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    <title>LCMS News</title>
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    <description>News from the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod</description>
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    <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:35:16 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>COP continues study on `leading together`</title>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:35:11 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>African Lutherans embracing `Ablaze!,` says Kieschnick</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10664</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:34:42 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Circuit counselors cite sharing ideas as among conference highlights</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10662</link>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:20:37 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Record number of missionaries are extending service</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10552</link>
      <description><![CDATA[By Paula Schlueter RossThirty of the Synod's 70 or so long-term missionaries who are beginning new terms this fall aren't new -- they're “old hands” on the overseas mission field who have decided to extend, or continue, their service.That's a new phenomenon -- and a record -- for LCMS World Mission, according to Placement Counselor Erin Alter.  Last year's crop of long-term mmissionaries-hermanissionaries included only 15 who extended their service, she said.“It's really exciting that they love their service … and they don't want to leave yet,” Alter said of this year's group.  “So they're continuing on for another year.”Most of this year's “repeat” missionaries are long-term volunteers who raise their own financial support from sponsoring congregations.  Six are new “career” missionaries who are serving “calls” from LCMS World Mission and are on the board's payroll.  Some are extending their service in their previous mission countries; others have accepted assignments to new countries.All were commissioned by Dr. Robert Roegner, executive director of LCMS World Mission, in June, following a two-week orientation for new missionaries that included worship, Bible study, community-building exercises, English-as-a-foreign-language training, and classes on such things as staying healthy, finances and fund raising, moving overseas, maintaining emotional well-being, and talking about Jesus in cross-cultural settings.“These missionaries are an important part of the worldwide Ablaze! movement to reach 100 million people with the Good News of Jesus by 2017,” said Roegner.  “I thank God for them, but I also pray that He would move every Lutheran to be part of Ablaze!, sharing the Gospel with people across the globe and with the people they meet every day, right where they are.”The orientation was held at the Oswald Hoffmann School of Christian Outreach, co-sponsor of the annual missionary-training event, on the campus of Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.Andrea Herman of Anoka, Minn., completed nearly a year-and-a-half of volunteer missionary service in the forest missionaries-herman,kidsregion of southern Guinea, West Africa, in 2000.  Now, six years later, she's received a solemn appointment from LCMS World Mission to serve as a career missionary in northern Guinea.Herman, 31, had a lifelong love for Africa and considered her first missionary stint as “a great opportunity to see if God might be calling me into full-time missionary service.”That first experience, working among many different people groups, was “life changing,” she says.“On one hand, I experienced some of the greatest joys of my life: watching a young Muslim woman daily seek the truth, understanding new facets of God's character from my brothers and sisters in Christ in Guinea, and experiencing Lutheran worship -- West African style!,” she told Reporter via e-mail.There also were challenges, she said, particularly with new languages and unfamilar cultural rules -- and, in trying to meet the widespread needs of the surrounding refugee community.“Despite the challenges, it was tremendously rewarding,” Herman said.  “I remember being overwhelmed by the loving welcome and hospitality I received from strangers wherever I went.  There were often invitations to 'come eat,' even during the hungry season when food was scarce.“My experience in Guinea taught me much about what it means to 'love your neighbor,'” she said, and “strengthened my faith more than any other thing I've ever done.”At 22, Katrina “Kat” Schaff of Crookston, Neb., is a new graduate of Concordia University, Seward, Neb., and a first-time missionary.  Schaff, the youngesSchafft of nine children, began her two-and-a-half-year assignment to Japan in late September.  Two older siblings -- sister Tamara and brother Andrew -- also served as missionaries and influenced her desire to serve, she said.“When I was little, Will and Tamara [Schumacher, who served 10 years in Botswana, Africa] would visit and teach us Christian songs in Setswana [an African language], and that is what started my love of languages,” Schaff told Reporter via e-mail.  Brother Andrew, who serves with his wife, Noel, in Taiwan, introduced her to a group at Concordia, Seward, called “Mission Minded Students,” which got her involved firsthand in mission work.“All of a sudden doing mission work did not seem like such a far-fetched thing,” she said.  “As I talked to various people and [heard about] their experiences in mission and took part in a few mission trips myself, my love of spreading the Gospel grew.  When I graduated, I knew that I would serve God as a missionary overseas.”Schaff, who spoke with Reporter before she left for Japan, said she was excited about going overseas.“I can't wait,” she said.  “This is the big event that will start the new page in my life.”Herman said she wouldn't hesitate to encourage others to consider missionary service.“It is an amazing adventure where you can't help but learn more about God, learn more about yourself, and gain a broader perspective on the world and its desperate need for Jesus,” she said.For more information about long- and short-term (less than six months) missionary service, visit the Web site www.lcmsworldmission.org/service or contact an LCMS World Mission placement counselor at (800) 433-3954 or mission.recruitment@lcms.org.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:57:37 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Newest Nehemiah project builds home ownership</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10471</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ 	By Kim KrullIn the early 1980s, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod stepped up as the first denomination to financially commit to a new church-based housing program that dared to transform a devastated, inner-city neighborhood and turn Nehemiahlow-income, working families into first-time homeowners.Twenty-six years and 2,900 new homes later, some of those original homeowners joined church leaders and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the Aug. 3 groundbreaking celebration for the newest Nehemiah development.Again, the LCMS provided key support and leadership.“The Nehemiah housing projects in New York City have been a tremendous way to make the dream of home ownership real for so many lower-income people who otherwise would not have been able to own their own home,” said Janet Johnson, treasurer for the board of the LCMS National Housing Support Corporation (NHSC), which is providing funding to make possible a $1 million Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) loan to East Brooklyn Congregations (EBC) for the new Nehemiah community.“We truly are putting our faith into action by participating in rebuilding once-blighted communities so they can be filled with hope and be safe, nurturing places for the next generations to live and grow,” Johnson added.  On hand for the groundbreaking celebration were leaders of the EBC, the multi-denomination association that launched the Nehemiah Plan for affordable housing in 1983.  Two LCMS congregations in Brooklyn — St. Peter and Risen Christ — are veteran EBC members whose determination to remain in and serve their inner-city parishes helped lead to the Synod's first Nehemiah investment.“For working-class families, this (Nehemiah) is an ownership option,” said Dr. David Benke, St. Peter's pastor and president of the LCMS Atlantic District, who gave the opening remarks at the Spring Creek celebration.  “For the church, it's a mission opportunity.”Rev. Steven Olsen called the Nehemiah program “a tremendous blessing and stabilizer” for Risen Christ and its community.  “I am certain that some of the most devoted members of our congregation would have been forced to move if not for the opportunities and improvements brought about by Nehemiah,“ he said.The newest Nehemiah site is a former landfill.  “[It's] a wasteland — a place where people dumped bodies after killings,” Benke said.  “But that's going to end.  Again, lawless behavior will be overwhelmed by the purposeful action of people engaged in appropriate ecumenical collaboration, sharing money, and sharing leadership.”Spring Creek is the fourth Nehemiah development in the Brooklyn area.  The affordable housing effort is named after the Old Testament prophet who led the rebuilding of Jerusalem.To help make the vision for community revitalization a reality, the LCMS National Housing Support Corporation — the housing ministry arm of LCMS World Relief/Human Care — has committed to raise funds for the interest portion of the LCEF loan to the EBC.  The Synod's Atlantic District also has committed future funds for the loan interest.“The [National Housing Support] Corporation's subsidy encouraged the Atlantic District and enabled a national and regional partnership with the EBC that all our ecumenical partners realize is unique, durable, and repeatable,” Benke said.  “The movement of funds nationally and regionally to local areas of need and potential is going to multiply LCMS mission and ministry opportunity.”The Atlantic District's Task Force on Human Care, led by Judy Benke, Kathy Jagow, and John Mesloh, “has worked tirelessly,” Benke said, to help turn the former landfill site into a safe, decent community.Construction has begun on Spring Creek's first phase: 184 homes in a development that ultimately will include 2,100 homes, a new school, parks, and retail space.More than 18,000 people responded to the announcement about the new affordable housing community, which is limited to first-time homeowners.  The starting unit price is $168,000 for the factory-built, modular homes, well below the average cost of New York City housing, Benke said.EBC members expect the same dramatic transformation at Spring Creek they have seen at other Nehemiah developments.  In those communities, residents tend their lawns where drug dealers once roamed.  Crime rates have dropped.  Both St. Peter and Risen Christ draw congregation members and leaders from Nehemiah neighborhoods.Some of the first Nehemiah residents spoke at the Spring Creek celebration.  “They told of living in public housing and never dreaming they could own a home,” said Rev. Carlos Hernandez, director of Districts and Congregations with LCMS World Relief/Human Care, who addressed the nearly 1,000 people on hand for the groundbreaking.  “They said Nehemiah made it possible.”In addition to the LCMS, other providers of no-interest construction financing for Spring Creek are St. Paul Community Baptist Church, the Vincentian Religious Order (Roman Catholic), and the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. Since that pioneering development in Brooklyn, the LCMS has been involved in Nehemiah efforts in Memphis, Tenn., and Chicago.  Nehemiah-inspired programs operate throughout the U.S.  The Spring Creek Nehemiah is one example of how the LCMS National Housing Support Corporation is working “to provide resources and help our parishes and our districts step into their role as good corporate citizens of their communities,” said NHSC President Rev. Matthew Harrison.  ”Our theology drives us to act in love, help our neighbors, and make a difference in our communities and in our world.  Where this happens, proclamation of the Gospel also thrives.”The LCMS National Housing Support Corporation was established by the LCMS Board for Human Care Ministries to assist LCMS congregations, districts, social ministry organizations, and other partners in developing capacity for local housing initiatives.For information about supporting the new Spring Creek Nehemiah or getting involved with a local community revitalization effort through the NHSC, contact NHSC Executive Director Marie Kienker at (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1392, or marie.kienker@lcms.org.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:51:05 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Rita-hit areas also need help</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10478</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Besides Katrina-devastated Biloxi and New Orleans, volunteers also are needed to assist victims of Hurricane Rita in eastern Texas, western Louisiana, and areas south and west of New Orleans.More than 52,000 homes were damaged by Rita, according to Dave Buss, disaster relief coordinator for the LCMS Southern District.Those affected by Hurricane Rita are “the most neglected of all hurricane victims from 2005,” according to Buss.To volunteer, contact Buss at (225) 205-1639 (davebuss@yahoo.com) or Bernard Scrogin, coordinator for Texas with Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response, at (409) 886-3879 (bscrogin@lsss.org).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Aug 2006 06:50:12 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Task force offers plan for funding `common good` services</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10490</link>
      <description><![CDATA[By Roland Lovstad Emphasizing the need to strengthen the understanding and appreciation of the “common good” activities of the Synod, the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Funding the Mission recommends a “Stewardship Renaissance,” improved communication to congregations and their members, exploration of additional management efficiencies, triennial Synod-district fiscal conferences and support from corporate entities and Recognized Service Organizations. First among 11 task force recommendations is investment in staff and resources to rebuild a national stewardship department.  A second recommendation is to equip pastors and people for evangelistic outreach.  And, warning that no funding plan will succeed if energies are diverted from the church's mission, the task force calls for intentional effort to restore harmony in the Synod.Requested by the 2004 LCMS Convention, the task force's assignment was to study and recommend how the Synod should fund essential services of the national office.  The task force was instructed to report one year before the 2007 convention.  At issue is the decline in unrestricted funds for basic LCMS ministries and services.  Three decades ago, the Synod's “unified budget” funded nearly all ministries -- including world mission, colleges and seminaries, services to congregations, ecclesial services and administration.  The funds flowed from the offering plates through congregations, to districts and to the national office.  Today, 75 percent of the Synod's $80 million spending budget comes from direct gifts --  restricted to specific ministries such as world mission, higher education and world relief. As restricted funds from direct gifts increase, the unrestricted funds have decreased.  As a result, the Synod's national office has eliminated or consolidated departments and services. “That has gotten to the point where there can't be more cuts,” says Dr. David Buegler, fifth vice president and task force chairman.  “The alternative to our recommendations will be that some of these services will have to end or congregations and districts will be charged to pay for them.  The abilities of the national office to fund with unrestricted dollars is just about done.”  In its report, the task force says its funding model “celebrates the freedom of direct giving” while acknowledging the responsibility to support the “common good.”  It cites a 2001-2002 plan, developed by representatives of the Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents, that isolated $11 million as the minimum needed for common good activities to support bylaw- and convention-mandated administration, ecclesial supervision, debt repayment and national communications. The report adds, “From the beginning our task force committed to the biblical foundation that should guide every funding discussion in the church.”  It offers a dozen “Theological Reflections on Stewardship” based on 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.  The concluding reflection says, “Giving, including our finances, for the sake of the mission of the Church is a response to the indescribable gift the Church has received in the crucified and risen Christ.” Prefacing its recommendations, the task force cites three assumptions:    * the Synod desires to make known the love of Christ to both the lost and the saved.    * division and mistrust seem to impact funding decisions at every level of the Synod.    * the Synod is a voluntary organization, so the recommendations depend on a “coalition of the willing.”In its first two recommendations, the task force calls on the LCMS Board of Directors to invest in staffing and resources to bolster stewardship and evangelism services.  By rebuilding a national stewardship department, the report says, the education and motivation of pastors and lay people in biblical stewardship “will repay itself ten-fold and more in funding the mission.”  The report says the Synod needs to reorganize a strategy to increase membership, adding, “It is a disgrace to our faith and practice that we are losing membership.”  Observing that stewardship and evangelism services were cut because of funding issues, Buegler comments, “The assumption was that congregations through nonsynodical sources could get resourcing for stewardship and evangelism and that they were just as healthy even though the Synod wasn't producing programs and materials.  The evidence we have is that this is not happening.”The report says division in the Synod became a “significant roadblock” to every model the task force considered.  It calls on  the Council of Presidents and the Board of Directors to initiate a  a strategy to restore harmony in the Synod.  The task force encourages a summit of respected leaders to author a plan.Citing the need for more aggressive communication that is both educational and motivational, the report offers four recommendations:    * a task force to produce a pastoral training event on funding the mission.    * recruiting and training 70 volunteer “story tellers” to visit congregations.    * a new periodical, circulated to every member's home and available on the Internet, that highlights successes, builds mission momentum, and gives practical ideas from national and district sources.    * place more responsibility on districts to represent the national common-good activities to congregations, with the Council of Presidents to develop a strategy for better communication through the current national-district-circuit structure.“Communication to the person in the pew is probably the third systemic issue that we think has diminished over the years,” Buegler explains.  “As we acknowledge the reality of direct giving, we have to be proactive in sharing the wonderful story of the work that's being done through the Synod's district and the national offices.  That's got to get to the people in the pew.  That's got to get to the pastors as they are the leaders in congregational decisions about direct giving.”  Discussing structure issues, the report says the task force conveyed concerns about potential duplication of services to the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synodical Structure and Governance.  The report does recommend review of the historic legislative representation system of two votes per congregation.  With congregations now numbering several thousand members, the task force says two votes per congregation does not represent the baptized membership and has “significant funding implications.”To achieve management efficiency, the report encourages an operational audit at the national level to suggest operating efficiencies and assure members of current efficiencies.  It suggests national and district offices explore potential savings by outsourcing services and combined purchasing procedures. The report recommends that the 2007 convention change bylaws to increase the number of regents or advisers on seminary and university boards through local appointments or elections.  It  commends the Synod's Board of Directors for its commitment to support the seminaries and colleges and commends the institutions for their development work, fiscal integrity and subsidy for potential church workers.  It also commends the congregations and people for their direct support to higher education.Buegler said the task force believes that giving the college and seminary boards some local autonomy will allow them to support themselves.  He said, “A part of our embracing the direct giving is that we want to untie the hands of colleges to do an even better job of going out and raising their own money.”  He added that the higher education institutions, particularly the Concordia University System, are not only supporting themselves but subsidizing church worker preparation through the tuition discounts they give to church-work students. Saying corporate entities derive blessings from their partnership with the corporate Synod, the task force suggests they contribute to the annual synodical budget.  It also suggests forming an action team of synodical officers and representatives of the entities to implement the recommendation. The report commends Concordia Publishing House and the Lutheran Church Extension Fund,which already contribute from their operating surpluses.  The task force also names Concordia Historical Institute, the LCMS Foundation, the Concordia University System, seven independent district Church Extension Funds, Concordia Plans, the Board for Human Care Housing Corporation, the Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML), and the International Lutheran Laymen's League. “We're just saying to them, that as they develop their direct gifts to the work of the church, they also think about the core -- the unrestricted needs of the church -- and prayerfully and joyfully consider a gift each year that is unrestricted to support the base upon which those direct gifts are done,” said task force Chairman Buegler.  He added that the task force discussed the concept with representatives of all the entities. The task force also proposes a “partnership fee,” based on their annual budgets, from Recognized Service Organizations, a diverse group that ranges from mission societies, to senior citizen housing developments, to schools and camps.  Recognized Service Organizations derive benefits from their association with the Synod, the report says.  They can call professional church workers; have access to Concordia Plans for health, disability and retirement plans; obtain services from the Lutheran Church Extension Fund and the LCMS Foundation and are eligible for LWML mission grants.  The task force recommends that the partnership fee be determined by the Synod's chief financial officer and a representative of each synodical board that recognizes those organizations. “This won't make a huge difference in the synodical budget,” Buegler explains.  “Actually, we'd like these gifts to support the expansion of stewardship and evangelism within the church over the first few years.” The task force proposes a fiscal conference every three years, bringing together synodical and district leaders to determine the annual amount of unrestricted dollars to be submitted to the national budget by the 35 districts; decide the “fair share” of each district; plan three years in advance and gradually increase the total submitted to at least $25 million by 2017. The task force states that LCMS members contributed $1.4 billion to their congregations in 2004.  Congregations forwarded $121.7 million to their respective districts, which forwarded $20.88 million to the unrestricted budget of the Synod's national office. Also calling for improved congregational support, the task force recommends that each congregation annually receive information that allows it “to re-evaluate the blessings and responsibilities of synodical membership.” Buegler said the task force was “shocked” to learn that 22 percent of the congregations contribute less than $1,000 and 12 percent -- approximately 800 -- contribute nothing to the district or national unrestricted budget. “They are making those decisions,” he commented.  “We don't believe there are that many congregations that cannot offer some support, but they are choosing not to.” Buegler said the task force emphasizes that if any parts of its report are implemented, it will help shore up the unrestricted synodical budget that pays for “common good” services, adding, “But it all needs to be done in order to truly solve the problem.”With 15 members, the task force included district and national staff, parish pastors and laity.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Aug 2006 06:36:22 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Convention votes to place Hispanic ministry exec</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10499</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Participants at the second National Hispanic Lutheran Convention, July 19-22 in Irving, Texas, want Hispanic assemblyto see more Hispanics in national-level LCMS positions.More than 200 people attended the gathering, held every three years.  It is sponsored by the Irving-based National Lutheran Hispanic Mission Society to support and encourage Hispanic ministry in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.Convention attendees discussed the need for a staff person to direct LCMS Hispanic ministries on a national level, and adopted a resolution that encourages Hispanic congregations to nominate candidates and to petition the Synod's 2007 convention to “employ an executive for Hispanic ministries.”In a related resolution, the convention voted to work with districts, congregations, and other LCMS entities to raise funds to support the new position.The convention also voted to:    * explore ways to train more Hispanics as church workers.  The resolution asks the LCMS Board for University Education and LCMS universities to “adopt an objective plan to recruit, support, and graduate a minimum of 100 Hispanics in the next 10 years.”    * support the statement on immigration prepared by LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick and Rev. Matthew Harrison, executive directoHispanic officersr of LCMS World Relief/Human Care.The convention also elected officers to three-year terms:    * Rev. Angel Perez of Casselberry, Fla., president.    * Rev. Samuel Gomez, Escondido, Calif., vice president.    * Rev. Benito Perez-Lopez, Leisure City, Fla., secretary.Elected as members at-large were Rev. Hector Hoppe, Ballwin, Mo., and Melissa Salomon, Chula Vista, Calif.Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez, director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, addressed the convention theme in his keynote, and several workshops also focused on aspects of the convention theme, “God's Purposes in My Life, My Family, and My Church.”The convention also included a Hispanic worship service at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Irving, and a banquet with entertainment provided by a mariachi band from El Paso, Texas.During the banquet, convention-goers honored Rev. Carlos Puig of Sugar Land, Texas, for his 30 years of service to LCMS Hispanic ministry.  Puig, who began his service as a lay minister, has served as a pastor, as director of Hispanic ministry for the Synod's Board for Mission Services, as ethnic resources editor for Concordia Publishing House, and as a missionary to Panama.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 2006 06:35:46 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Board approves sale, refinancing for Austin move</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10503</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ 	By Joe Isenhower Jr.The Synod's Board of Directors has approved a number of items leading to the eventual move of Concordia University, Austin, Texas, from its current land-locked location.At its Aug. 25-26 meeting in St. Louis, the Board approved purchase of a 385-acre site in Austin, sale of the university's current 22-plus-acre property, and refinancing for the acquisition and development of the new property.When this Reporter went to press, the parties involved in the transactions were in “due diligence.”  A rationale statement prepared for the Board's consideration notes that “occupancy of the new site would occur during the summer of 2008.”The buyer of the current campus has an agreement with the university that it will lease the land back to the school until its relocation.Concordia, Austin, is moving ahead with development of a campus design for the new location, which currently has six buildings with about 195,000 square feet.  That property includes a 250-acre nature preserve.Financing for the project will be provided by the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, with loans to the university of up to $25 million.  Concordia, Austin, also is considering tax-exempt financing.In May, the Board of Directors and the Synod's Board for University Education (BUE) endorsed the Austin school's request to sell its current campus and to buy and develop new property.  That action was contingent on the final approval last month from the Board of Directors and the BUE, which gave its final OK Aug. 23.In another unrelated action, the Board endorsed a memorial to next year's Synod convention which the BUE adopted in May that would change the make-up of the boards of regents for the Synod's 10 colleges and universities.Titled “To Strengthen College and University Board of Regents,” the memorial proposes that Synod Bylaw 3.8.3.6.2 be changed. Essentially, the number of regent members on each board would change from 13 to “no more than 17 voting members,” with no more than eight laypersons on a 17-member board, and adjustments would be made to how many regents are elected by the Synod and district conventions and appointed by the boards of regents.Whereases of the action point out that:    * effective higher-education boards “include members with a specific set of skills”;    * Synod colleges and universities “find that new challenges and opportunities are facing them as they seek to sustain their service to the Synod in an increasingly complex educational environment”;    * “there must be sufficient boards of regents members with commitment to the mission and purpose of the respective institution, knowledge regarding the region in which [the] institution is located, commitment to allocating time, talent, and treasure to the institution and assisting with the identification and encouragement of donors”; and    * the BUE “encourages adoption of [the proposed changes] so that the governance structure of the [Synod's] colleges/universities can serve the Synod's mission and ministry more effectively.”Also during last month's Board of Directors meeting, four of its members agreed to withdraw their motion to intervene in the Anderson Lawsuit, clearing the way for the suit's final dismissal Aug. 29 by the Court. The dismissal by the Anderson plaintiffs will dismiss all claims against President Gerald B. Kieschnick, First Vice President William Diekelman, and the Synod.The Anderson suit was filed in August 2005 by a number of individuals and congregations who are members of the Synod against the Synod and its president and first vice president.  This past May, the parties to the Anderson Lawsuit reached agreement, calling for dismissal of the suit.Before the dismissal was filed in court, four Board members filed a motion to intervene in the case. The Synod and officers filed documents in court opposing the motion.The four Board members' agreement to withdraw their motion to intervene came after they met separately with a sub-committee of the Board during the meeting last month.The Board placed the following announcement on the Synod Web site Aug. 26:“In a spirit of Christian love, mutual repentance, and forgiveness and with concern for peace and unity in the Synod, the Board of Directors rejoices that the four members of the Board who filed the Motion to Intervene in the Anderson Lawsuit have agreed to withdraw their motion.“The Board will instruct its legal counsel to take all necessary steps to conclude this matter and to move forward with the Agreement to terminate the lawsuit approved by the Board at its meeting May 24.“We thank God for this action and pray for His blessings on these decisions.”In other actions at its Aug. 25-26 meeting, the Board filled a vacancy on the LCMS Board for Communication Services (BCS) and elected three members at-large for the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF).Elected to the BCS was Dr. David Kluth of Austin, Texas.The Board elected the following to three-year terms as LCEF members at-large: Dr. Arleigh Lutz, Wausau, Wis.; Ronald L. Van Voast, Cheyenne, Wyo.; and Alan Geuder, Albuquerque, N.M.  Named as alternates were Duane Helm, Bloomington, Minn.; Richard Peters, Amery, Wis.; and Michael Grosse of Gunnison, Colo.The  Board of Directors designated May for the annual observance of "Pastoral Education Month" in the Synod.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 2006 06:35:08 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>2005 statistics: `Back-door` losses, membership down</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10497</link>
      <description><![CDATA[If there's a bright spot in the Synod's statistical report for 2005, it's that "back-door" losses -- the number of adults removed from congregational rosters (not counting deaths and transfers) -- have declined by 2,453 members.  That figure dropped from 44,219 in 2004 to 41,766 in 2005.But LCMS membership and contributions from members to congregations also declined, as did the number of baptisms, confirmations, and Christian education programs/students, according to 2005 congregational statistics reports.Baptized membership fell from 2,463,747 in 2004 to 2,440,864 in 2005, a drop of nearly 23,000 members.  And confirmed membership in 2005 was 1,870,659, a decrease of 9,554.LCMS Senior Research Analyst Dr. John O'Hara attributes the loss of members to a “continuing trend” that is affecting most mainline Christian denominations.In the 1950s and '60s, churches saw a “natural increase” because families were larger, O'Hara noted.  Today's families are much smaller, and societal norms regarding religious participation have changed, he said.“The expectation that you went to church [every Sunday] isn't as prevalent as in the '50s,” said O'Hara.  “You have to work harder to get the people in the front door.”The downward trend in membership and Sunday-school students -- in spite of a rising U.S. population -- also is a sign that “we're not reaching as many people as we could reach,” he said.Membership figures for 2005 were based on reports from 81 percent of the Synod's 6,144 congregations.  Nineteen percent did not provide information on membership, so figures from their previous reports were used to compile the data for 2005.Also down are contributions from members to congregations, which fell $10,945,272 -- from $1,307,764,010 in 2004 to $1,296,818,738.  Those figures do not include contributions members give directly to LCMS entities.The shortfall of nearly $11 million in 2005 is due primarily to the “under-reporting of contributions,” says O'Hara, who estimates that some 29 percent of congregations did not provide that information.LCMS Secretary Dr. Raymond Hartwig, who supervises the Synod's Office of Rosters and Statistics, which compiles the information, says it's “less than helpful” when congregations choose not to report -- a phenomenon that occurs every year.  And, he says, “it's a little puzzling, since we've simplified the forms to the extent that it would only take a few minutes to complete them and return them.”Every three years, the Synod's national office asks district staffs and circuit counselors to contact their own congregations in an effort to get the forms returned because “delegate representation at the coming convention depends on the statistics we receive,” Hartwig said.  “Our [return] goal is 100 percent, and one of these years we're going to get there.”According to the 2005 report, of the nearly $1.3 billion congregations received in contributions, they gave $120.2 million for work beyond their own ministries.  This “work at large” total includes money forwarded to the 35 LCMS districts, which then send a portion to the national and international work of the Synod.  Congregations sent $3.2 million less for “work at large” than in 2004.In 2005, the Synod had 6,144 congregations served by 5,343 pastors.  The number of congregations declined by seven, while the number of active pastors increased by 20.  Average attendance at weekly worship services was 164.2 in 2005, compared with 173.6 the previous year.The number of baptisms, confirmations, and Christian education programs/students all fell between 2004 and 2005, according to congregations.  But the number of adults gained by “profession of faith” grew -- from 12,878 to 13,114, an increase of 236.Among the official acts reported:    * 31,701 children were baptized (down 1,150).    * 24,572 teenagers were confirmed (down 753).    * 18,684 adults were confirmed (down 469).In the Christian education category:    * 3,922 weekday religion classes (down 230).    * 184,934 students in weekday religion classes (down 13,120).    * 24,078 non-members in weekday classes (down 2,582).    * 3,804 vacation Bible schools (down 181).    * 5,106 Sunday schools (down 224).    * 423,958 enrolled in Sunday school (down 27,456).Membership and attendance statistics for 2005 will be included in The Lutheran Annual for 2007, available from Concordia Publishing House by year's end.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 2006 06:34:35 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Youth Gathering materials mailed to congregations</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10469</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ 	Registration materials are being mailed to all Synod congregations for next year's National LCMS Youth Gathering and the first-time Adult Gathering –- both set for July 28-Aug. 1 in Orlando, Fla. The mailing also includes a DVD to help congregations and groups plan Youth Gathering bookfor the Gathering. Online registration opens Sept. 25 at the Gathering Web site, www.lcmsgathering.com. Mailed-in registration forms postmarked no earlier than Oct. 25 will be processed in a “priority window” that starts on that date, through Nov. 8.  Registration forms postmarked earlier than Oct. 25 will be returned to the sender for remailing.Youth Gathering registration will continue until March 1, or until a maximum 35,000 participants are registered.  Registration capacity for the Adult Gathering is 2,000 participants.For more information about the Adult Gathering, including how to promote it in congregations, see the Gathering Web site.  The Adult Gathering is open to participants who are at least 25 years old.      A late fee of $50 will apply for registrations postmarked after March 1.The registration fee for the 2007 Youth Gathering is $235 –- just $10 more than for the 2004 Gathering, which also was in Orlando.“The Gathering has worked to keep cost increases to a minimum,” said Rev. Terry Dittmer, director of LCMS Youth Ministry.  “The National Youth Gathering takes its commitment to LCMS youth and congregations [to be good stewards of their dollars] very seriously.”Gathering registration fees cover all costs for participation in the Gathering, including the Gathering Bible and backpack, and all program administrative fees for LCMS Youth Ministry, the Gathering sponsor.Congregations that have not received their mailed Gathering registration packets by Sept. 5 should contact the LCMS Youth Ministry office at (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1155.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 09 Sep 2006 06:50:36 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Asia has `huge need` for short-term mission teams</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10384</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Bruce Wall, who matches LCMS groups with short-term mission assignments on behalf of Wall, BruceLCMS World Mission, says it's definitely a good thing that he's received requests from Hong Kong and Macau for 160 to 200 volunteer teams to serve there over the next 12 months.There is a “huge need” for Americans to teach English in Asia, Wall said, and he could easily feel overwhelmed at the idea of filling so many requests.But the cheery Wall puts it all into perspective: The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod has 6,000 congregations, and if each team is sponsored by a separate congregation, “it's a small percentage.”  About 1 percent of LCMS congregations could provide enough teams to fill the need, he says.Virtually all of the requests are for groups that can teach English as a foreign language to children and adults.  No experience is necessary, according to Wall.“As long as you can speak English, that's the only requirement,” he says.Teams can have from six to 20 members -- preferably all from the same congregation -- and they serve assignments lasting from 10 days to three weeks (although longer terms, up to six months, are available).The cost per person ranges from $1,500 to $3,000, depending upon airfare and available housing, and LCMS World Mission provides each group with ideas for raising the funds so that individuals who want to serve can do so, regardless of their own financial situations, according to Wall.To date, no team has failed to raise enough travel funds, he said.Teams teach English primarily in Lutheran schools, where the curriculum is Bible-based, he said, and typically only about 20 percent of students are Christian.Groups with “special gifts” are encouraged to use them on the field, as well.  One group, for example, performed skits for elementary-school classes.Wall said he hopes that congregations that sponsor short-term mission groups also will develop ongoing relationships with the people they serve by responding to their specific needs, supporting them with prayer, and sending teams on a regular basis.On the flip side, he says he's confident that the overseas experiences also will “challenge and encourage” stateside Lutherans to serve more than once -- perhaps even as long-term missionaries.The program “is a great way for congregations to be involved in mission work,” he said.For more information, contact Wall at (800) 433-3954, Ext. 1306, or bruce.wall@lcms.org.Teams also may apply online at www.lcmsworldmission.org (click on “Service Opportunities,” then “Short-Term Teams”).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 09 Sep 2006 06:31:35 -0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Volunteers still needed to help hurricane victims</title>
      <link>http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=10474</link>
      <description><![CDATA[By Paula Schlueter RossVolunteers still are needed to help Hurricane Katrina victims rebuild their homes -- perhaps more than ever -- say Lutherans involved in the effort.John Coyle, who has been directing a Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) camp for cleanup volunteers in Biloxi, Miss., since last September -- just two weeks after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast -- says volunteers there have gutted and rebuilt 300-plus homes to date.But LDR case files list 3,000 more "unlivable" hurricane-damaged homes in the Biloxi area, according to Coyle, who says, "We could work at this pace for three more years and still not be done."LDR, a collaborative ministry of the LCMS and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has organized housing for cleanup volunteers at a dozen sites in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. In the past year, 15,000 volunteers have spent 600,000 hours cleaning and rebuilding hurricane-damaged structures, according to LDR.In Biloxi today -- a year after the storm -- local contractors still are swamped with jobs, Coyle says, and the number of workers available to help replace wallboard and flooring, paint, and perform other tasks has fallen dramatically.Just two months ago, LDR's "tent city" for volunteers -- dubbed "Camp Biloxi" -- was housing more than 300 people. Now there are fewer than 80.Even if homeowners receive enough insurance money to purchase rebuilding materials, it's often hard -- or impossible -- to find enough hands to do the work, says Coyle.Many were underinsured to begin with, but even those with flood insurance "probably didn't get enough money to rebuild," so the situation is "a real catch-22," he said.But "getting the [workers] down here is the biggest thing."Volunteers have come from all over the country and from many different denominations to help, living at Camp Biloxi for a few days to several months.Accommodations at the camp include air-conditioned and heated tents, trailers, and modular units with bunk beds, showers, and a dining hall. Also available are parking spots with electrical hookups for campers and RVs.Dr. Robert Scudieri, associate executive director of LCMS World Mission's National Mission Team, spent a week's vacation as Camp Biloxi pastor -- preparing a worship service, leading devotions, encouraging volunteers, and visiting rebuilding projects.A local Lutheran told Scudieri that "the thing that citizens of Biloxi fear most is another hurricane -- not for the destruction it might bring, but because if it struck somewhere else it would drain volunteers from the present work," he said.The volunteers -- who come mostly in groups from Christian denominations -- are "critical" to the area's renewal, according to Scudieri. "Over and over again I heard, 'If it weren't for the volunteers from the churches, we would not have a home again,'" he said.Willis Barras lost his entire house when a "wall of water" swept it off its concrete-block foundation. The two-bedroom home he and his wife had lived in since 1954 -- with a huge carport and patio where they used to hold "shrimp boils" for family and friends -- was, he said, "100 percent gone."Barras, 75 and single since his wife died four years ago, last month moved into his new house -- a home built by church and other volunteers from Pennsylvania, Minnesota, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Michigan, California, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, and Georgia.Barras can rattle off their home states because he took pictures of each group -- more than 100 people in all -- for a photo album he is putting together."Everybody who comes says 'this is one of the prettiest houses I've ever seen,'" Barras said. "[The volunteers] really did a beautiful job."One of them -- a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Biloxi -- is finishing up building Barras a gazebo so he can resume his shrimp boils. Barras says the first party he throws will be for the volunteers.He also wants them to know that he has an extra bedroom for them whenever they're in town."I feel it's their house, too," he said.He is still amazed, he said, that strangers would spend their own time and money to travel to Biloxi to help him."How do you thank them? There's no way," Barras said. "All you can do is grab them and hug them -- and that's what we did."Barras said he's glad his wife, June, didn't have to see their house destroyed by the storm. "But I'd love for her to see this new house," he said.Scudieri said he was impressed by the volunteers, who aren't discouraged by the overwhelming task at hand but approach their work "one house, one family, at a time.""The volunteers come -- and then come back -- because they see the need, because the accommodations are adequate, because they are moved by the responses of the families they are helping, because the love of Christ is in them."When he was there in mid-June, Scudieri said it looked like about one-fourth of those with extensive storm damage were back in their homes. But he also saw "people living in the woods, people living in tents, people living in trailers."Some of the volunteers stayed for months. "They couldn't leave," he said. "That was the most powerful thing -- to see the love of these people."Volunteers should be at least 18 years old. Especially needed are those with skills in carpentry, electrical work, drywall installation, plumbing, concrete, and floors.For information about volunteering, visit the Lutheran Disaster Response Web site at www.ldr.org/volunteer <http://www.ldr.org/volunteer> or contact LCMS World Mission's Bruce Wall at (800) 433-3954, Ext. 1306, or bruce.wall@lcms.org <mailto:bruce.wall@lcms.org> .]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 09 Sep 2006 06:33:41 -0500</pubDate>
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