Participate Fully in the Next Round of Elections

At regular intervals the LCMS elects folks to serve the institutional church – sometime locally, sometime regionally and sometime at the national level. 

When we are at our best this process offers an informed constituency a pool of committed and competent men and women so that they can choose the one(s) they think will best serve the Lord and His church.  While electing people for congregational leadership is done annually, choosing district and then synod leaders happens every three years. 

The time to get ready for the 2009 district conventions is upon us.  Again. 

Selecting individuals for service in the church is nothing new.  One of the first things the early “church” did (Acts 1:15-26) was select a successor to Judas.  They did the best they could not knowing that God had another candidate in mind (Galatians 1). 

Decisions about how districts and circuits chose those whom they ask to serve are best made locally for two time-tested reasons:

·      Circuits/districts know the people in their area better than anyone else and are understandably resentful of unsolicited advice;

·      External – even internal – efforts to shape the elective process don’t fare well. 

Put another way, those candidates selected by districts/circuits represent in the moment the mind of their constituencies.  If you want to take the pulse of an LCMS circuit or district, check out those who were chosen by them to serve.  The elective “apple” doesn’t fall far from the circuit/district tree.  Outsiders may find those who were elected as appalling; folks back home see them as appealing.

So what’s the JESUS FIRST message as the district/circuit election season comes upon us – again?

First, it is our prayer and earnest hope that God will keep all those selected fully faithful to the Word and Confessions and neither add to nor subtract from either.  No one needs leaders who like Luther’s drunken peasant fall off the donkey first one side and then the other.

Secondly, we want to remind us all that it’s best when “the office seeks the man/woman” and not the reverse.  Such a view is good both for those chosen and for the district/circuit that chooses them.

Thirdly we urge on all, electors and electees, the serious consideration of our masthead challenge to strive for

Gospel-Centered, Mission-Driven,

Future-Oriented Leadership in

The Lutheran Church―Missouri Synod.

May the Lord continue to bless our beloved synod both in its entirety and in all its parts.

CSM