wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Campbell accepts Black-ministry post

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	June 2, 2005 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 43

	Campbell accepts top Black-ministry post

	Dr. Phillip A. Campbell, who has been serving as interim
executive director of the Synod's Board for Black Ministry Services for
nearly three years, has accepted a call to serve in that post
permanently.

	Campbell holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Concordia
Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind.; a master's degree in divinity from
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; and a doctorate in ethnic and Black
family ministry from Howard University, Washington, D.C.

	He also has served as pastor of congregations in Baltimore,
Indianapolis, and Detroit, and has taught philosophy and religion at
schools in Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Ann Arbor, Mich.

	He and his wife, Rose, a Lutheran school teacher, have been
married for 37 years.

	As interim executive director for the Board for Black Ministry
Services, Campbell also continued work as the board's director of
mission networking, a position he has held since 1992. And, while the
latter post eventually will be filled by someone else, Campbell says he
will continue to be "mission focused" in his new position.

	"That's my zeal," he said. "I have a passion for mission."

	That passion feeds Campbell's "vision for Black ministry," which
includes sharing the Gospel with a million "unreached" African Americans
over the next 12 years.

	"At this time in history we have a unique opportunity, and
that's simply because of the vision of our [LCMS] president -- 'One
Mission, One Message, One People' -- and the 'Ablaze!' initiative,"
Campbell said. "I'm tied into 'Ablaze!' -- it fits so well with my
vision. And my goal is to touch the lives of approximately a million
African Americans who don't know Jesus by 2017."

	"Ablaze!" is LCMS World Mission's worldwide effort to share the
Gospel with 100 million people -- "unreached by the Gospel and
uncommitted to Christianity" -- by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation. That effort was endorsed by delegates at the Synod's
national convention last summer.

	To help make his goal a reality, Campbell is asking each member
of the Synod's 350 congregations in Black ministry -- some 70,000 people
-- to contribute $5 per year for three years to Black-ministry outreach
efforts. In other words, a family of four would contribute $20 per year,
for a total of $60.

	"That's not going to break anybody," he said, and everybody --
from children to retired folks -- "can get involved."

	The total of $1.05 million would be used to:

	* provide grants to congregations in Black ministry for
outreach-oriented efforts such as Sunday schools and planting new
congregations.

	* help Lutheran teachers in Black ministry attend educational
conferences and brainstorm ideas for improving the outreach efforts of
schools.

	* establish an endowment that would provide grants to help
families attend national Black ministry convocations.

	"People are ready to move forward in Black ministry," Campbell
said. He knows this because, when he speaks about his vision at
Black-ministry congregations, the people are enthusiastic, he said. For
example, at a congregation in Philadelphia, people stood up and
applauded when he mentioned his plan for raising money. At another, in
Youngstown, Ohio, a dozen people came up to him and gave him their
contributions right then and there.

	"That's what I'm looking for -- I want to see people involved,"
he said.

	Even though the financial phase doesn't officially begin until
the next national Black Ministry Family Convocation -- July 19-23, 2006,
at Concordia College in Selma, Ala. -- Campbell already has more than
$100 from early contributors.

	In the meantime, smaller, regional Black ministry convocations
are being planned for eight cities this year, he said, to give Lutherans
in Black ministry opportunities to discuss local issues and get involved
in local ministries. The gatherings also will enable Black ministry
leaders to introduce "Ablaze!" and to encourage attendance at next
summer's national convocation, he added.

	At Pentecost, "it was the local people, the grassroots, who
carried the Gospel to others in their local cultures and communities,"
Campbell said. Likewise, he sees the regional Black ministry
convocations as "firing people up" and "setting them ablaze to share the
Gospel of God's salvation through Jesus Christ."

	For more information about Black ministry, contact Campbell at
(800) 248-1930, Ext. 1755, or phillip.campbell@lcms.org .

	****************************************

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

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