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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 116

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

116

The convention reelected David Davis to a second term of office; Darryl Anrzejewski, Erik Cloeter, Craig Bickel, and Drew
Gruenhagen were elected first–fourth vice-presidents, respectively.

E. Michigan District—Church Extension Fund
Our Church Extension Fund (CEF) continues to be a strong
partner with our district. CEF annually provides over $1 million
in support through sponsorship, grants, and other support. CEF
continues to provide low-cost loans to congregations for building,
renovation, and church worker housing, and competitive investment instruments to all our members. This next year our CEF is
celebrating its 125th year of ministry as an independent extension
fund in the district.

F. Concerns across the District
Filling pulpits and classrooms continues to be a great challenge.
We have been blessed by the training of dozens of specific ministry
pastors. We continue to find public school teachers who are interested in serving in our schools, but we find the colloquy process,
especially for teachers, more difficult to access than we think necessary.
Like many other areas across the country, we have closed many
congregations. We work with distressed congregations to build relationships with other stronger congregations to enhance ministry
to their communities so as to limit the loss of our presence in the
community.

G. Building Christian Character
During this triennium, the district continued to advocate for
more disciplined Bible reading that we might always build on
Scripture alone. We have accented stronger personal relationships
with pastors and lay leaders through coordinated efforts in visits,
phone calls, and other contacts. Through balanced conferences and
communications, we refuse to succumb to internecine conflict. We
are committed to being People of Hope: Vigorously Making Known
the Love of Christ. For Christ is risen. Indeed!
David A. Davis, President
R32

Mid-South District
The continuation and expansion of the mission and ministry of
the Mid-South District remains expressed in the words of our mission statement: As an alliance of congregations and schools, the
Mid-South District provides leadership, resources, and encouragement for reaching the lost for Christ’s kingdom and equipping the
found for service in our churches, community, and in the world.
As the theme for the 2025 district convention we chose Christ
the Church’s One Foundation. The theme inspired the convention
and member congregations and schools to encourage our members
to be equipped as the priesthood of believers and to make significant strides to touch the lives of those in the communities in which
we live. The district was founded on the principles of mission and
outreach to the lost within the geographical area we serve. The last
three district conventions encouraged delegates to focus upon the
Gospel of Christ and consider how they can touch the lives of those
who are unchurched or de-churched here and around the world.
In the last three years, the board of directors and executive staff
have diligently worked to build an awareness of the tools needed
2026 Convention Workbook

to provide the necessary resources to strengthen congregations and
schools to assist them in the fullest use of precious resources of
the Gospel and all God’s gifts. A strong emphasis has been placed
on assisting congregations to be faithful stewards of the gifts God
offers so that they may help their members profoundly impact their
communities with the Good News of Christ crucified and risen.
Through the district’s IMPACT efforts, we have continued to raise
dollars to fund and support missions and ministries throughout the
district. IMPACT has raised over $3 million to continue to support
the missions and activities of the district.
Cooperative arrangements have been developed to assist smaller congregations in exploring collaborative efforts for ministry. At
least two examples of this collaboration have been introduced into
a “hub-and-spoke” type of relationship. Another model encourages
two or more congregations to share services to build ministry effectiveness together. The district has launched a “Grow-Grant” process that allows all congregations, schools, and agencies to apply
for start-up dollars to bring new mission and ministry initiatives.
Additionally, there has been one new mission plant in the Nashville
area as well as three other locations for more mission church plants.
The Mission and Ministry committee will be reviewing potential
sites for microschools and homeschool co-ops.
The district continues its church planting efforts through a relationship with the Synod and its Church Planting Simplified project.
Three additional potential church plant sites are being developed
along with several replants and a number of revitalization efforts of
the Mission and Ministry subcommittee of the board of directors.
On the international scale, the continuation of our support for international and national missions includes convention support for
the South East of Lake Victoria Diocese (SELVD) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Trinity HOPE in Haiti, and
the Lutheran Institute of Managerial Enterprise (LIME) with the
Malagasy Lutheran Church. The district also provided one-time assistance to St Martin’s Lutheran Church in Ghana for its expanding
ministry.
The Congregational Assessment Resource (CAR) and COMPASS continue to flourish, with over 12 other districts and over
100 congregations and schools using the CAR tool pioneered by
the district and implementing the process offered by the district’s
COMPASS program to help them find a new direction for their
ministry and mission outreach. These resources have been shared
with the Council of Presidents, Synod leadership, Concordia Plan
Services, and the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. The district
will continue to provide leadership, resources, and encouragement
for congregations, schools, and church workers on their focus for
mission and ministry.
The district established a Set Apart to Serve task force to identify, encourage, support, and recruit church workers for Christ’s
kingdom. Through town hall meetings, individual visits to congregations and schools, and regular newsletters, these efforts are
showing tremendous results here and throughout the Synod. During
academic years 2025 and 2026, the district had 11 and 13 men respectively in one of the several seminary tracks toward ordination—a ratio of one seminarian for every 1,750 confirmed members
of the district’s membership. Thanks be to God!
The 2025 district convention adopted resolutions that focus on
the mission and ministry that is entrusted to our stewardship of the
Gospel of Christ. The district continues to conduct extensive evaluation of the viability and optimization of our ministries across the
district, including: