Synod Has Had Effective Mission Leadership

By Jonathan Coyne

President Gerald Kieschnick and First Vice President Bill Diekelman have given great leadership to helping international mission work of Synod recover from a downturn and to expand in the last triennium.  Let’s look at the numbers.

A Lagging Indicator

In economics we learn about leading and lagging indicators. Leading indicators are those signals indicating an upward or downward movement prior to the actual change in the economy. Lagging indicators are those signals appearing after a significant change in policy and highlighting the upward or downward effect of that policy.

Mission work is a lagging indicator highlighting the prior work of leaders in the LCMS. Mission work requires planning, training, and allocation of resources to be effective. Jesus noted that we should take an account of what we need to do prior to entering a battle, or in this case, entering the spiritual battle of the mission field.

Gerald Kieschnick became president of the LCMS in 2001. William Diekelman became First Vice President of the LCMS in 2004.  From 2001-2004, 12 full time missionaries were called into the international mission field. Similarly, from 2004-2007, 15 full time missionaries were called into the international mission field.  In contrast, from 2007-2010, 42 full time missionaries have been called in over 20 countries of the world!  In the last triennium, Synod has called more than twice the number of missionaries than in each of the previous two triennia.

According to the numbers, we would have to conclude that LCMS Mission Services is highly effective.  Our two top Synod leaders have certainly been mission driven. 

A Lagging Economy

I live in Silicon Valley where the dot-com boom began and ended. During those halcyon days of high flying stock prices it seemed that everyone would make money forever. The LCMS saw benefits at that time as well. From 1997 until 1999 the LCMS received very large grants from the Schwan Foundation that averaged per year $4.8 million for missions and $3.8 million for our seminaries.

However, in 2003 Schwan Foundation grants to the LCMS were down to $1.6 million for missions and $1.75 million for the seminaries. This type of major financial shift made for difficult decisions. Some will remember when in 2003 many missionaries were called home due to a lack of funding. From 2004-2008 Schwan Foundation grants to Synod were up again and averaged per year $2.2 million for missions and $2.3 million for seminaries. However, as the economy turned downward once again, in 2009 Schwan  grants dropped to $1.6 million for missions and $1.8 million for seminaries.  We do want to thank the Foundation for their continued generosity as we all learn to adjust to sharp downturns in the stock market.

Similar difficulties have been faced in our congregations. From 2003 until today our congregations have faced health care costs that have more than doubled. Many congregations have been forced to cut their gifts to their districts because of financial difficulties. Have you witnessed financial stress in your congregation over those years?

Similarly, districts were faced with rising costs, but without the offerings of the past from congregations. Many districts had to lower the amount of money they could send to the synod.

Finally, the LCMS as synod was faced with lower offerings from districts and lower revenue from foundation grants as well as with higher costs for health care and numerous other items. Just two years after taking office President Kieschnick faced the 2003 financial crisis that led to calling home so many missionaries. The economic troubles of 2008-2009 make 2003 look mild. Yet Synod leaders have reversed the trend, sending out twice as many missionaries as before.  How was this accomplished?

A Vibrant Mission Department

LCMS Mission Services responded to the crisis of 2003 in many creative ways.

First, they began to connect the mission efforts of the LCMS to individuals and congregations. Short-term mission opportunities allowed pastors, congregations, and lay people to participate in foreign missions for short term assignments. When these people returned, they were different. They shared the joy of bringing the message of Jesus into a foreign country or culture. They encouraged others to see the power of the Gospel and to give of their time, talent and treasure. This created a large base of people and congregations who were willing to support mission work through special offerings and gifts.

The international budget for missions has increased over the past three years because of God’s grace and the stewardship of God’s people. The three-year increase is 15% or $1.5 million more for the work of the Lord. Years of effort has changed our view of the mission field, our ability to participate in mission work, and our willingness to support missions.

A More Efficient and Effective Method

Prior to the financial challenges of 2001-2003, Synod attempted to bring international students over to our American seminaries and we sent American missionaries to countries with the goal of building one or more mission stations in a community.  The majority of internationals who came to our seminaries were unable to do effective mission in their home country. Some wanted the stay in the United States, while others struggled for acceptance when they did return.

American missionaries had been sent into foreign countries to start churches.  A better strategy is to use  them to help start and develop a whole church body there. 

Consider our work in Venezuela, which began in 1951. Faithful missionaries began 19 rural parishes, but there were never enough pastors. Rev. Ted Krey arrived in 2001 and implemented a new model of leadership development with veteran missionary Rev. Rudolph Blank. From 2008 through 2009, 13 internationals were ordained in Venezuela, bringing the total to 19 men serving all of the rural parishes for the first time ever. By empowering our trained clergy to teach leaders in foreign countries, we are able to multiply our efforts, and to help partner denomination multiply their church planting efforts.

In other words, our missionaries no longer leave with a goal to plant one congregation, but to plant a church body that will expand. We no longer bring one man to our seminary, but send one trained man to be the seminary in that place to train many men. This change in emphasis allows our mission department to be more effective and more efficient as good stewards of God’s gifts.

 

National and International Missions

Originally the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Synod Structure and Governance (BRTFSSG) proposed a change from program boards to a pair of advisory commissions for national and international missions. The resolution coming to the convention now provides for a national and an international board for missions. It is exciting to see that the delegates through their regional meetings bring “grassroots” solutions to  the process of modifying our governance and structure.

However, the most important part of the new emphasis is a broadened understanding of “mission.”  Perhaps many still see our own country as something other than a mission field. I cannot do that, living in Silicon Valley, where less than 10% of all people attend ANY Christian church in a week. In many parts of our country we see less expression of Christian faith than many parts of Africa, Russia, and South America. Our LCMS leaders are helping us understand that all of our work is about the mission of Jesus Christ to bring saving faith to all people through God’s Word and the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. We need to refocus on the fact that we are all missionaries at home and in foreign countries.

A Comparison

On June 5 John Wooden passed from this life into the glories of heaven. For those people who do not follow college basketball, John Wooden was the most successful college basketball coach of all time. He led UCLA to a remarkable 10 national championships, twice the number of any other coach and 7 championships in a row. I was watching the tribute show because an LCMS member from my congregation was a dear friend of John and helped him get his job at UCLA. I was surprised by one fact – John Wooden did not win a championship for the first 16 years of his coaching career. In fact, he was nearly fired after a season when he almost lost more games than he won.

Can you imagine what would be missing at UCLA if the regents had decided to replace Coach Wooden with a new coach? The legacy of which they are most proud would never have happened.

President Gerald Kieschnick and First Vice-President William Diekelman have been serving for 9 and 6 years respectively. They have led in a very difficult economic and social context. Some other large church bodies have split or are on the verge of splitting. Yet during these trying times, our leaders have not only held the church together, but they have created a peace which has led to more mission starts and more support from a broad base of God’s people.

We stand at the moment in history when we can support our veteran leaders and see that a drop in support from districts has been balanced by the foresight of our leaders that is bringing an increase in direct gifts to mission work. More importantly, the LCMS, which is often called A Sleeping Giant, seems to be waking to the fact that all of us are missionaries and all of us can help bring the message of salvation to a world in desperate need of the Gospel.