Atlantic District Publications

Letters from the President - For A Time Such As This

February 27, 2008 at 11:11 AM

Survey results and statistical analyses show that the religious scene in the United States is changing. People are moving among the various denominations more than was previously the case. In our own Lutheran tradition, the slow but very steady decline in membership among all Lutherans is beginning to pick up speed on the downhill slope as our longstanding aging population of worshipers moves to shut-in status and then to eternal rest. Have we passed our prime? Do we need to change our expectations of what a Lutheran church can and should be?

Bringing it home to the Atlantic District, from my own 35 years here in New York I would say that the worship attendance on average has declined in the Missouri Synod by at least 25% overall, with many parishes in far steeper decline and some which have grown, by God’s grace. Have we passed our prime? Do we need to change our expectations of what an Atlantic District church can and should be?

My short answer is NO. Our beliefs remain the same. Our understanding of the Means of Grace has not and cannot change one iota. We expect nothing more and nothing less than the proclamation of the Gospel and the living out of the Gospel by each member of every one of our 100 faith communities. For us, the Good News of Jesus is always "prime time."

Our method of operations in terms of the basics of congregational life cannot vary from that central core. However, around that core we are exploring creative ways to organize ourselves to hit the neighborhoods surrounding our faith communities, even as we equip each parishioner to be an able exponent of Jesus. We have Tri-Parish coordinating committees, Ablaze Covenant mission-starting congregations, ESL and Emerging Church immigrant, ZAP youth and young adult ministries, Bible study/Alpha course components targeting non-believers, praise and step dance groups, sports leagues, Ablaze Transforming/Revitalizing Congregations accountability agreements, Pastors' support groups, Consecrated Stewards focus on financial responsibility, and a host more productive and creative enterprises out there. Our Festival of Workshops kind of sets the table for getting in touch with many of those options. I'm always heartened by the amount of leaders from our large raft of smaller congregations that attend and appreciate the Festival.

I believe fervently that those leaders, parishioners and pastors, who read this letter are focused on the truth that we have been placed in our locations for a time such as this in the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I love being among God's people in our part of the world, where our opportunities to bring the message of salvation to individuals and families for the first time are so extraordinary. Now is the time. God's time. For us.