Pastor’s Perch
Philippians 4:5 “Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.”
People have lost the ability to be gentle when dealing with others of different opinions. Look no further than political opponents. It has become the norm in attacking political opponents. Has this become the way most deal with each other? Is this how you deal with others? Can you have a different opinion and still be gentle?
You might think you can, but then you fall in line with the crowds of angry people when your candidate does not win. Can you speak about your rival with gentleness? Or do you look to tear them down at every opportunity? Can you treat your enemy with gentleness? Most would think this is absurd and shows weakness to the enemy!
Notice how God tells you to let your gentleness be known and seen by everyone…your family, friends, and even your enemies. How impossible to be gentle toward those who are out to hurt and harm you! How in the world can God expect you to be gentle to everyone? Think about the gentleness of your God. If there was someone who should have treated you with hatred, it would be the Holy LORD. Holiness and sin cannot co-exist. Holiness would destroy sin. But God showed you gentleness. Instead of destroying you, He saved you through the destruction of His Son on the cross. He continues to show you his gentleness by forgiving you every day for sins that you still commit. He will still welcome you into his heavenly home through His Son!
Our Father’s gentleness toward you is the reason why we want to show gentleness to everyone. Jesus is coming soon, and we want to make every opportunity to share God’s gentleness so that they can be in heaven with us. When you show gentleness, it shows the heart of God to those in your life. They will see the gentleness a Savior who came to rescue his enemies from sin, death, and Hell.
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for showing gentleness to those who did not deserve it. Help us let your gentleness be seen in us as we show gentleness to people in our lives. Let our gentleness be an opportunity to share your love with them so they are ready for Jesus to return soon. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!
A Servant of Christ,
Rev. Patrick Feldhus
Grace’s News
We are offering a Family Bible study on familiar Sunday school stories, after worship on Sundays.
Our online bible class will continue on Tuesday nights at 7:30 pm. We will discuss the topic of the importance of the Virgin Birth of Christ.
Our next Jesus Cares program will be on November 13th at 6:30 pm.
The Women of Grace will meet on November 19th at 10:30 am.
The council will meet at Grace with the leaders of Friendens on November 20th at 7 pm, to discuss possible ministry connections.
Our Thanksgiving Eve worship will be on November 26th at 7 pm.
Synod News
WELS Conference of Presidents meets
The Conference of Presidents (COP) met Oct. 7–9 at the Center for Mission and Ministry (CMM) in Waukesha, Wis., to discuss the following areas:
• Pastoral vacancies: The tally of pastoral vacancies includes 148 parish vacancies and 162 total vacancies for pastor-trained men. This represents a vacancy rate of just under 12 percent. The ideal vacancy rate is 6 to 8 percent. Larger classes from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in the coming years will provide some relief for the shortage, but recruitment of candidates for the pastoral ministry needs to be emphasized in our congregations.
• Theology curriculum: The COP provided guidance to the team that is developing the new K-12 theology curriculum (replacing Christ-Light), noting that the materials should be available in multiple translations (New International Version and Evangelical Heritage Version), like the Small Catechism is.
• Assignments: The Assignment Committee will meet via teleconference on Dec. 15 to assign mid-year graduates from Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn. The COP resolved that it would no longer assign tutors at the synodical schools (Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Martin Luther College, Luther Preparatory School, and Michigan Lutheran Seminary) for a third year, unless exceptional circumstances require it.
• Retirement advice: The COP will be developing written advice for called workers who are nearing retirement. Ideally, the district president will meet with these workers to help them prepare for retirement.
• WELS 175th anniversary: The COP is encouraging all WELS congregations to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the synod this fall. Worship materials are available in The Foundation, a worship resource provided by Congregational Services.
• Calls: Michael Ewart, pastor at St. Peter, Appleton, Wis., was called to serve as a Christian giving counselor in the Northern Wisconsin District.
• Congregation Mission Offerings: Congregation Mission Offerings continue to be strong. The COP is thankful to congregations and members for their generous support.
This was the first in-person meeting of the Conference of Presidents since the synod convention this summer, where delegates elected three men to serve in the synod presidium: Joel Voss as first vice president, John Bortulin as second vice president, and Tyler Peil as recording secretary. The first and second vice presidents serve as voting members of the Conference of Presidents and as advisors to the Synodical Council. The recording secretary serves as an advisory member of the Conference of Presidents. All three of these synod offices are part-time.
As part of the meeting, Peil was installed into his new role as recording secretary at the CMM’s weekly chapel service. Voss and Bortulin had been installed during the closing service at the synod convention.
Strengthening WELS’ backbone
The synod’s recently adopted long-range strategic plan, entitled “Christ through us,” establishes four main priorities for the next ten years. Those priorities are
• cultivating a gospel-driven culture,
• strengthening WELS’ backbone in congregations,
• bringing Christ to the nations as our commission, and
• living up to our calling to produce workers for a growing harvest field.
In this issue of Together, we focus on the second priority: strengthening WELS’ backbone in congregations.
Your congregation is a part of the vital foundation that supports our shared gospel ministry efforts. WELS congregations are where the light and truth of God’s saving gospel is proclaimed to members and where God’s truth is shared with people in the community. And, just as important, through their mission offerings, congregations support the proclamation of the gospel around the world and in newly planted congregations in the United States and Canada. Congregations are also places where members identify and encourage young people to consider preparing for a lifetime of service in the public ministry.
For all these things to happen, we need to encourage WELS members to be actively and personally engaged in the life and work of their congregation. Our goal is to better equip all members to embrace their God-given role in Christ’s mission. Members will be encouraged to view their friends and neighbors as their personal mission field and their homes as places where children are led by parents to know and serve their Savior. To succeed in equipping our lay members to carry out these tasks, we intend to provide congregations with the necessary resources to enable all members to serve their Savior and his mission joyfully and confidently according to their gifts and talents.
Beyond encouraging WELS members in our congregations, our goal is to continue to help congregations enhance their ministry efforts. That can happen in a number of ways. Maybe a congregation in a changing setting can adjust its ministry plans to reach people more effectively. Perhaps a congregation can re-evaluate the mission and sustainability of its elementary schools and early childhood ministries. Some congregations will explore collaboration or even merger with other congregations to expand efforts to reach more people with the gospel.
And, of course, when we talk about congregations, we also refer to the new home mission congregations that God will enable us to plant. One of the key strategic elements of our mission planting will be to prioritize starting new congregations—outposts for gospel proclamation—in places where our confessional Lutheran voice is not yet present. Read more about the seven new home missions that were recently approved.
But mission efforts really begin in the home as the first mission field. We recognize that the high school and college years are when many of our young members are tempted to drift away from congregational life and worship. The more that parents lay a firm foundation of faith in the home, the more our young adults will stay connected to the Savior, to worship, and to their congregations.
It all starts in the home with faithful, God-fearing parents. It continues in the congregation as the gospel works in people to strengthen their faith. And then, as we work together to take the saving message to more people in new places, God will work through us to build his church.
The “Christ through us” plan depends on all of us. We encourage you to read more about the plan—and how you can be part of it—at christthroughus.net.
Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder