wfn.org | [LCMSNews] LCEF conference focus: critical targets

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>12.24.2009		
>	LCMS News	 	
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>THE LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod  	 	
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	December 24, 2009 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 109

Fall conference emphasizes critical targets, 'making disciples'

>By Joe Isenhower Jr.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Synod's three "critical targets" of revitalizing
congregations, planting new congregations, and enhancing the focus on
stewardship received major emphasis at the Lutheran Church Extension
Fund's annual 2009 Fall Leadership Conference here Nov. 20-22, along
with Christ's mandate to "make disciples of all nations."

"Together in Christ -- Rejoicing for Eternity" was the conference theme.

The church's work in those emphases and to make disciples outweigh the
negative effects of challenges such as the negative economy, Synod
President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick and LCEF President Merle Freitag told
the 650 conference participants.

"These emphases come at a critical time in the life of the church and
also in the life of our country," Kieschnick said in his address at the
opening banquet Nov. 20.

"It is no secret that we are living in challenging times. We remain in
the grip of a tenuous economy," he continued, reminding his audience
that "purse strings" throughout the church have been tightened, "church
workers are leaving and losing their positions in ministry due to
dwindling congregational offerings. The lay men and women of our
congregations have felt the pinch of lost jobs, decreased salaries, and
at least partially depleted retirement plans.

"At the same time," Kieschnick said, "the mission fields that lie before
us have never been riper."

He cited the report of a recent American Religious Identification
Survey, which found that, since 1990, the number of Americans who call
themselves Christians has decreased more than 11 percent, almost all
church denominations have lost members, and the number of people who
claim no religion has increased by 8 percent, to a total of 15 percent
of the population.

Although he said some might be tempted to "look at this information and
say, 'Oh, woe is me,' " he prefers to "look at the church and the world"
and conclude that "the harvest is plentiful.

"I'm not doing so naively or without understanding the gravity of our
current situation," Kieschnick said. "But, knowing the God that is for
us and knowing that the world has no power over us, I refuse to be
gripped by any fear of the difficult times in which we live or by the
all-too-often grim nature of current trends.

"People of God, we have a mission to accomplish -- to make disciples for
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," Kieschnick told the audience. "We
have churches to plant, congregations to energize, and stewards to
groom. If accomplishing this mission means that we have to expend every
last breath in our bodies and every last penny in our pockets, then so
be it."

Freitag recalled that at the 2008 Fall Leadership Conference, he spoke
of combinations of factors affecting the economy as analogous to a
"perfect storm," but that "Christians (Lutherans) respond differently
than non-Christians in time of economic crisis.

"We can only theorize that the recession is over," Freitag told 2009
conference attendees, as he noted that recent data showed that the gross
domestic product rose by 3.5 percent in a three-month period and worker
productivity increased, while unemployment remained high. He cited other
economic indicators, including the declining strength of the U.S. dollar
and "extraordinary" government spending that may impact inflation and
further influence a turnaround.

Frietag also emphasized that while church membership figures reported by
Synod congregations in the period of 2005-08 show a decline of about
125,000, per-member giving increased by 3.6 percent.

"It seems we have fewer people giving more," he said.

Freitag also recalled that a year earlier, he reported to the fall
conference that LCEF's investment portfolio "declined along with the
rest of the stock market last fall."

In the meantime, "LCEF has adopted and is working to recover the value
lost, [with] no significant impact on LCEF's ability to accomplish its
mission," Freitag said.

"Only time and perspective will allow us to judge accurately the
beginning and end of recessions," he said.

"Christians have a Higher Authority" than the impact of the economy,
when it comes to ministry, Freitag observed. "As LCMS members, we forge
ahead and while being conscious of the economy, we maintain our drive to
fulfill the Great Commission and at the same time pray for His
guidance."

He then highlighted several areas in which LCEF supports ministries of
Synod congregations and schools. They include:

	

*	School Marketing Resources, a service that helps schools develop
a marketing plan and provides customized supporting material.

	

*	Consecrated Stewards, which teaches congregations to implement
biblical, whole-life stewardship principles and practices in support of
a "stewardship renaissance" in the Synod.

	

*	NAILS, the Laborers For Christ program component for college-age
participants.

	

*	K.I.D.S. Count, a stewardship curriculum resource for educators
of students through the eighth grade.

	

*	The Mission Planting Revolving Fund for new missions.

Freitag also mentioned the Funding Academy, a Synod-sponsored training
program for school administrators, business managers, and key staff. 
  
"The Christian church will have a number of challenges in the future,"
Frietag said at the end of his presentation. "The successful churches
will be those that keep the mission in front of them at all times."

"You and I have been sent -- the Great Commission is all we need," he
said.

Freitag, who retires Jan. 15, thanked the LCEF Board of Directors,
district and national staffs, and members for their support in the
11-plus years of his presidency and said he is "privileged to have
worked in this part of the vineyard." 

He also introduced to the conference Rich Robertson of Peachtree City,
Ga., who will succeed him as president.

Three keynote speakers addressed the Synod's critical targets:

	

*	Dr. Bob Roberts of Keller, Texas, on planting new churches;

	

*	Keith Ogorek, Indianapolis, stewardship; and

	

*	Dr. Paul Borden, San Ramon, Calif., revitalizing congregations.

"When it's all said and done, if we're not sharing our faith, forget
it," said Roberts, senior pastor of a Texas church that has planted 117
other congregations and "adopted" entire nations.  He is founder of
Glocal.net, an association of church leaders that promotes a "global
church multiplication movement that connects the body of Christ
worldwide."

"All religions are in all places today," Roberts said, adding that makes
"reaching out ... much more difficult." But he advised that instead of
relying only on pastors to plant churches, "every disciple should be
seen as a church planter."

He stressed the importance of advancing Christianity worldwide to
counter the numerical decline of church attendance in the United States,
and called on U.S. Christians to make their churches "bringers of hope
and the Gospel, rather than places of goods and services for members."

"We need to focus on the Great Commission and being disciples," Roberts
said. "Denominations don't go away. We need them; but we need to
remember that the lowest common denominator is the disciple."

Ogorek is vice president of marketing for Author Solutions, a publishing
company that concentrates on blending the need for marketing based on a
Christian worldview.

He said that stewardship may be seen in terms of the use of time,
talents, and treasure; as giving; and as giving an account at the end.

But he added he believes there is something more important -- to see
stewardship's purpose being to cultivate and keep.

Drawing on agricultural images, Ogorek said that stewardship cultivation
means to "create an environment for growth," while keeping involves
"protecting the plant and its environment so that what's growing can
continue growing."

And when cultivation and keeping continue, responsible use of God's
gifts -- stewardship -- "flourishes," he added.

"God's redemptive work in us [created in His image] as stewards, causes
all under our care to flourish," Ogorek said.

He also presented seven principles for understanding stewardship as
keeping and caring.

Borden, a church-growth consultant and executive minister of Growing
Healthy Churches, an association of 215 West Coast churches, said he
notices that many struggling congregations exhibit little hope.

"I'm convinced the reason there is little hope is that often our vision
is skewed. Sometimes churches have too many visions, or the vision is
incomplete. For many, the problem is not lack of vision, but incomplete
vision."

Noting that Christian churches are growing worldwide except on the three
continents first touched by the Reformation -- Europe, North America,
and Australia/New Zealand, Borden said, "Our competition is not another
religion, but the local Barnes and Noble, Target, or Wal-Mart."

"The purpose of the church primarily is to depopulate Satan's ZIP code,"
Borden said.  "Worship, preaching, fellowship, and Christian schools are
all important," he said, "but [many congregations have] taken the ends
to the means, instead of making disciples for Christ."

Katie Stam, Miss America 2009 and a member of an LCMS congregation --
Immanuel Lutheran Church in Seymour, Ind. -- told the LCEF audience at
the President's Prayer Breakfast Saturday morning that "every
opportunity I've had to talk about my faith with [those in] my Lutheran
Church--Missouri Synod" has been a highlight of her reign.

"All of us in this room have something very important and common: we are
all Christians," said Stam, a communications major at the University of
Indianapolis who said she first aspired to be Miss America as a
3-year-old.

"We are all taught so many valuable, wonderful lessons through the
church -- lessons that we will pass on to our children, that we will
take to eternal life," she said.

She explained that although her schedule this year often keeps her from
attending weekend worship services, her faith had "done nothing but
increase" since being crowned Miss America last Jan. 24 in Las Vegas.

As she's traveled the country promoting her personal platform of a
passion for service and as "goodwill ambassador" for the Children's
Miracle Network, Stam said she "can honestly say that I am carrying out
the work that ... God has put before me."

Cindy Newkirk, a Lutheran who earned a master's degree in Reformation
history from Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., and now operates a
350-acre vineyard in Paso Robles, Calif., with her husband, was keynote
speaker for the Nov. 22 women's luncheon.

Newkirk shared stories describing the life and care of grapevines as she
quoted Bible verses that include grapevine and vineyard images to convey
their meaning in relation to faith and the church.

"These verses are real," Newkirk said, "and these verses are life."

Fall conference participants also attended small-group sessions led by
plenary speakers and others on topics such as "The Multiplying Church,"
"Church Planting," "Plowing Fields [for outreach] in Rural America,"
"Planting Gospel Seeds/Serving Human Needs," "Faith Aflame/360 Degree
Stewardship," "Building Ministry Support Beyond the Offering Plate," and
"Transforming Congregations: National Perspective."

Several attendees shared their impressions of the conference.

"I thought it was wonderful," Elizabeth (Liz) DeMik of Alexandria, Va.,
wrote in an e-mail.

A first-time conference attendee with her husband, Thomas A. DeMik (a
voting delegate), she said, "The speakers, presentations and workshops
were very good. It brought together LCMS disciples and leaders from all
over the country, from churches of many sizes.  It was a very
Spirit-filled, positive, grace-filled experience.  Who can argue over
our need to share the Gospel?"

Sylvia Knight, a voting delegate from Santa Ana, Calif., attending her
ninth fall conference, said Roberts "opened my eyes as to the real
'Jesus movement' ... around the world and how we here in the West need
to start our second Jesus movement by becoming disciples in our own
circles; sharing God's Word by example, if not directly by sharing our
own beliefs with others."

Knight, who is administrative assistant for the Pacific Southwest Church
Extension Fund, added that she also "totally enjoyed" Newkirk, finding
her description of vineyards "fascinating."

"We've all heard the analogies of the vineyards in comparison to God in
our life," Knight said, "[but] her take on it was shared with such
passion that it was like hearing it for the first time."

She said she's come to appreciate these fall conferences as "a time of
reconnecting and renewing relationships [that are] very important in all
areas of our life."

A member of the Board of Managers for the Kansas District Church
Extension Fund, Mark Zillinger of Topeka said this was the eighth fall
conference he's attended since 2000.

He described the 2009 conference as "one of the best ... very well
organized with a good mix of speakers."

Deciding to attend workshops led by Roberts and Borden "due to their
excellent keynote addresses," Zillinger said they both "presented
outside-the-box thinking of how to focus on ministry of the church and
how to do it effectively. They shared the successes and challenges
they've met. Churches need to learn from the challenges they face, to
make adjustments."

He said he also "appreciate[d] the opportunity to hear directly from the
synodical president [about] the vision and mission of the LCMS.  He does
a great job of clearly providing information about our church body and
how the many churches support the overall ministry."

Concerning LCEF, Zillinger said it "provides such a wide range of
services that help provide space and place for ministry. I know of no
other organization that is so uniquely structured to provide this
ministry. And the support of the investors enables this ministry to
continue and grow."

LCEF honored a number of individuals, congregations, and districts with
awards presented during the conference. They include:

	

*	Fred E. Lietz Mission Project Award -- to Building Hope in the
City, a ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church, Cleveland, Ohio, that seeks
to strengthen urban ministries. The Sunday morning fall conference
worship service offering of $8,721 was matched by LCEF and donated to
Building Hope in the City.

	

*	The Fred E. Lietz Individual Ministry Award -- to Edward L.
Miese of Norfolk, Va., and Rev. Francis Roschke, Colorado Springs, Colo.

	

*	Million Dollar Congregations -- Ascension Lutheran Church,
Beverly Hills, Mich.; Bethel Lutheran Church, Fort Smith, Ark.; Trinity
Lutheran Church, Mena, Ark.; Emmaus Lutheran Church, Denver; Faith
Lutheran Church, Capistrano Beach, Calif.; Lamb of God Lutheran Church,
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Santa
Ynez, Calif.; Mountain View Lutheran Church, Apache Junction, Ariz.;
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Jackson, Mich.; St. John Lutheran Church,
Stewartville, Minn.; St. Mark Lutheran Church, Lake Junction, Texas; and
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Weston, Fla.

	

*	Arthur C. Haake Leadership Award -- Jack Schultze, Northwest
District, Eugene, Ore.

	

*	Antioch Reflection Award -- Zion Lutheran Church, Mattson, Ill.

	

*	Performance Award -- New Jersey District, South Wisconsin
District, and Northwest District.

During an annual business meeting at the fall conference, the following
were elected to the LCEF Board of Directors:

	

*	Mark Braun of Wheaton, Ill., for the East Region.

	

*	Randy Peterson, Green Bay, Wis., North Central Region.

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>*	Jim Ingersoll, Orlando, Fla., South Region.

Re-elected were the five members of the nominating committee.

For more information about LCEF and the 2009 Fall Leadership Conference,
go to http://www.lcef.org.

>****************************************

If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release, contact
Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org
<mailto:joe.isenhower@lcms.org>  or (314) 996-1231, or Paula Schlueter
Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org <mailto:paula.ross@lcms.org>  or (314)
996-1230.

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