Convention and Mission Information
By Rev. Jack Cascione

 

In this Release:


LCMS Congregation Invites Entire Synod to Participate in Promise Keepers


Dear Friends in Christ:

As you may be aware a Promise Keepers event is scheduled to happen in Portland, OR on July 21-22, 2000.

The Men's Ministries of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Portland, OR (9800 SE 92nd Ave, 788-7000) would like to invite you to stay at Beautiful Savior Church for the night and receive a free continental breakfast, and possibly (depending on numbers of people) transportation to the Rose Garden. Men who wish to stay should bring an air mattress, sleeping bag, etc. for sleeping on the floor, (no showers are available). If you are interested in this invitation please contact the BSLC church secretary at (503) 788-7000 and give her your name and phone number and someone will contact you with necessary information.

1Thes 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (NIV)


Reclaim News Comment:
We do not support Promise Keepers and other Baptist Ministries.


Advent, Zionsville, Indiana, Growth Questioned

Gary questions Reclaim News Report on Advent's growth as a "traditional" LCMS mission congregation as follows:

"Perhaps the reason the Council of Presidents doesn't want to promote the kind of growth experienced by Advent is because it appears to be primarily transfer growth. I looked at the Synod web site and checked their statistics. They are way above average on the number of adults confirmed but the dramatic increase in numbers seems to be from sister congregations. Is that the kind of growth we should be looking for--moving people from one LCMS church to another? Just a question."

Reclaim News Responds:
Most new mission congregations on the suburban perimeter gather transfers from other congregations as people move out to the suburban perimeter. Gary himself said, that Advent is way above average in adult converts. We think the Council of Presidents and people of Gary's perspective find no joy in growing LCMS congregations with traditional worship, hymnbooks and catechisms.


New "Traditional" Mission Congregation in Northern Michigan

Dear Pastor Jack,

SHALOM

The release about Advent Lutheran Church certainly affirms Beautiful Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wellston, Michigan approach to serving. This past Sunday (6-11-00) we became the very newest Michigan District LCMS congregation. We are just beginning our venture with Christ but are in the most traditional mode, which includes Lutheran Hymnals, traditional worship, instruction (via catechism), Bible study (Sunday & during the week) and SERVING laity. At our chartering service we actually ran out of hymnals and programs SOLI DEO GLORIA!

We have about 30 souls on our current roster. Many of the attendees have been retirees, recreational property owners, tourists and local "unchurched" via canvassing activity. The area does not have potential for dynamic growth numbers wise but a fertile field for spiritual growth definitely exists.

Beautiful Savior - Wellston, MI utilizes The Lutheran Hymnal out of Concordia Publishing House , Copyright 1941 for entire service.

Gerald Philips


Two Pointed Resolutions Passed at the Atlantic District Convention
By Pastor William P. Terjesen

At its district convention on June 9th and 10th, the Atlantic District passed two pointed resolutions.

Led by task force leader Pastor John Hannah, Atlantic District liberals resolved to request the 2001 Synodical Convention to set aside Synodical Resolutions 7-05A and 7-06A and their attendant bylaw 2.272g, which give the Synodical President authority to remove errant district presidents.

This of course, was the Atlantic District's reaction to Dr. Barry's treatment of President Benke regarding the latter's public participation in an interfaith prayer service several years ago. They want to take that authority (the same authority DP's currently have over pastors) away from the Synodical President.

Secondly, Atlantic District liberals resolved to memorialize the Synod to affirm Article VII and that Synod is an advisory and not a legislative body, and to amend the bylaws (1.09b and 2.39b) which state that Synod's resolutions should be honored and upheld and considered binding if they are in accord with the word of God and applicable as far as the condition of the congregation is concerned. Synod should also affirm the right of its members to judge the validity of all Synodical resolutions in the light of Scripture, the ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran Confessions. The point of this, of course, is to leave liberals, charismatics, "Church Growthers," etc., free to do their thing within the Synod with impunity.

I'd like to be able to say that there was a healthy opposition to these resolutions, especially from the younger, more confessionally oriented recent grads. But apart from the "Nays" voiced by my congregation's lay delegate and me, there were maybe only ten other "nays" in the room.

One further note:
The brief video of Dr. Barry on the Fellowship question was received coldly, with only a smattering of very brief, polite applause.

The Atlantic District, in my opinion, spoke with a unified voice and said to the Synod:
"We want to go in quite another direction altogether than the one Dr. Barry is taking us."


Texas District President Kieschnick Announces That Every New "Mission Start" Is Not Necessarily New Mission Congregation

Reclaim News has questioned the location of the 33 mission congregations the Texas District has claimed to have started in the past 10 years. At the Texas District Convention, President Kieschnick announced that in the past 3 years 17 new ministries were stated in the Texas District. Of the 17 new ministries, only 8 are actual congregations. Of the 8, 2 are splits of congregations caused by the "Church Growth Movement." Kieschnick only listed the cities in which the 8 "mission congregations" are located, but did not offer the Convention the addresses or the names of the ministers serving the mission congregations.

Quite often, in many Districts, the new "ministries" are mission funds given to congregations to support staff for "outreach programs." We fear that the statistics for new "missions" that Dr. Robert Scudieri reports for the entire Synod are actually based on "ministries" and not actual congregations with pastors. We offer the following report by David Strand for the LCMS.


Church-growth experts use a formula to figure out how many new congregations a North American church body must plant annually in order to maintain its membership. For the LCMS, that figure is 48 new congregations a year in order to stay even, 60 to grow.

Last year, we planted 65 new mission congregations and preaching stations; in 1998, 85. Interestingly, of the 65 planted last year, only 24 were Anglo. The rest were African immigrant, African American, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic and several other ethnic types.

"We now have the largest number of congregations and preaching stations that the LCMS has ever had," says Dr. Robert Scudieri of LCMS World Mission. "However," he cautions, "we are not, in my opinion, starting enough new congregations to grow as we should. It seems to me that we would have to start 90 new churches a year in order to replace those that are going out of existence and to grow significantly."

For a state-by-state listing of new LCMS missions, or a listing according to ethnic groups, go to http://www.Pentecost2000.com/numinist.htm.

Thank you!

David Strand
LCMS Director of Public Relations


Reclaim News comment:
If the reader checks the 2000 Lutheran Annual he will find that the LCMS lost 18,000 baptized souls in 1998.


Rev. Jack Cascione is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church (LCMS - MI) in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He has written numerous articles for Christian News and is the author of Reclaiming the Gospel in the LCMS: How to Keep Your Congregation Lutheran. He has also written a study on the Book of Revelation called In Search of the Biblical Order.
He can be reached by email at pastorcascione@juno.com.

June 19, 2000