LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 116

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1. NATIONAL WITNESS

To Aid Small Congregations and
Multi-Congregation Pastors and Parishes
RESOLUTION 1-02A
Report R1.2.1 (CW, 16); Overtures 1-01–03 (CW, 255–56);
Report LR68 (TB, 1:37–40)
WHEREAS, The Office of the Public Ministry is
indispensable for the church as an office God instituted in
order to provide theologically apt preaching and teaching, the
proper administration of the Sacrament of the Altar, and
regular pastoral care for the faithful (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23;
20:28; 1 Tim. 2:24; 2 Tim. 2:2); and
WHEREAS, Many congregations in The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod (LCMS) are facing declining membership to
the point that they are no longer financially able to support
the cost of compensating a full-time pastor, especially
considering healthcare costs and the rising cost of living; and
WHEREAS, Many congregations face these issues more
acutely and are in danger of closing, leaving major urban
centers and rural areas devoid of an LCMS presence; and
WHEREAS, There is a shortage of ordained pastors in the
LCMS and as of April 2023 there were over 500 calling
congregations; and
WHEREAS, In recent years individual congregations,
circuits, and districts have been forced to deal with this
problem through multi-congregation parish relationships;
and
WHEREAS, There are resources that already exist to aid
small congregations, multi-congregation parishes, and their
pastors, such as The Partnership Project (Kansas District,
www.kslcms.org), re:Vitality guided self-assessment (LCMS),
and MissionInsite reports (Lutheran Church Extension Fund),
Rural and Small Town Mission resources (LCMS); and
WHEREAS, In an opinion dated April 2023, the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR)
addresses the practice of laymen reading sermons and
conducting worship services in churches unable to support a
pastor and recommends “more formal discussions in the next
triennium to address the larger issue of Lutheran theological
foundations for mission and ministry, especially as those
foundations are being challenged in a post-Christian culture,
where religious participation is on the decline and where
demographics are also rapidly changing” (LCMS CTCR,
President of Synod Request for Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons
and Conduct of Worship in the Absence of a Pastor [adopted April
13, 2023], 7); therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct the Office of
National Mission (ONM) to work through districts to gather
and share any applicable resources that aid small
congregations and multi-congregation parishes and identify
best practices in arranging and conducting such ministry; and
be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention commend The
Partnership Project resources and direct ONM to make them
116 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION

available on the Synod website and be further developed; and
be it further
Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct the CTCR
expeditiously to prepare a document on Lutheran theological
principles for mission and ministry that would address the
theological and practical issues faced by small congregations
and multi-congregation parishes; and be it finally
Resolved, That these principles be disseminated to the
Office of the President, the Council of Presidents, and the
Pastoral Formation Committee as a basis for considering how
the Synod might provide for the ongoing pastoral needs of
small congregations and multi-congregation parishes.
Action: Adopted (3)

After discussion, the resolution was adopted by a unanimous
voice vote.

To Plant More Churches
RESOLUTION 1-03A
President’s Report, Part 2 (TB, 1:24)
WHEREAS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
(LCMS) has planted 468 new churches since 2000, as
reported to LCMS Rosters, Statistics, and Research Services;
during that same time period, 903 LCMS congregations closed
(including failed church starts); and
WHEREAS, About one-third of the 468 church plants
closed before becoming sustainable congregations (the above
statistics obtained from a soon-to-be-released church
planting study gathered by the Office of National Mission
[ONM], with the assistance of LCMS districts); and
WHEREAS, Large financial grants from the district or the
Synod have often not tended to result in sustainable
congregations; that is, the model of calling a mission pastor
and giving him a large financial grant to start a church has not
consistently produced sustainable congregations; and
WHEREAS, Population shifts have resulted in a large
number of people residing where the LCMS does not have a
presence, especially in the western United States and the
“Sunbelt”; and
WHEREAS, The most effective church planting model is
mother/daughter congregations, though other ways may
prove to be more feasible (e.g., sister congregations where
congregations from elsewhere support a mission plant); and
WHEREAS, Opportunities for new church starts are best
identified at a local level instead of at the district or Synod
level, that is, individual congregations or circuits making the
identifications; and
WHEREAS, ONM is currently developing a systematic
approach to planting new churches through a church planting
initiative; and

Resolutions