NORTH AMERICA MISSION LEADERS

North America Mission Facilitators

FACILITATORS

"Strategy for North America Mission Fields"

By
Dr. Robert J. Scudieri
Area Secretary for North America

(Revised December 26, 2001)

Introduction

At its 1992 Synodical Convention, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod declared the United States to be a "world mission field". In doing so we were affirming several truths:

1. Jesus, the Son of God, gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin. "God loved the world so much He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will be saved." John 3:16.
2. God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4, Luke 19:10, 2 Peter 3:9, L.C. Second Petition, paragraph 52).
3. Towards this end he commissioned pastors, missionaries, deacons and teachers to bring the good news of eternal life through faith in Christ Jesus to all the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, John 20:21-23).
4. Furthermore, every Christian is a missionary (CFW Walther) to share the good news with friends, neighbors and co-workers (Luke 24:46-47; Acts 8:1, 4; Acts 11:19-21. “In addition it is necessary to acknowledge that the keys do not belong to the person of one particular individual but to the whole church”, “Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope”, Tappert, page 324).
5. The United States culture is changing, from a Christian to a non-Christian culture in which the church has been "disestablished".
6. A new "electronic communication" age is dawning which will bring changes comparable to those brought about by the printing press in Luther's day.
7. Immigrants are changing the "face" and accent of the United States. Our country is moving from White, European, English-speaking to multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual.

Each year the North America task forces meet in St. Louis for their annual fall meeting. During that time the Leaders review the existing North America strategy statement and suggest changes. In many ways, this is their document.

The North America facilitators represent 10 task forces in North America: African American, Hispanic, Muslim, Jewish, Asian, American Indian, NAME, Deaf, Blind, African immigrants and Campus. Each task force exists to strategize for the expansion of the mission field it represents in the United States. Each of the task forces has written a strategy statement for its field.

It is our intention to continue to review together, update and improve the North America Strategy Statement. Together we will review the statement at our regular meetings and rewrite the statement on an annual basis.

Statement of Purpose

North America Mission exists to help districts help congregations to begin new mission fields in North America.

Core Values

1. We are Lutheran. This means that we will correctly divide law and gospel, and that even though we are accused by the law, which drives us to Christ, the gospel is our motivation for mission. We do our work using the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, the only way in which God enters the hearts of human beings.

2. Every person counts. No one is a means to an end - the end is the salvation of each person we serve, both those who are the objects of our work and those with whom we work.

3. Missionary perspective. We see our role as that of focusing efforts on the unreached people of North America. Mainly, we look to raise up leaders who will be the missionaries, pastors, deacons and teachers of people on the North America field. We are risk takers who live in the forgiveness of sins, first for ourselves, then for others. We value the entrepreneur innovator.

4. Inclusivity. We want to serve all "ethnoi" in North America. Every ethnic group, every group with physical capabilities and limitations will be empowered by us to receive and to serve the gospel. The multiplicity of ethnic groups in North America is a good gift of God - no one ethnicity has been given all the truth or every gift of character or spiritual insight. Each can make a contribution to the work of LCMS missions in North America.

5. Continuous improvement. We have an ongoing commitment to evaluate and improve what we do and how we do it.

6. Integrity. We do our work in scrupulous honesty, with the utmost fairness and total openness.

Critical Targets - 2001-2002

As a part of LCMS World Mission we plant churches and train leaders for the mission fields in North America. With this in mind we focus our efforts on:

1. Better training for missionaries.

As a world mission field North America mission leaders need as much training and preparation as someone going overseas for mission work. The days when just anyone could do the work are over. Special selection techniques, training and support are essential.

2. Development of a newsletter for NA missions.

This would be a piece which communicates NA mission practice and theology. It would be via the Internet, and include pictures, and updates from the field.

3. Recruiting assistance.

The biggest frustration districts have in planting new missions is identifying mission planters who are capable of doing this work.

4. Empowering districts.

We do not "do mission". We will not go around districts. We prefer to be involved when the district is helping congregations which have a mission challenge they are sacrificing to meet. Essentially we help congregations carry out the mission they have from God. In the end it is God's mission.

5. Developing a missionary perspective.

Missionaries go about their work in a way different from pastors. A pastor serves in an existing congregation, focusing most of his time and energy on caring for the people God has called him to serve. The missionary comes into a situation where there is no congregation. The work of the missionary is focused on those who do not yet know the life-giving Savior. They prefer to raise up leaders from the setting where they work rather than do the work themselves. They will be moving on. The missionary wants to put in place a process where more and more pastors, missionaries, deacons, teachers can be developed and serve. They plant churches which plant churches.

Historical Review

Missouri Synod Lutherans have faced three great mission challenges in North America since the founding of the Synod in 1847.

Initially, from about 1850 to 1900 there was the challenge of ministering to immigrants, mainly people from Germany settling in a new land.

Then, from about 1900 to 1950 the challenge for our church was to become Americanized. This was pretty much accomplished by the end of World War II.

Finally, for the last fifty years the challenge for our church was to look outside of itself and focus on reaching all the lost, not just lapsed Lutherans.

The challenge of the next 50 years is to become a diverse church body, with leaders from many different ethnic groups. As impossible as this may seem to some, it is no less of a change than from speaking German to English was for the LCMS of an earlier day. Change is bound to come whether we want it to or not - because America is changing.

Today, for every Hispanic in the United States who dies more than 11 Hispanics are born or immigrate here to take their place. Thirty million Hispanics now live in the United States - making us the third largest Spanish speaking country in the world.

John Naisbitt says that Hispanics have grown five times as fast as the rest of the population since 1980. Only Mexico and Spain have more people who speak Spanish than who live in the United States. But sometime early in the next century we will be the second largest Spanish speaking country with more Spanish speaking people than there are in Spain.

For every Asian who dies in the United States more than 20 Asians are born or immigrate here. Asians represent 40% of all immigrants to the United States. Most come from five countries: Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea, China and India. The great majority of the 2.7 million Vietnamese who live in the U.S. have been here less than ten years and represent a fertile mission field. Ninety-four percent of the more than 1 million Chinese living in America are unchurched.

The first Christians were Jews, and they were the first to be sent as missionaries for the Lord Jesus. Today there are approximately 13 million Jewish people in the world, and 7 million in the United States. There are more Jews in the New York City area than in the entire country of Israel. However, less than one-tenth of one percent of the Jews in the United States believe in Jesus.

There are 12 million students and 845,000 faculty in 3,100 colleges in the United States. Most of the politicians, television and radio personalities, movie directors, jurists, scientists and others who will shape our society will be college graduates. Sharing the good news of eternal life through faith in Christ is an essential part of any mission strategy.

There are two million people in the Untied States who are completely deaf and an additional 13 million with a hearing impairment. Sign language is the third most widely used language in North America. Deaf people live in a very different culture from hearing people. Because of their hearing impairment, most deaf people cannot participate in the regular worship life of the church (could they in your church?). Special efforts must be made to bring them the good news of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

Besides all this, there is a change in the way mission is being carried out in North America - from Synod and districts as the center of mission initiative to the congregations. More and more new work will be based in congregations. More and more Synod and districts will act "in support of" new work carried on by the congregations.

Instead of controlling resources districts will help congregations develop financial resources, identify personnel and develop outreach strategies. In the past districts primarily exerted control over missions but in the future districts will be mentors, helping congregations carry out mission work. Districts will become more leaders than managers of fields within their spheres of influence.

And mission societies will become active again. At one time most of the mission work done in the Synod was done through mission societies. With the advent of strong districts this changed. Now, we are returning to this time tested strategy, which once more is appropriate for the North America mission scene.

Current Status of the Field

Experts tell us that for a North America judicatory to maintain the number of people currently worshiping in its churches each week, the judicatory should annually begin a number of churches equal to 0.8% of its current number. It has been observed that those judicatories, in which 20% of the congregations are less than 25 years old, are the ones most likely to grow in numbers of worshippers. This means that the LCMS, with approximately 6,200 congregations, should begin 48 new churches per year, just to remain even.

Denominations that are growing begin a number of new churches equal to 1% of their current number of congregations. For the LCMS this would be 60. However, over the last decade, we have begun 532 new churches, an average of 53 new churches per year. In 2000, 48 new churches began.

We can give thanks for the way districts and congregations have focused on the development of churches among the many ethnic and special needs groups in North America. Below are listed the number of LCMS congregations in each of the areas were we carry on work for the years 1994-99.

Each field has mission facilitator and a task force which is strategizing for the evangelization of the field. Meetings of this group are called North America Mission Leaders (NAML). NAME (North America Mission Executives) is one of the task forces and their chairman and steering committee meets with NAML.

NAML meets at least three times a year face to face. We have a budget setting retreat in the late fall, a networking meeting involving all the task force members in the early fall and a planning meeting in the spring.

The NAML group also attends the annual NAME meeting and a new meeting, which we call Mission Partners. This "Partners" meeting was begun in 1993 to bring together district mission leaders besides the mission executives. Many districts are moving to "generalists", doing away with education, youth and mission "particularists". The meeting, held just before the annual LCEF conference, provides an opportunity for LCMS North America Missions to network with mission execs, district presidents, LCEF vice presidents and chairmen of district mission boards.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Synod, LCEF challenged us to train 150 church planters at our "Mission Planters' Institute" - and has provided the funding to make this happen. A faculty of 15 experts was recruited to teach sectionals and make major presentations over the course of 7 days. A coaching process has been instituted. In five years over 250 missionaries were trained.

In the Winter of 2001 a second MPI was begun in Orlando, Florida in conjunction with the Florida Georgia District's new house of studies. Now two Mission Planter Institutes are held each year.

Future of the Mission

North America Mission Field Objectives for 2000-2001

• Ninety new mission starts, at least half other than white English speaking.
  
• Put in place a process for assessing candidates for new mission planting - identifying at least one person to head up the assessment process in North America.
  
• Each Field Counselor and Counselor identify at least one apprentice to mentor.
  
• Develop at least 500 new cross-cultural ministries.
  
• Restart a quarterly North America Missions newsletter. Publish it electronically.

Methodology

First, we are committed to a strategy that sees "Mission Under the Cross". We believe all mission flows from the cross, and that finally all of mission flows to the cross.

All mission flows from the cross. The cross gives us the reason for the mission: the growth of the church is in God’s heart and God’s hands. The creation can tell us only so much about who God is. The cross tells us who God really is – the cross reveals God’s heart. "It is God’s desire that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4) New missions and the growth of existing missions are a result of God’s grace. People become disciples of God "When and where it pleases God."

The cross gives us the message for mission. "God is pleased to bring peace through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:19-20). "He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and the manifest things of God seen through suffering of the cross." (Heidelberg Disputation, paragraph 20).

The cross gives us the urgency and the power for mission. Without Christ there is no forgiveness – there is no salvation. Without faith in Christ a person is lost for eternity. "God’s way of putting people right with Himself has been revealed, and it has nothing to do with the law. The law and the prophets gave their witness to it, but God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ." (Romans 3: 20-21) "I will boast of how weak I am – when I am weak then I am strong." (Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:30)

All mission flows to the cross. The cross was the goal of Jesus’ mission. He came into the world to die on a cross, and rise again to overcome death. Jesus said to the gentiles on Palm Sunday, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it cannot produce. But if it dies, it will produce a hundred fold."

The cross is also the goal of our mission work. We work to bring people to the cross of Christ. In Colossians 2:13-14 Paul declares, "The charges against us are erased, nailed to a cross." The cross shapes those brought to it. First of all, the cross demonstrates what is necessary to suffer, what God was willing to suffer, to bring His gospel to all the world. "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Jesus does not deserve to be Christ’s disciple." (Matthew 10:38-39) "We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave His life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers." (1 John 3:16) Paul says it this way, "The message of the cross is nonsense to those being destroyed – but it is God’s power to those being saved." (1Corinthians 1:18-25).

Those saved by the gospel will want to share this good, wonderful news to all people: "I wish to have the words ‘without work’ understood in the following manner, not that the righteous person does nothing, but that his words do not make him righteous, rather, that his righteousness creates works. For grace and faith are infused without works. After they have been imparted, works follow." (Luther) If the cross is at the center of mission work, then the overflow of joy at being saved "by grace, through faith" cannot be contained – by one person or by a whole church body. This joy "must" spill over into the lives of people everywhere – starting in Jerusalem, but moving to Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Some directions for a strategy for North America Missions

The basic strategy for work in North America will follow the basic strategy of LCMS World Mission: church extension through leadership development. We will seek in the development of new missions to first of all make mature disciples. From these leaders will develop gifts of the Holy Spirit for the establishment of Christ’s church. Some of these will become pastors, some teachers, some missionaries, some deacons and deaconesses. Our basic tool for new mission development will be the Word of God.

I. Components

Five components compose our strategy:

We cannot afford to start new missions blindly. We must do our planning based on the best available information. Thankfully, God has provided excellent demographic resources for us through Lutheran Church Extension Fund and Concordia Search Institute. Also, marketing firms exist in every area of our country to help us understand the characteristics of the people we hope to serve. We must make use of these good gifts of creation in order to be better stewards of the limited resources placed at our disposal.

2. Emphasize the development of Bible study groups.

The center and prime arena for the growth of faith is the worship service where God's Word is proclaimed and the sacraments administered. This is where God comes to serve His people! And it is the role of the pastor to order the doctrine and life of the congregation.

And a setting is needed where Christians can "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest" the Word. Especially in new missions where new Christians are being discipled there needs to be places where converts can be mentored and nurtured in their new faith. The pastor will be responsible for ordering this aspect of church life as well. As he would do with Sunday School teachers, the pastor meets with and supervises lay leaders who are selected to lead the small group Bible studies.

Because we live in a secular culture we need a space where Christians can speak holy words to each other and pray together. Home group Bible studies become bases from which the Christian folk apologetic can reach others.

Important components in the development of home Bible studies include:

a. lay leaders supervised by the ordained missionary,

b. recognizing resistant homogeneous units,

c. focusing on responsive units,

d. multiplying ethnic and language specific groups,

e. not depending on land or buildings at the beginning and

f. communicating intense belief in Christ.

Arthur Foster defines a house church (home Bible study) as a small group, usually fifteen in number, who form an intentional community, which is part of the larger whole of the church. The community meets together for the mutual sustaining and guiding of its members, for prayer, for socializing and for mobilizing energies for service beyond the small group (Page 3, The House Church Evolving, Exploration Press, 1976).

The home Bible study is well known in Scripture and early church history, i.e. Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:20. Also, 1 Corinthians 1:16, Acts 11:14, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:31-34, and Acts 18:8 are examples of home study groups.

Around 400 AD Augustine called for the implementing of the house church, or "domestic sanctuary" (Gary Alexander, "House Churches, Your Hope for the Future", Christian Life, January 1982, page 34).

The Small Catechism of Luther was intended as a resource for the head of a household to teach Christian doctrine.

According to Roger Greenway, "The house church appears to be the most feasible solution to the building problem in the initial stages of church planting and later in extension. In many cases the church in the house represents an interim arrangement which lasts until the group increases in number and in resources and can erect a building set apart for worship. But whether temporary or long range, the house church is a vital part of nearly every successful urban strategy (Greenway, "Keys to Urban Church Planting" p. 13-14).

Some, as James Westgate, make a distinction between "linear" and "network" church planting ("Emerging Church Planting Strategies for World Class Cities", Urban Mission 4, November 1986). In the Linear model, as the congregation outgrows the home another home group is started in the same manner. Each of these small groups is led by an ordained clergyman who supervises a trained lay person who is bi-vocational and therefore requires only a small salary. Each new home Bible study is a separate entity and supports its own lay leader. On the other hand, in the Network model, each new home Bible study is tied to the others. The network has one pastor who supervises lay leaders. When enough Bible studies have come into being they can band together to find a space large enough for corporate meetings, when these are needed - for worship, etc.

The network of home Bible studies is an appropriate strategy for church planting because it addresses certain characteristics of our culture:

a. Mobility. We have a transient population, where nationally one of every five families moves each year. In the city, this figure is higher.

b. Need for less dependency on finances. The Synod and its Districts have less and less money to devote to new church starts.

c. Break up of families. Home Bible studies become "extended families". Peer groups can give each other appropriate first level support when problems arise in primary family units.

d. Diversity of population. Individual Bible studies can meet the needs of various racial and ethnic groups in a congregation.

e. Time constraints. Home Bible studies provide a flexibility that allows them to respond to time needs of their members.

f. Need for meaningful relationships. Discipling can be carried on in much more depth than could ever happen in the typical one-hour church service.

g. Autonomy. Home Bible studies can give appropriate care to people in need, because the people in the group know each other on a deeper level than is generally the case when people approach the church for aid.

One of the goals of the new mission is to include those who belong to no congregation. Prayer for specific people who do not have a church home will be a usual part of the meetings.

Furthermore, the orientation in communication is to the "receptor" - which, as Stokes says, "presupposes an in-depth understanding of the audience's culture". Every effort will be made to communicate the gospel in terms easily understood by those who do not have a long history of association with the Christian church.

The new mission relies primarily on existing family, neighborhood and job networks to reach people with the gospel - a natural web of relationships which has been shown to be the most successful strategy for reaching others.

The missionary pays attention to geographic space in the planting of new home Bible studies. People from two or more Bible studies are combined to penetrate an unreached area between the groups. From the beginning the home groups are mission focused: they expect that unchurched people will be continually being included in the group - and that the home Bible study will regularly divide in order to multiply their numbers and efficiency. When six to ten homogeneous Bible studies exist they may choose to combine efforts - doing some things jointly (such as worship) and other things apart, such as midweek home group meetings.

II. A Process for CELD Church Planting

What might a scenario look like for starting a new mission using Church Extension through Leadership Development in North America?

YEAR ONE

There are various ways in which new work in an area might begin. Less and less is it the case that a District will have the means to call a full time missionary to begin a new congregation. More and more new church starts will begin from a congregational base. This will happen as home groups "recombine" to begin worship services where the need is greatest.

The full time missionary will focus more on planting "mission fields" - where more than one new church is needed. This will be especially true as we look at areas in terms of unreached peoples - focusing on particular ethnic groups or people in certain vocations or life situations who are unchurched. When this happens the new missionary, starting in a location unfamiliar to him, will have to go more slowly than when home groups recombine to call a new pastor.

The first year the missionary is on scene he will try to know the "lay of the land". The missionary accepts the call and moves to the scene. Contact is made with local congregations and circuits to develop local support. The missionary preaches and teaches Bible studies in these churches to generate "partners" for his work - churches and individuals who are ready to give spiritual and material support to the work.

The missionary also identifies "groups" in the target community and begins to gain their trust, identifies and meets with their leaders - and becomes involved in addressing needs in the community. "Groups" includes congregations in the community, Lutheran and others. Groups already in existence must see the missionary as an ally, not an interloper or competitor.

With the help of community leaders and local groups the missionary identifies social needs in the community as well as resources available through District, Synod, LCEF, LCMS-WR, ILWML, ILLL, TEE. Social ministries are begun - to aid existing ministries or begin new ministries with local leadership.

As contacts are made with leaders in the community home groups are begun. In the beginning these are led by the missionary, unless there are local leaders equipped and ready to lead. A corporate worship service is started when the membership of the small groups exceeds 100. Initially the new congregation will meet in a rented or borrowed facility. Worship is led by the missionary. Entry into a process such as the Seminary DELTO program will be a sign that the local leader is being prepared.

The missionary should ask leaders:

1. If home Bible studies were to begin would you be willing to take a role as a leader under my supervision?
2. Are there friends and/or relatives whom you could invite to a home group?
3. Are there people who could open their homes to a Bible study?
4. Is there a large area that could be rented or leased where the home Bible studies could come together for worship when the number of participants in the Bible studies exceeds 100?

In each home Bible study those who demonstrate maturity in the Christian faith may be asked by the members to serve as an apprentice leader. The apprentice will be in training to become a leader of a home Bible study. From the beginning it is made clear that the support of the leader and apprentice are the responsibility of the home group.

Further, those designated as leaders will understand that they are under the supervision of the pastor - and must regularly attend leadership training sessions. There the pastor will teach the Bible study for use by the leaders in the home groups - as well as pray for each other, share experiences, ask for and offer help in leading the Bible study and grow in their skills as leaders.

Finally, during the first year a written mission strategy, with a history and description of the culture along with a strategic plan is produced.

YEAR TWO

In year two there will be five to ten home Bible studies - led by lay leaders who meet at least bi-weekly with the missionary for training and growth. Leaders will be chosen primarily by the Bible studies and supported by them. Each local leader may go through a process of certification - either attending a seminary or becoming certified through another acceptable process such as DELTO. After certification they may become the pastors of new ministries in other areas, supported by new groups.

From the beginning it is expected that as soon as possible a leader from the local groups will replace the missionary, assuming primary control of the congregation. There is no set time limit for this to happen - but requires a "missionary sense". Certainly it should not be more than seven to ten years. Also, local leaders will never receive large amounts of outside support - only what the local, developing groups can sustain. The goal is to develop self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating churches. This will happen as leaders and members grow in their faith.

Conclusion

Church Extension through Leadership Development is an excellent strategy for new church development because it focuses on the development of disciples and the spiritual growth of leaders. As leaders of a new mission grow in faith and knowledge of the forgiveness of sins because of Christ's life, death and resurrection those they influence will be more likely to grow spiritually. In the past a lot of emphasis in new church starts was placed on committee and board organization and finances. These are important concerns - but more important is the concern for the spiritual lives of the people in the new mission. CELD puts the emphasis where it belongs - on the growth of faith among new members.

December 26, 2001

Robert J. Scudieri