God in All Things - Without Borders

February 10, 2023

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, Rev. Dr. Terry Hursh was installed as Associate Pastor of St. Mark’s, Mississauga, ON, Canada. Rev. Derek Mathers officiated.

Pictured left to right: Rev. Dr. Matthias Benfey, Rev. Philip Gai, Rev. Dr. Terry Hursh, Rev. Derek Mathers, and Rev. Jeffrey Miskus.

Call Accepted



The Rev. Samuel O. Maconachy has accepted the Divine Call to serve as an Associate Pastor of Faith, Oakville, MO (Missouri District).

Captain Gregory R. Lutz CD (Base Chaplain - 17 Wing Detachment Dundurn, Canadian Armed Forces) has been presented “The Bronze St. Martin of Tours Medal” in recognition of and gratitude for his twenty years of distinguished service as a chaplain in the Royal Canadian Chaplain service. As a called servant of the Word, Chaplain Lutz definitely teaches and proclaims to soldiers and their families the love of Christ, their Good Shepherd. In bestowing the award, the Ministry to the Armed Forces Committee, Office of International Mission - Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, commends to Almighty God our deep thanksgiving and heartfelt praise for the gift of Chaplain Gregory Lutz.

In 2012, our English District Missions Council was created by Bishop Stechholz to assist, advise, and support him in the area of missions as we didn’t have a Mission Executive on District staff.

In 2015, Bishop Hardy was elected to leadership. He chose to fill the position of District Mission Executive. The mission's council began to work more directly with our District Mission Executive, continuing to serve in the role of assisting, advising, and supporting the Bishop.

We are very thankful for those who have served as members of the Missions Council over the years. Their service has been meaningful and impacting, especially with the creation of our 1-1-1 initiative, which continues to directly support established mission both nationally and internationally, through many doing little but accomplishing much.

The time has come to bring the Missions Council to a close and strategically move from an advisory council to an action team.

Bishop Hardy has designated our 2022-2025 triennial theme for our English District to be “God in All Things … Without Borders.”

At our 2012 English District Convention, Rev. Dr. William Schumacher presented a paper exploring the question, “What are we about as an English District?” His one sentence answer to this question was, "Sharing the good news of God's Kingdom across every boundary and barrier of human existence."

The first step in developing a new team is hosting a gathering of self-identified, interested individuals for a working conference to explore where we are and where we could be in terms of mission expansion for the glory of God and the blessing of all people. The application form for this conference is now available here.

This opportunity to participate in strengthening our culture of mission as the English District is open to all members of our English District, not just church workers.

Our space is limited to 20-23 people. We will start the conference on April 18, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. and end on April 20, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. There is no cost for participants to attend the conference, and travel will be covered according to District guidelines.

Specifically, the goals of this gathering are to:

• clarify our District understanding of mission within the context of God’s Word and within our District culture.
• identify beneficial and effective processes within our specific District for identification and development of new mission starts within the definition of mission established.
• support the birthing of new mission by existing ministries/congregations/circuits.
• resource these new missions with both tools and potential funding.
• raise the bar... without borders.
• missions / missions / missions.

It's time again for congregations to submit statistics and update lay leader information at: LCMS Information Support Network (LISN) for Congregations. Synod congregations were notified by email on or about January 23, 2023. Some congregations received notification by mail, if no working email was provided to Rosters, Statistics and Research Services, or if requested. While unanimous reporting is an expectation every year, the Synod is eager to continue to assess COVID impact across all its congregations. The Synod continues to rely increasingly on lay leader e-mails, which have demonstrated to correlate with better congregational response. When completing the report, please note that attendance is for in-person only; a separate survey is offered through the portal to record online interactions. Be sure to maintain this distinction, but also to use the new survey, if appropriate.

The English District remains eager for unanimous participation from all its congregations

1. because it is useful, especially now. We want to know how our congregations are doing and how best to work for their benefit and on their behalf.
2. because we need to be able to contact leadership by up-to-date emails to facilitate their governance of their Synod. This was of key importance in the recent congregational referendum and will be increasingly so as we move toward and through convention.
3.  because the Bylaws expect it (1.3.4.3) and require the Secretary (3.3.3.2 [e]), district presidents (4.4.8), and circuit visitors (5.2.3 [h]) to urge it,
4. because it is consistent with an objective of the original 1847 Constitution of the Synod (Ch. IV 13).
5. because the practice goes hand-in-hand with good pastoral/congregational recordkeeping in general. If this is being done, filing statistics shouldn't be hard. We are aware of serious shortcomings in this area in many parishes of the Synod. This needs to be addressed, and this is a start.



Congregation statistics are entered directly into the LISN database, which is designed to provide better service and greater access. If you have problems logging in, or need assistance, please send an email to rosters.stats@lcms.org or call (314) 996-1366 to request your login information.

Again, the deadline to submit the Congregation Statistics and Lay Leader Reports is Friday, March 31, 2023.

Your English District Lifeline team would like to notify you of two upcoming educational opportunities:

2023 LCMS Life Conference, March 2-3, 2023 in St. Louis and online. Presentations will focus on three main subject areas: advocacy for the sanctity of human life and God's plan for marriage and the family; teaching God's Word to people of all ages so they learn the truth about life, health and family; and sharing Christ's love and mercy with a focus on life, health and the family. The deadline for in-person registration is February 17; deadline for online participation is March 2. You may register here.

2023 Lutherans for Life National Conference, October 11-13 at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport, Erlanger, KY, with visits to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. Conference registration opens April 1. Further information is forthcoming and will be available here.

God in All Things...Without Borders

Professional Church Workers - May 9, 3:00 p.m. to May 11, 11:30 a.m.

Circuit Visitors/VPs - May 11, 12:00 p.m. to May 12, 11:00 a.m.

Information on the 2023 Professional Church Workers Conference was emailed to all pastors and rostered church workers last week. The informational letter and link to register are also available on our website.

We look forward to seeing you in May.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the District office: info@englishdistrict.org.

The Lumen Christi award is presented to publicly recognize the service of educators, to further promote and encourage all professional and volunteer leaders/teachers who are active members of an English District – LCMS congregation.   

The 2023 Lumen Christi Award nominations for the English District Professional Educator of the Year and English District Volunteer Educator of the Year are due by March 3, 2023. Nomination forms are available through the links above. The Lumen Christi Award Criteria and Definitions are available here. Please prayerfully consider making a nomination.  

Nominations are requested for the third annual Roger D. Pittelko Ille Dilexit Ecclesiam* Award (*He loved the Church).

The English District has created this award to recognize and celebrate pastors who have served God’s people well in the English District. 

Recipients of this award must meet the following criteria:

• He is an ordained pastor who served in the English District.
• He has retired from full-time active parish ministry.
• He exhibited a lifetime of faithfulness to our God and service to God’s people through congregations and the wider field of the English District.

Download the nomination form from the English District website.

The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, March 3, 2023. The recipient of this award will be announced as part of the 2023 Professional Church Workers Conference.

Shareboard provides lay leaders a valuable resource by helping them connect with others in similar ministry roles across the Synod to ask and answer questions, as well as discuss topics around:

• Human resources issues.
• Supporting ministry workers.
• Ministry finances.
• Board mentorship and training.
• Fundraising and development.
• And anything important to you!

Tell lay leaders about Shareboard and encourage them to visit ConcordiaPlans.org/Shareboard starting February 15.

Classes have restarted with campus ministry and mission present as well.

Yvette Afriyie-Agyemang and Pastor Spittel at the University of Pittsburgh Student Activities Fair on January 11, 2023.

Vicar David Wenndt (left) leads Wednesday evening LCMS-U discussion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together” with Pastor Spittel.

The Bible's promise is true: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us - 1 John 5:14.

We pray for Rev. Woody Mather and recovery from foot surgery.

District daily prayers for March are located on our website.

Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. If you have a prayer request you would like shared in this newsletter, email the District office.

Prince of Peace, Menomonee Falls, WI

On Sunday, January 29^th 2023, Rev. Jeff Miskus, English District 1st Vice President and pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Mississauga, ON, visited The Lutheran Church of the Prince of Peace. Pastor Miskus gave a wonderful sermon depicting a representation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Prince of Peace Comfort Dog Rhoda was there with a big “Thank You!”

Faith, Tucson, AZ

On Saturday February 4, Faith Lutheran Church hosted a convocation of the Arizona South Circuit Forum. Rev. Dr. Scott Stiegemeyer from Concordia University, Irvine led the discussion on “What does it mean to be human?” All in attendance were richly blessed!

Bethesda International Academy, Chicago, IL

Throughout the month of February, Bethesda International Academy is proud to be celebrating Black History Month. Each classroom is learning topics in its own age-appropriate way. Our 4-year-old students learned about Rosa Parks and to help them best understand, they used dramatic play to create a bus of their own. We are so thankful for teachers who integrate these important topics in age-appropriate ways.

Fairlawn, Fairlawn, OH

Mrs. Meyer’s kindergarten class celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing like they were 100!

Little Lambs, Berwyn, IL

Students at Little Lambs Preschool are getting ready for Valentine's Day and learning how to cut out heart shapes!

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Medina, OH has 161 Lutheran Worship hymnals and at least 9 large print editions available for local pick up. If churches would be willing to pay shipping, they will ship as well. Please contact admin@princepeace.org for more information.

ENGLISH DISTRICT LCMS

248-476-0039

info@englishdistrict.org

www.englishdistrict.org

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