford full-time pastors
When a group of doctors and lawyers learned that our pastors
were not required to take continuing education courses, they were
stunned. “And they consider themselves to be professionals?” one
remarked in disbelief. The solution is not so simple and comes down
to the usual problem: money. The salary many of our pastors receive
is certainly not in line with the other “professionals.” Not only can
they not afford continuing education, but their congregations also
say they can’t afford it either. Yet most congregations would benefit
immensely if their pastor improved his skills. For instance, most pastors receive only two education courses in seminary, and neither has
much to do with actual teaching. Vicarage may provide some teaching
opportunity, but not much monitoring takes place. Standard teaching
methods are bumping up against young minds that have been altered
in the way they learn, thanks to the Internet. So we have much to do
to improve our abilities to teach the faith effectively.
Pray for your pastor regularly, and encourage him as much as
you can. Explore with him possibilities for continuing his education.
Healthy Relationships: We continue to find ways to collaborate
with nearby districts. Learning groups bring pastors together from
all parts of our district to discuss common strategies and practices.
Finally, I give thanks for the talented staff with which our district has been enriched. Several are “in demand” across the Synod
as they share their skills via the Lutheran Hour’s Mission U program
of outreach. We strive to be a deployed, reachable staff, at your service. Their reports continue to demonstrate the variety of ways they
have been a blessing, not only to the Ohio District but beyond its
borders as well. Gordon Stuckert, Karen Dutton, Jeff Stephens, and
Kevin Wilson are recognized nationally in their respective areas. I
am privileged to work with them. I am also happy to commend to
you our support staff, Deb Klusak, Mary Stuckert, Cheryl Shepherd,
2013 Convention Workbook