Lutherans

ENGAGE the WORLD

May June 2014, Vol. 2, Issue 5

Lutherans

ENGAGE the WORLD

May June 2014

vol. 2, no. 5

inspire

4
2 
4 
7 
19

Strengthened Faith, Fervent Love

Bringing Christ & Care to Inner-City Baltimore
Putting Up Walls to
Break Down Barriers

Missing Mayberry

19
7
Engaging the Church in the work of witness and mercy across the globe in our life together.
Lutherans EngagE the World is published bi-monthly by The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod.
2014 The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod. Reproduction for parish use does not require permission. Such reproductions,
however, should credit Lutherans EngagE the World as a source. Print editions are sent to LCMS donors, rostered workers and
missionaries. An online version is available (lcms.org/lutheransengage). To receive the print edition, we invite you to make a financial
gift for LCMS global witness and mercy work. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are property of the LCMS.
888-THE LCMS (843-5267)
www.lcms.org

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

inform

engage
Revitalize

3
12 
14 

10 Questions

Mercy Moment
Philippines Update

Reviving Ministry
on Americas
College Campuses

12

16 

A Beacon for the

Community

16
involve

10 

Philippine Disaster Recovery

S TA F F
Mark D. Hofman
David L. Strand
Pamela J. Nielsen
Erica Schwan
Melanie Ave
Megan K. Mertz
Erik M. Lunsford
Carolyn A. Niehoff
Chrissy A. Thomas

executive director, mission advancement
executive director, communications
executive editor
manager, design services
staff writer
staff writer
staff photojournalist/editor
designer
designer

verb, to restore vitality, liveliness

It made the morning news the literal collapse

of a Lutheran church building in a blighted north St. Louis
neighborhood. My first thought was, So sad! Another
abandoned Lutheran church, another neighborhood where
the gifts of God are no longer received at a Lutheran altar.
In cities, in small towns
and along country roads,
empty and dilapidated church
buildings dot the landscape.
Reasons vary as to why, of
course, but in every case, these
churches lost their vitality and
eventually closed their doors.
This issue of Lutherans
Engage the World is about REvitalizing our congregations.
It celebrates the places where the Gospel is being
proclaimed in the midst of challenges large and small, in
places where many might have simply given up.
The LCMS Office of National Mission is focused on
revitalizing congregations and even replanting them where
they have breathed their last.
In partnership with districts, congregations, Lutheran
Housing Support and LCMS Recognized Service
Organizations, the people of God are working together
to proclaim the Word of life in dark alleys, alongside
cornfields, in challenged neighborhoods and on secular
university campuses across the country.
So, what about that crumbling church in north St. Louis?
Thats a good news story of revitalization! The congregation
is actively involved in improving the neighborhood, having
helped remodel nearly 250 homes. For safetys sake, worship
services and church operations were moved long ago into
the congregations school building next door. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ continues to be proclaimed there each week!
You can read about revitalization of another kind
in an infographic and photo essay on the continuing
disaster-relief efforts in the Philippines (Pages 10-13).
God is blessing your gifts for LCMS disaster efforts and
to the Global Mission Fund, making church revitalization
possible at home and abroad. Thank you!
In Christ,
Pamela J. Nielsen
Associate Executive Director,
LCMS Communications

E d i t o r i a l Off i c e
314-996-1215
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295
lutheransengage@lcms.org
www.lcms.org/lutheransengage

Cover image: Acolytes light

altar candles before worship
at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Mobile, Ala.
Photo: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

nspire

Strengthened Faith,

Fervent Love ...

Christians live outside themselves: they live in Christ

by faith and in their neighbor by love.

That was one of Martin Luthers most brilliant ahas! It runs

right along with his observation that the nature of sin is to be
curved in on yourself.
Consequently, the effect of Christs Gospel in His appointed
Means of Grace seizing hold of you is that it begins unbending
you. It begins lifting up your eyes to behold with joy the certain
promises of God in Christ. To know them as true for you. To begin
to be filled with the hope that flows from them. And at the same
time, it opens your eyes to see
and meet the needs of
your neighbor with a
fiery love, a divine
compassion.

Luther encapsulated this aha in the words of the postcommunion prayer in our Divine Service. We give thanks to You,
almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift,
and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us
through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one
another .
Every time you gather with your fellow saints at the altar, your
Jesus comes to you in His body and blood to strengthen your faith
by His promises and to set your heart on fire with divine love. Which
is just another way of saying: He comes to give you a share in His
own divine life, for He IS perfect trust in the Father and perfect love
for the neighbor.
Because His life is given us as our own, the Church of Christ
remains an enigma in this world. Its a colony from the future, an
outpost of the age that will triumph when our Lord appears in glory.
When love will have vanquished all hatred. And thanksgiving will
have replaced all grumbling. Its true that we only experience that
in a fragmentary way due to the sin that clings to us right up to the
grave. Despite our weak grasp of the new life, the Holy Spirit still
causes the bright light of the coming age to shine through Gods
people. It is like a door to a room filled with light, opening to spill
out into the darkness outside, inviting those lost and alone in the
darkness to come in with us to the feast of joy that has no end.
The LCMS Office of National Mission exists to serve our rural,
inner-city and suburban congregations, schools, pastors, youth and
youth workers, teachers and deaconesses in holding open the door
of the Kingdom, letting the light of the age to come spill out of each
unbent life, through strengthened faith and fiery, fervent love so
that congregations are revitalized and new outposts of the future
are planted and flourish.
In His name,
Rev. Bart Day
Executive Director,
LCMS Office of National Mission

We give thanks to You, almighty God,

that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift,

and we implore You that of Your mercy You would
strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and

in fervent love toward one another .

lcms.org/lutheransengage

MayJune 2014

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

Photo: Istockphoto/Thinkstock

he Rev. James Sharp is in the

trenches of daily ministry as
one of about 6,000 pastors
currently serving an LCMS
congregation. Leading a dual parish in
Maryland Christ Lutheran Church in
Dundalk and Nazareth Lutheran Church
in Baltimore Sharp shepherds two
congregations, in two locations with two
schedules, and with two very different types
of members and needs. He is a busy man. He
also is a man committed to teaching and
confessing the faith with a lot of help
from God and a lot of energy from the
massive amounts of black coffee he
consumes daily.

10

Questions

with the Rev. James Sharp

by Melanie Ave

7.

Im hoping well work more closely together and with other congregations
in the area. Weve been looking at ways to extend the partnership.

1.

2. Describe Sunday mornings.

The Rev. James Sharp

We have church at 9 at Nazareth. By the time Im done with church, I have

15 to 20 minutes to hobnob and head over to the other church, where we
have church at 11. I spend a lot of time driving back and forth between
two churches. I grew up in a larger congregation with two or three services.
Pastors were always running around. Its not too different from that.

3. How has being a pastor changed you?

Its forced me not to think about myself so much. Being a pastor in the cities
where I serve I have a much more clear desire to serve others than to
serve myself. Being a pastor for almost 10 years now has helped me be less
selfish and more loving and caring for other people.

4. Where does your energy come from?

I drink an awful lot of coffee. I have a pretty good relationship

with the local roaster.

5.

What do you enjoy in your time off?

8.

What is your view on church revitalization?

9.

Any church revitalization tips you want to share?

It doesnt mean we have to reorganize the church from top to bottom. It

doesnt mean change everything. It means we can add something new,
and when the new ministry takes off, then the Lord blesses the new
ministry. It will change your congregation and change you in ways you
cant anticipate.

I definitely encourage congregations to look at multi-parish ministries.

My congregations were forced into it by decline. Both had full-time
pastors in the past but neither could continue to afford it. Churches
could work together before that point and share an outreach pastor. I
encourage congregations and pastors to cooperate and work together
more than we have in the past.

10. What is one thing you would like people who live and

work near your congregations to know about what goes on inside?

These are places that really love people. Whatever they might have
heard about church or know about Christianity, if they walk into one
of my parishes, they will find people who will love them and love
them unconditionally. Thats something I dont think
people expect.

Melanie Ave is a staff writer and the

social media coordinator for LCMS
Communications.

nform

photos: Thinkstock, James Sharp

I have two boys and two girls. I try to spend

time with my family. Thats where I get a lot
of energy and joy for the ministry . Every
pastor, first and foremost, is a priest and
minister to his family. I take that very seriously.

Do you ever say no?

No. (Laughs.) Ive been working on that. Its

hard to say no to a congregation, church
members, to my family. There are things
that Ive decided not to say no to. When
my kids were little I said I would never
say no if they asked me to read a book or
to sit on my lap . Ive learned you dont
always have to give people what they ask for.
Sometimes you can offer something better and
give them what they need.

What do you want your congregations to

be like in 10 years?

Whats it like leading a

dual parish?

Its a lot like having two kids. I want

to love them both and treat them fairly.
It doesnt mean treating them the same,
necessarily.

6.

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

MayJune 2014

lcms.org/lutheransengage

Far left: St. Thomas

Lutheran Church is
seen on the Baltimore
skyline. Left: A cross
hangs above a couch
void of cushions at
the Concordia House
recovery center.
Right: The Rev. Charles
Wildner, pastor of
St. Thomas, hugs
John McLeroy, facing
camera , a resident of
the Concordia House
recovery center.

by Erik M. Lunsford


Bottom right: The Rev. Charles Wildner prays with
Faye Blasy, a homebound church member. Far right:
The Rev. Roy Axel Coats, center, leads a group in
prayer during a youth confirmation study session at
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore. With
him, from left, are Princess Greah, 17, Samantha
Nah, 16, and the Rev. Steven Schave, director of
LCMS Urban & Inner-City Mission.

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MayJune 2014

He pokes his head up the stairwell and calls the residents down,
partly in search of the cushions. Several men in their 20s and 30s
emerge. Clean of heroin or cocaine, one dons a tie for visitors.
A new man with a weathered face and a dirtied camouflage hat
arrives with the others. Clean from drug abuse for a week, he says he
needs a place to sleep. Wildner rattles off a list of rules, and the two
men hug. The man will sleep with a roof over his head tonight.
Earlier in the day, Wildner sits at the table of a small caf in
Baltimore and pokes at a crab cake sandwich. He pushes the bread
aside and dunks grilled veggies into ketchup. He recalls the beginning
of his inner-city ministry days.
I thought I would never be an inner-city pastor, Wildner says. He
adjusts his glasses and thinks for a moment. His salary could be double
in the suburbs, and it would be a comfortable life with great Lutheran
schools. He knows this.
One day, almost 40 years ago, while serving as a volunteer chaplain,
Wildner read a quote on a leaflet: I go where its most difficult because
thats where the Lord needs me most.
Someone made a copy of the leaflet for Wildner. He went where the
Lord needed him most.
St. Thomas is one of several Lutheran churches working to bring
Word and Sacrament ministry to residents of inner-city Baltimore. East
of St. Thomas sits Martini Lutheran Church, guided by the Rev. Elliott
Robertson. West of St. Thomas is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer,
led by the Rev. Roy Axel Coats. When plotted on a map, the churches
form an almost-perfect westward line one of the migratory patterns
from the city to the suburbs. While many have looked outward, the
pastors of St. Thomas, Martini and Redeemer look inward.
Coats, a scholarly man with a caramel-orange beard, wears a beret
and walks quickly, as if theres always a pressing need at the end of
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

photoS: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

Bringing
Christ & Care
to Inner-City
Baltimore

he Rev. Charles Wildner, pastor of St. Thomas Lutheran

Church, opens the door to the drug recovery house he runs
next to the church in the inner city of Baltimore. Nearby,
trash blows across the street while prostitutes huddle on the
corner. As he walks inside, Wildner sighs and shakes his head:
Someone has stolen the couch cushions again.

nspire

I go where its most difficult because

thats where the Lord needs me most.

his path. Only a handful of years out of

Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort
Wayne, Ind., Coats assumed a struggling
parish of five members on a quiet inner-city
street in Baltimore and carefully nurtured it
into a growing church of 40.
On a Thursday evening in March, Coats
visits with a woman and her seven children
when her husband, Augustine Tarley, a
quiet, impeccably dressed Liberian man
who immigrated to the United States in
2003, walks through the door of his home.

Bearing a slight resemblance to the

experience of the Lutheran missionary
Rev. F.C.D. Wyneken when he mistook a
Methodist prayer meeting for a Lutheran
worship service after landing in Baltimore
in 1838, Tarley first encountered the
Methodists upon his arrival. During a
service, he realized he didnt share their
beliefs and left the church. While driving
one day, Tarley took a wrong turn and
stumbled on Lutheran Church of the
Redeemer. He found his home there just

weeks before Coats was ordained and

installed.
The timing, as it turns out, wasnt
coincidental. Coats believes the Lord sent
Tarley to help him structure his outreach
ministry. Now the two visit the homes of
Africans who recently immigrated and are
looking for a church.
I found out he was someone who
wanted to stand with me and help me
in every way reach out to more people,
and that encouraged me, Coats said.

Far left: From left,

Jonathan OConnor,
Daniel Broumas,
Robb Carr, John
McLeroy, the Rev.
Steven Schave
and the Rev. Elliott
Robertson converse
before dinner. Left:
The Rev. Charles
Wildner, center (at
end of table), leads
a prayer during a
fellowship dinner at
his home.

Its something I wasnt expecting to

instantly have people to go and visit and
officially bring into the congregation,
with kids to be baptized theres a great,
you know, excitement and energy to the
congregation. The Lord, through him,
provided me an understanding of how to
reach out and visit with Jesus Christ the
people in my neighborhood.
Robertson, the cheerful, red-cheeked
pastor of Martini Lutheran Church, has
a soothing yet authoritative voice. On a
rainy Friday morning in March, Robertson
sits at a table in the fellowship hall of
Martini. Across from him is 54-year-old
Dennis Schramm, a man freed from drug
addiction, discussing donations to the
churchs food pantry.
Upon the 2008 death of his beloved
grandmother, Schramms drug addiction
ensnared him. Homelessness followed.
He eventually found work at a local
motel, but he continued to bounce from
shelter to shelter. One day several years
ago, Schramm crossed Robertson on the
street. Robertson invited him to church,
but Schramm felt self-conscious about his
appearance. His clothes were tattered, his
hair a mess and his shoes full of holes. He
thought others might look down on him.
According to Schramm, Robertson said,
Well, Dennis, its not how you come to
church. The Lord wants you as you are and
where your hearts at.
Several weeks later, Schramm came to
worship. I felt really welcome a warm
welcome and accepted, Schramm says.
Schramm plans to become a member of
6

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MayJune 2014

Martini Lutheran Church. He currently

serves the church in a variety of ways.
The church has restored his trust, which
was eroded by others in the shelters. My
foundation in life isnt good but I do have
a foundation in the Lord, he says.
After a short breakfast on a rainy Friday
morning, Robertson walks with Betty
Bland-Thomas, an expert in community
redevelopment. She stresses the need for
church engagement and education in
urban renewal. Robertson nods in
agreement as a man drives a forklift down
the street in the mixed-use neighborhood
surrounding Martini.
When people hear the word missionary
they may think of church workers planting
churches and administering the Sacraments
in exotic foreign lands. But the Rev. Steven
Schave, director of LCMS Urban & InnerCity Mission, wants to append that notion
to include inner-city ministry. Having been
an urban-ministry pastor for years, Schave is
acutely aware of the reality facing the church.
We cant afford to lose any more
ground in our cities, and we thank God for
these men who stand and fight to bring
Christ to those who so desperately need it,
Schave says. The new missionary field, he
says, is not only international missions but
missions in tattered neighborhoods in the
backyards of American cities.
Back at the caf, Wildner describes his
daily life as a pastor of an inner-city church.
On any given day, he may cook, cut the hair
of a member preparing for a job interview,
prepare music for worship, pick up men
recently released from jail and give them

bus fare home from his own wallet, or take

a call in the middle of the night from a
member on the precipice of a drug relapse.
Later that evening, just as they do each
evening, Wildner and his wife, Judy, invite
residents of the recovery house and other
church members to their nearby home for
dinner. Before dinner, some guests assist
in meal preparation while others gather in
the parlor. Here, at the warmly decorated
row house on a rough street in Baltimore,
fine china is meticulously set on period
furniture, prayer is said and a collection of
pastors including Wildner, Robertson
and Coats church members and recovery
house residents dine together. Conversation
flows from aspirations to sports predictions.
The split pea soup is a hit.
Coats, Robertson and Wildner form a
ring of ministry that serves neighborhoods
left behind by suburban sprawl and
development. Anchored by the altar, the
ministry is multicultural, focused on urban
renewal and giving care to the marginalized.
As Coats says, Its hard work, persistent
work, patient work and long suffering
you suffer with people, you keep visiting.
Theyre working through a lot of different
problems. You hope they find their peace of
the Lord being part of the church.
Erik M. Lunsford is the staff photojournalist
and an editor for LCMS Communications.
Learn more:

Photo album: photo.lcms.org/
NationalMinistries/BringingChristandCare/.

LCMS Urban & Inner-City Mission:
www.lcms.org/citymission.

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

photoS: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

nspire

Putting Up Walls

to Break Down

Barriers
by Jeni Miller

n his explanation of the first article of the

Creed, Martin Luther acknowledges that God not only
creates His people, but He also sustains them.

Sometimes He uses churches to do this work of revitalization.

Such is the case in Fort Wayne, Ind., where homes are being
rehabilitated through a partnership between LCMS National
Housing Support Corp., or Lutheran Housing Support (LHS), and

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

three local LCMS parishes Redeemer, Emmanuel and Zion

located in downtown Fort Wayne.
The project focuses on providing critical home repairs
to families in need. The congregations send volunteers and
resources into the community to perform the needed repairs
for as many as 10 families in surrounding neighborhoods.
The goal is to halt the deterioration of neighborhoods, build
connections between residents and service agencies and share
the Gospel through acts of mercy.
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lcms.org/lutheransengage

Revitalization is part of the Churchs work of diakonia, works

of mercy, said James Kienker, director of advancement for LHS.
We believe that we are individuals of body and soul and you
cant care for the soul without caring for the body as well. These
revitalization and community development efforts are a piece of
that, just like disaster relief and soup kitchens.

The Seeds that Started It All

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison began the process of
neighborhood revitalization near Zion Lutheran Church in Fort
Wayne in the late 1990s as a parish pastor. That work was the
precursor to todays joint revitalization efforts between Zion and a
neighboring congregation, St. Peters Catholic Church.
The St. Peter/Zion Project has been going for many years, 15
or so, said the Rev. Douglas Punke, senior pastor of Zion. In that

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MayJune 2014

time, the neighborhood has been transformed into a place where

families can own their own homes and raise children, where one
does not have to be afraid to walk around the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, a few miles away at Emmanuel, church members
called on the LCMS as they hoped to reach out to their community
in a big way. The Planting Gospel Seeds initiative, headed by
the Rev. Dr. Carlos Hernandez, helps congregations enable their
neighbors to break the cycles of poverty and struggle.
In June of 2008, Emmanuel began efforts in neighborhood
transformation with an initiative called Planting Gospel Seeds
in which Emmanuel members were trained and sent out into the
neighborhood with the simple goals of establishing connections
with our neighbors and getting their feedback on the key issues in
the community, recalled the Rev. Thomas Eggold, senior pastor
at Emmanuel. This was an important catalyst for breaking down

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission


Three LCMS congregations in Fort
Wayne, Ind., are rehabilitating homes
in partnership with Lutheran Housing
Support.

The goal is to halt the deterioration of neighborhoods,

build connections between residents and service agencies
and share the Gospel through acts of mercy.

barriers that kept us from working in our neighborhood.

Similarly, the Rev. David Petersen, pastor at Redeemer, and
his congregation sought advice from the Gospel Seeds initiative.
Hernandez visited in September 2012 to help them plan and
take action.
Its been very good for us to canvass the neighborhood again
and have an excuse to do that, explained Petersen. We went out
and said, Were from the church down the block and just want to
know what youd like to see in the neighborhood. Most of their
responses were human-care type stuff. Some ideas were well
beyond what we or anyone could do, like offer free day care or a
cure for Alzheimers. But what we consistently heard was that they
wanted ways to help improve the property values and make the
neighborhood safer, as houses were falling into disrepair.

Coming Together
With the three churches on board, LHS was called in to walk
through options and connect the churches with other agencies
to enhance the process. LHS typically works by supporting the
community development efforts of local LCMS congregations,
districts, Recognized Service Organizations and their partners by
providing access to funding, customized consulting services and
training resources.
By working with Fort Wayne code enforcement, the churches
were able to identify at-risk homes in their areas that were in
violation of the citys building codes or had potential health or
safety-related issues.
According to Cindy Joyner, deputy director of Neighborhood
Code Enforcement for the city of Fort Wayne, the effort will make a
difference in these neighborhoods.
Lutherans have always done so much for the community in my
experience in Fort Wayne, so it wasnt a far-out plan when [LHS]
contacted me because of all the great things theyve done already,
Joyner said. There are lots of property owners right now, more so
than before, and a lot of people have come in to hard times and
may not have money to do work on their homes. When a group like
this comes in to do work to bring that [home] into compliance, its a
win for everyone the neighborhood, the homeowner.
Due to the scope of the project, the churches need volunteers
skilled in home repair. Most of the rehab work on the homes will
be carried out by Lutheran Church Extension Fund Laborers For
Christ (LFC), a group of retired, volunteer builders. The Laborers
will work with the assistance of volunteers provided by the LCMS
churches and the community. A local construction manager will
oversee the entire project. Since the Laborers come to Fort Wayne
from all over the country, the Fort Wayne parks and recreation
department has agreed to partner with LHS and provide the Laborers
with a place to park their RVs during the duration of the project.
[The Fort Wayne project] is an awesome opportunity for the
LCMS parishes to reach out and engage and connect with their

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

surrounding neighborhoods, said Marcy Scholl, specialist for

Laborers For Christ. This initiative offers hands-on assistance to
improve their homes. It is walking alongside the people and offering
hope, just like Jesus did.
The project includes another benefit to the families who will
be served: financial management training from Lutheran Social
Services of Indiana. They will learn ways to save money and support
future home repair needs, ultimately becoming self-sustaining.

Nows the Time

In these neighborhoods, especially recently, the communities
are declining significantly because of the economic downturn,
said Nicole Ridley, CEO of LHS. This is an opportunity for the
congregations to lend a hand and assist. Theres so much potential
there for them to be the catalyst for revitalization.
Joyner agrees that the moment is now, and the LCMS is wellpositioned to help.
A lot of social agencies dont have the financial wherewithal
anymore to sustain this kind of work, Joyner explained. Something
as in-depth as this program with [LHS], you dont see this anymore.
These churches stepped up and this is what the community needs.

Why Revitalize?
In this work, were not just addressing a community need; were
building relationships, said Petersen of Redeemer. It gives us
something in common, and were less scary to them. It humanizes
us, roots us here in the neighborhood. This project helps to establish
us in the minds of those in the neighborhood as a stable, reliable
place. If our neighbors find themselves in spiritual crisis or have a
need, they wont be afraid to reach out to us.
This partnership also gives us an opportunity to get to know
them, pray with them, share Christ with them, said Punke of Zion.
God places congregations in particular places with a particular
context and with particular needs. Not every congregation may
need to do work with housing, but surely there is some way that
every congregation can make an impact in [its] community.
This work is, Petersen said, the very definition of mercy: to
help people in need. There is real value in helping people.
LHS, together with the churches involved in this project, have
asked for prayers and support from those in the LCMS as the rehab
phase of the project begins on June 1. To engage with them in this
work, visit www.nationalhousingsupport.org or call James Kienker
at 800-248-1930, Ext. 2823, for more information.
Deaconess Jeni Miller is a freelance writer and a member of Lutheran
Church of the Ascension in Atlanta.
Learn more: www.lcms.org/gospelseeds.
Contact: the Rev. Dr. Carlos Hernandez, director of LCMS Church and
Community Engagement, at 314-956-2005 or Carlos.Hernandez@lcms.org.
Explore other options for revitalization offered by the LCMS Office of
National Mission: www.lcms.org/revitalizing.
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11

First Two photos courtesy of Lutheran Church in the Philippines

nform

Philippines Update

All other photoS: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

Mercy Moment

November 8, 2013:
Typhoon Haiyan barrels across the
Philippines, killing more than 6,000
people, displacing more than 4 million and
damaging or destroying more than
1 million homes. The storm also damages
an estimated 33 million coconut trees,
taking away the livelihood of many coconut
farmers, a significant loss in a country
that is the worlds second-largest coconut
producer.

November 2013:
An LCMS team journeys to the Philippines
Nov. 15-22 to provide immediate relief and
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MayJune 2014

begin planning for long-term recovery. The

team is invited by the Rev. James Cerdeola,
president of the Lutheran Church in the
Philippines (LCP), an LCMS partner
church body.
The LCMS OKs initial disaster grants of
$250,000 to help the LCPs relief efforts. The
LCMS makes an additional $100,000 grant
to Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore for
immediate aid in the Philippines.
Seeing the damage firsthand enables
the disaster team to develop a Disaster
Action Plan that will include immediate,
intermediate and long-term assistance
aimed at relief, recovery and restoration.

Over the course of four days, a joint LCPLCMS team worships and meets together,
using the badly damaged Christ Lutheran
Church as a base of operations. The churchs
pastor, the Rev. Xavier James Palattao, stresses
that nearly every resident of his community is
affected by the typhoon.
Carrying backpacks filled with energy
bars, bottled water and other supplies, the
LCMS group treks by foot and vehicle in the
hot and humid tropical weather to visit with
Lutherans in Mahayag and Tacloban City,
located in the center of the storms fury.
In a nearby town, where St. James
Lutheran Church suffered significant damage,
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

photo: LCMS Communications/Al Dowbnia

congregation and community members

gather to welcome the team, eager to tell
their typhoon stories.
The principals of three public schools
attended by children of two Lutheran
congregations say the Lutheran team was
the first to visit and check on the schools,
and they indicate that school supplies and
health kits for school children are needed.
The team purchases a chainsaw
so church members can turn downed
coconut trees into lumber to be sold or
used for repairs to homes.

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

March 2014:
A team from the LCMS travels to the
Philippines for three days to document
recovery efforts.
Team members interview storm victims,
spend time in the community and survey
the results of the LCMS recovery effort.
Months after the typhoon killed thousands
and displaced millions, they see the island
of Leyte springing back to life. They see
patches of green and hear the sound of
hammers, chainsaws and other tools.
More than 50 homes of Lutheran
families and others connected to the church
have been rebuilt, restored, new roofs
constructed or new walls installed. A new

roof, well, dormitory and parsonage will

soon appear at Christ Lutheran Church in
Mahayag. Before the LCMS group returned
to the United States, team members led a
spiritual-care retreat for the families of LCP
pastors and lay workers who responded to
the disaster.
You can see how there is hope in
peoples eyes, says the Rev. Ross Johnson,
director of LCMS Disaster Response.
There is joy that is being restored.
So far, the LCMS commitment to
the Typhoon Haiyan recovery effort
stands at $1 million. The LCMS, Johnson
says, is walking with the LCP during its
long-term recovery.
MayJune 2014

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13

Reviving
on Am

nform

College

by Megan K. Mertz
ccording to the Pew
Research Center, the
number of nones, Americans
who do not identify with any religion, is on the rise, especially
among young people.
Despite this, the Rev. Marcus
Zill, coordinator of LCMS
Campus Ministry, said the
future is bright for Lutheran
outreach to university students.
It is vital to not only support
campus ministry where it is already taking place, but the challenge is to help congregations
care for their own students who
are away at college, he said. It is
also important to reach out to
those who are in their midst at a
neighboring school.
In January 2013, LCMS
Campus Ministry rolled out

The Rev. Daniel Burhop, left, and

graduate student Thomas Currey
hand out coffee outside of University
Lutheran Chapel in Boulder, Colo.

14

lcms.org/lutheransengage

LCMS U, an initiative to expand

and support ministry on
Americas college campuses.
Currently, there are 175
LCMS U chapters around
the country, one of which is
University Lutheran Chapel
(ULC) in Boulder, Colo.

Of Students for Students

The Rev. Daniel Burhop was
called to ULC in Boulder,
Colo., in 2007 because of the
dedication of the LCMS Rocky
Mountain District, four vicars
and several Lutheran graduate
students at the University of
Colorado.
Their efforts resulted in a
mission society originally
comprised of three area
churches committed to
supporting ULC and its fulltime pastor.
Since its founding, the mission society has grown, adding
an eighth congregation last year.
The churches provide financial support. But their backing
of ULC doesnt end there. They
also send members to cook
meals and mentor students.
The students, in return, give
back to the churches through
service.
Unlike many other campus
ministries, ULC is not a townMayJune 2014

andgown
congregation, where
a congregation
reaches out to
students of a nearby
college or university.
It is a congregation of
students for students.
The students serve on the
church council and determine
outreach opportunities.
In September 2013, when
heavy flooding severely damaged ULCs roof and building,
the student leaders took ownership of the renovation.
Our students are trying to
figure out how to make this
building better for the next 20
years, Burhop said.
When I joined ULC, it was
the first time that the church
I went to was mine, wrote
Kyle Lampe, a 2009 graduate
of the University of Colorado,
in ULCs newsletter. What I
mean is that it was no longer my
parents church or just a church
I went to on Sundays. If there
were decisions to be made,
communion to be ushered,
paraments to be changed,
windows to be replaced or
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

Ministry
ericas

flowers
to be
planted,
we did it.
Thomas
Currey, a graduate
student in the
universitys law school,
is grateful for the mission
societys involvement.
Although our congregation
is primarily comprised of students, it is also truly a blessing
to see how conventional area
congregations care enough to
actually engage us in fellowship, Currey said. It is nice to
know we are not alone in our
desire to spread the Good News
of Jesus Christ.
Thanks to the support of the
district and area congregations,
ULC is a place where students are
equipped to move into leadership positions at other congregations after they graduate.

But Zill said campus

ministries also have amazing
opportunities to support and
shape young people during a
time of great personal growth.
As ULC demonstrates, when
congregations, districts and dedicated people work together, they
can make a difference in the lives
of college students whether
those students are Lutheran or
non-Lutheran, from down the
street or around the world.
In addition to helping revitalize current campus ministries,
Zill sees a great opportunity for
the LCMS to be a trailblazer in
two new fertile mission fields:
urban college communities and
community colleges.
During the next few years,
hed like to see the number of

LCMS U chapters expand from 175

to 300.
We not only need to maintain
and build upon our traditional
town-and-gown campus
ministries, but we also need to
help everyone parents, pastors,
congregations, students see the
part that they all play in campus
ministry, Zill said.
The opportunity for mission
is breathtaking, he said, and the
Church needs to have a place at
the table of ideas in the academic
square.
Megan K. Mertz is a staff writer for
LCMS Communications.
Learn more or find a campus
ministry near you:
www.lcms.org/lcmsu
www.lcms.org/lcmsu/findcampus

It Takes a Synod
Americas college campuses
can be difficult places for
Lutheran students. And the
Synods campus ministries
face great challenges, financial
and otherwise.
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

During spring break, students from University Lutheran Chapel helped

with flood-recovery efforts in Estes Park, Colo.
MayJune 2014

lcms.org/lutheransengage

15

photoS: University Lutheran Chapel, Istockphoto/Thinkstock

Campuses

A
Beacon

nform

for the

Community
hen the Rev. Ulmer Marshall came to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Mobile, Ala., in 1973, no one expected him to stay long.
The neighborhood, Trinity Gardens, was in a downward spiral. There were
problems with drugs and crime. Many of the streets werent even paved.
Trinity Gardens was like a dirty word, Marshall said.
To the Streets
But Marshall and other concerned church
and community members were determined.
They coordinated a neighborhood watch
program and worked with the police to
drive out the dealers selling drugs on the
street corners.
We started standing on the corners. We
thought, we have just as much right to stand
on the corners as the drug dealers. They
would go to another, and we would move
too, Marshall recalled. It was a dangerous
ministry, but we had the Lord on our side.
Eventually, the drug dealers left, and
community leaders turned their attention
to cleaning up urban blight, rebuilding the
neighborhood and caring for residents.
In the 1980s, Trinity started a hot lunch
program for senior citizens. The program
regularly drew some 85 seniors before it
was moved from the church to a newly built
community center.
In 1997, Trinity member Leevones
Fisher founded the Bay Area Womens
Coalition, a nonprofit committed to
improving housing and educational
opportunities in Trinity Gardens. Since
its establishment, the coalition has
organized the planting of 4,000 trees and
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MayJune 2014

helped rescue more than 60 houses from

dilapidation and foreclosure.
If the owner of a run-down building
cant be identified, the organization works
with the city to tear it down so a new house
can be built. Church members have pitched
in to build 12 houses in the area for lowincome families.
Before, it was a disaster with houses
collapsing in, people still living in them,
Fisher said. We still have people who
need help but the good part about it is
the people act like they have some sense of
hope now.
The congregation continues to seek new
ways to serve the community.
One summer several years ago, Trinity received a grant to pay approximately
25 young men to mow grass and do other
tasks to clean up the community. Marshalls
only requirement was that the youth attend
Sunday school at Trinity every week.
We had one of our young men teach
them about starting a business, Marshall
said, and we got to tell them about the love
of God.
For the past 17 years, Trinity has held the
Summer Enrichment Program for community children. Grant money from the state
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

photoS: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

by Megan K. Mertz

enables Trinity to hire teachers and provide

meals to students during the free summer
school. Last year, 186 children attended.
In February 2014, the church held a
job-training seminar to help Mobiles
young people get jobs with new companies
moving into the area. The event included
information about how to dress for job
interviews and fill out applications.
Even though Trinity did not advertise the
event, more than 200 people showed up.
A church is in a community to serve that
community, Marshall said. Its our job.
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

A Legacy of Education
Over the years, Marshall has fought to keep
Trinitys day school open, despite times of
struggle during its 62-year history.
As a historically black Lutheran school
in Alabama, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
School has special significance for Black
Ministry in the Synod.
In 1877, just 30 years after the Synod was
formed, the LCMS officially began outreach
to the countrys black population when the
first missionary was sent among them to

Top: The Rev. Ulmer Marshall preaches at Trinity

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mobile, Ala. Left:
Trinity member Leevones Fisher has been instrumental
in revitalizing the surrounding neighborhoods. She is
pictured in the revitalized neighborhood of Richardson
Heights. Right: Students hug teacher Jonathan Clausell
near the end of class at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
School. Opposite: Preschooler LaTerry Kennedy prays
during school at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School.
MayJune 2014

lcms.org/lutheransengage

17

proclaim the Gospel. That missionary, the

Rev. J.F. Doeshcher, established the first
black Lutheran church and school in Little
Rock, Ark.
Almost 40 years later, in 1916, the Synod
partnered with Dr. Rosa Young, an advocate of
education for African-Americans in the South,
to help start 37 schools in the Black Belt. Under her initiative, Concordia College Alabama,
Selma, Ala., was founded in 1922. It continues
to hold the distinction of being the nations
only historically black Lutheran college.
Today, the LCMS works with 258
congregations in Black Ministry that serve
blacks and African immigrants in a variety of
ways, including through education, mercy
projects, and Word and Sacrament ministry.
Marshall says Trinitys school the only
one of the 37 schools started under Youngs
initiative that remains in operation has
been one of its greatest outreaches, noting
that thousands of people have come through
its doors. It currently has about 130 students
in preschool through seventh grade.
This year, Marshall and other leaders will
officially change the name of the school to
the Rosa Young Academy to celebrate its
historical significance.
The school also has a public library
branch on its campus.
When Trinity expanded its school
facilities in 2005, leaders saw the opportunity
to partner with the public library to add a
branch for the Trinity Gardens community.
In exchange for providing the space, Mobile
Public Library provides computers and staff.
This unique partnership brings people
to the church property every day and gives
our children access to a public library right
here on our campus, Marshall said.
In the future, the Rev. Roosevelt Gray
Jr., director of LCMS Black Ministry, hopes
to use Trinitys historic school as a model

The Rev. Ulmer Marshall greets Valarie FloydBridges after worship at Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church.

for starting new schools and revitalizing

existing ones that can, in turn, renew black
churches and communities.
Word and Sacrament ministries will
come out of these educational opportunities, Gray said.

The Life of the Church

Keeping people engaged is a priority for
Marshall, who shepherds Bethel Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Point Clear, Ala., in
addition to Trinitys 350 members.
Trinity offers opportunities for every
age group. The youth and mens groups go
into the community to clean up yards, paint
houses and build wheelchair ramps. Each
year, Trinity hosts at least two church groups
that come to volunteer in the community.
In addition, Trinity has the largest
Lutheran Womens Missionary League in
the LCMS Southern District. One of the two
groups is specifically for younger women.
The church celebrates its life in Christ
during worship each week. There are four
different choirs, including a Gospel choir,

and several different dance groups that

praise God through movement.
During his 40 years of service, Marshall
has served the Synod locally, regionally and
nationally. He has the distinction of being
the first black member of the Synods Board
of Directors and the LCMS Commission on
Worship. He also has served as second vicepresident of the LCMS Southern District
and as chairman of the Black Clergy Caucus,
among other roles.
To recognize Marshalls many years of
service, Concordia Theological Seminary,
Fort Wayne, Ind., awarded him an honorary
Doctor of Divinity degree in May.
Of Marshall, Gray said: He has been a
steady foundation of spiritual stability, hope
and optimism in serving Trinity and the
LCMS through some of the most challenging
times of change in our church, country and
his community. His pastoral leadership and
longevity have been a model for how pastoral
ministry and visionary leadership can
positively affect the mission and ministry of
a local congregation serving its community
with the Gospel of Christ.
Although Trinitys previous pastors
came and went, Marshall has dedicated the
last 40 years to building up the church and
community. Now, he said, hes proud to say
hes part of the Trinity Gardens community,
despite its rough past.
Getting involved in the community
and seeing the great needs and seeing the
progress weve made over the years, thats
one of the things thats kept me here, he
said. Our church has been a beacon for this
community.
Learn more about LCMS Black Ministry:
www.lcms.org/blackministry

blogs.lcms.org/2014/commentary-blackhistory-month

LCMS Black Ministry

In November 2013, the Rev.
Roosevelt Gray Jr. took the helm
of LCMS Black Ministry as its
director. Gray says that his priority
is to revitalize congregations
in black ministry as 21st-century
mission and ministry outposts for
their communities by providing
training resources in strategic
planning, community outreach and
collaborative partnership.

18

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MayJune 2014

Going forward, the ministry plans to focus on:

Informing, educating and motivating LCMS members and
districts to plant new congregations;
Providing leadership and training opportunities through
conferences and workshops;
Revitalizing less-engaged and declining congregations to refocus
on Christs mission;
Supporting and strengthening school ministries and assisting in
the accreditation process; and
Maintaining a scholarship fund for urban children in need.

lcms.org/givenow/globalmission


St. Pauls Lutheran Church along

nspire

photoS: LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford

Main Street in Concordia, Mo.

Missing

Mayberry
by Adriane Heins

It aint Mayberry anymore!

exclaims the Rev. Luke Brown, pastor of

St. Johns Lutheran Church in Aliceville, Kan. Hes speaking of peoples perception of rural
and small-town America, that iconic place immortalized in Norman Rockwell paintings
where everyone knows the difference between a Holstein and a Hereford, where retired
men meet downtown for weak coffee and donuts each morning, and where lemonade
stands are perched on every corner.
But the perception isnt necessarily the reality. Rural and small-town areas are
changing, he admits, and there is significant poverty, ethnic group changes, stresses on
families, crime, deteriorating infrastructure and housing, limited access to health care and
mass transportation and other challenges.

The Rev. J. Patrick Niles, associate pastor at
St. Pauls Lutheran Church, outside of Concordia, Mo.
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

MayJune 2014

lcms.org/lutheransengage

19


Congregants listen
during a Lenten
service at Lutheran
Good Shepherd Home
in Concordia, Mo.

Brown would know. The pastor of an

extremely remote parish in Kansas, he
shepherds a congregation in a community
where the population sign reads 25.
But the challenges of rural life are
more than just ones of travel, weather and
agriculture.
The church has its share too.
The Rev. J. Patrick Niles, associate pastor
of St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Concordia,
Mo., explains, In a larger city or a suburban
context, it is easy to assume that there is
a constant mission field in which you can
do ministry . You lose this perception in
many small towns.
So often we measure the success of a
church and the ability or competence of a
pastor by church attendance, Brown adds.
In a rural and small-town environment, that
can be discouraging. In these areas, funerals
may outnumber Baptisms 2-to-1 and the
Sunday school may have a small handful of
kids no matter what the pastor does.
Thats why Brown and his congregation
have both been helped by and are actively
involved in LCMS Rural & Small Town
Mission (RSTM), a ministry of the LCMS
Office of National Mission, which is the
Synods effort to support congregations in
rural and small-town settings in the work to
which God has called them.
And on the flip side, Brown and his
congregation are exactly the reason RSTM
is focusing on the triennial theme of Strong
Faith, Fervent Love, a purposeful emphasis
20

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MayJune 2014

Th
 eir daily vocation will be shaped by
the cross.
Rev. Bart Day, executive director of the LCMS Office of National Mission

on the gifts Christ has given in His Word

and Sacrament, and the way in which
those gifts embolden Christians to bear
witness to Him no matter where they live.

Just as Important
As rural and small-town congregations
rediscover how the Lord is at work
through them to serve their neighbor, new
questions arise.
Thats when RSTM comes alongside.
While there is no one picture of
what a healthy, revitalized rural or
small-town church looks like, they will
share a very distinct and important set of
characteristics, explains the Rev. Todd
Kollbaum, director of RSTM. These
congregations will primarily be outwardly
focused. They will not be so concerned
with how they can protect themselves
but will consistently be striving to engage
those around them with the Good News of
the Gospel.
Understanding this is a game changer
for many small-town churches. We can
be sure of Gods activity in our midst for
the exact same reasons we can be assured
of His activity anywhere else, Niles says.
Do His people gather together around His
Word and Sacrament? Are sins forgiven?

Are people being taught to daily die to sin

and through baptismal grace rise to new life
in Christ? Yes!
Jesus spent time in rural areas, Brown
agrees. Our mission is just as important
as what happens in the biggest church in
the Synod.
For members of St. Johns that mission
the desire to serve both their fellow
members and the community around
them flows from what happens in the
Divine Service on Sunday morning.
A healthy, revitalized congregation is a
congregation rejoicing in who the Lord has
called them to be, explains the Rev. Bart
Day, executive director of the LCMS Office
of National Mission. They wont measure
themselves against others. Revitalization is
about daily dying and rising in Christ.
Healthy congregations will be faithful,
receiving Gods gifts, showing love and
mercy to those in their community, sharing
the Gospel with those who are still in
darkness, Day says. They will be the body of
Christ in the building and out of the building.
Their daily vocation will be shaped by
the cross.
Understanding the value and worth of
a congregation in this way sets a refreshed
tone for work in rural areas.
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

Many new pastors are placed in rural

and small-town churches and may see them
as stepping stones to the big time and to
glory, Brown says. That may happen,
but my hope is that they just relax,
enjoy where they are, love and serve
the people in their church and their
community, respect and honor their
traditions and history, celebrate small
victories, and know that God is at work
just as much in a rural and small-town
church as in a big suburban church.

increased attendance from 20 to 22

in the previous year, Brown recalls.
Browns response? Wow! Thats a

No One-Size-Fits-All
Model
Encouraging the revitalization of
congregations in Strong Faith, Fervent
Love in rural and small-town areas
may seem like an insurmountable

10 percent increase!
Brown also assisted with an Engaging
Your Community event, hosted last spring in
the LCMS Kansas District.
It was an invitation and
encouragement to be more outward
focused rather than inward focused,
he explains.
Focusing on Christs gifts of Word and
Sacrament and the gifts that flow from
them can and does change how rural
and small-town churches understand the
Lord is at work in them to serve others.
This, in turns, helps congregations let
go of preconceived notions of what a
successful congregation must look like
and instead embrace that there is no onesize-fits-all ministry model and rejoice
in the fact that they are the Body of Christ


Above and right: The Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan
of St. Pauls Lutheran Church greets
congregants following a Lenten service at
Lutheran Good Shepherd Home and reads
to students at St. Pauls Lutheran School.

endeavor, Kollbaum confesses. But

RSTM staff witness just the opposite.
This is why we have placed all of our
time and resources in assisting and
equipping congregations through their
respective districts to handle these
challenges.
Its worth it, he explains, so that we
do not lose our presence in what makes
up over half of our Synods congregations
and membership. It would be a travesty
to cease to be able to deliver faithful
Word and Sacrament ministry to what
has become a most vulnerable and often
underserved part of our mission field.
St. Johns is proof. Working with
RSTM has caused Brown and his
congregation to change how they view
themselves, their congregation and those
around them.
I visited with a pastor who kind of
hung his head and said his church had
lcms.org/givenow/globalmission

in that place to do the work He has called

and equipped them to do, Kollbaum says.
It can be easy to get into ruts, to
grow discouraged or complacent, to
feel isolated and that nobody knows if
youre even alive, admits Brown, who
says that much of the life together of a
rural congregation nobody else will ever
see and probably wont be appreciated
by the world.
But, he says, God sees.
Plus, We have the promises of God
that tell us His Word will not return to us
empty, Niles says. And that, it turns out,
is even better than the stuff of Mayberry
after all.


Above and left: The Rev. Harold Block,
visitation pastor at St. Pauls Lutheran
Church, visits a 103-year-old church
member outside of Concordia, Mo.

Adriane Heins is managing editor of The

Lutheran Witness and editor of Catechetical
Information.
Learn more: www.lcms.org/rstm.
MayJune 2014

lcms.org/lutheransengage

21

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Burlington, WI
Permit No. 12

Announcing

The

ittenberg Project

C a m p a i g n

Beginning May 1, 2014

Welcoming Lutherans Home

To Gather To Learn To Confess

The vision of establishing a distinctly Lutheran
presence in the very cradle of the Reformation has
been on my heart and mind for some time. As we
anticipate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in
2017, it is time to renovate and transform the Old Latin
School in Wittenberg, Germany. The Wittenberg
Project will provide the place, the opportunity and the
inspiration for people to gather and learn about the
Gospel Luther preached there. It will give the LCMS
a unique venue, attractive to all of our existing and

emerging partners worldwide, to help us share

the Gospel that Luther rediscovered in the 16th
century the Gospel our world desperately
needs to hear today.

We are almost there. Join me in

realizing a distinctly Lutheran
presence in Wittenberg.
Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President, The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod

 Opportunities for matching funds and naming rights are available for individuals, groups, schools and parishes.
www.thewittenbergproject.org 888-930-4438