Official Workbook report source text
Official Workbook source-navigation report record. No analysis has been added.
- Report number/id
- R57
- Report title
- R57 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League
- Workbook start page
- 141
- Workbook end page
- 143
- Source pages
- 141, 142, 143
- Source status
- source_checked
- Committee
- Not available
R57 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), also known as Lutheran Women in Mission, is an official auxiliary of the Synod. We joyfully proclaim Christ, support missions, and equip women to honor God by serving others. The LWML exceeded its $2,350,000 mission goal for the 2023– 25 biennium, funding 31 mission grants, and set a new mission goal of $2,622,270 to fully fund 33 mission grants in the 2025–27 bien- nium. Mission grants are also funded by the 40 LWML districts. Lutheran Women in Mission across the country supports mission organizations locally, regionally, and globally in prayer, with mon- etary donations, and in selfless volunteer service. 2026 Convention Workbook 142 OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS In concluding its work and submitting its report to the conven- tion, the task force wishes to recommend several courses of action to the Synod and its entities to further address pressing issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and to help the members of our congregations understand those issues, respond to them, and care for and protect those struggling with them. • To continue and expand Created Male and Female re- treats: Members of the task force organized and led two re- treats at Shepherd’s Canyon Retreat Center for families af- fected by these issues. It is the recommendation of the task force that the ONM continue these retreats, and, additional- ly, seek to recruit and train potential facilitators (specifically those with counseling experience, theological competence, and pastoral sensitivity) so that such retreats might be expand- ed in number and to different locations. • To cultivate lists of recommended counselors in every district: District presidents advised the task force that more personnel was needed to care for those struggling with sexual orientation and gender identity confusion and temptations. A request for theologically trustworthy counselors was express- ly stated. To that end, it is recommended that the Council of Presidents ask each district (possibly in conjunction with oth- er contiguous districts) to develop lists of LCMS counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists who specialize in this area and whose understanding of marriage and sexuality reflects biblical positions. Relatedly, the task force also encourag- es member colleges of the Concordia University System to develop and promote counseling programs to help meet the growing demand for biblically competent, theologically trust- worthy Lutheran counselors who specialize in sexual orienta- tion and gender identity. • To encourage synodwide conversation: The survey data ref- erenced in this report conducted by LCMS Research Services shows remarkable unity on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity within the Synod. Those findings should re- ceive more attention and foster discussion within the Synod, particularly related to matters of pastoral care. The task force encourages the districts and circuits of the Synod to study the findings in their conferences and meetings over the course of the next triennium. It encourages the use of the recommended resources available on the Created Male and Female website. It also encourages the Synod to make use of the resources commissioned below, upon completion and publication. • To commission resources: The task force commends the website it has developed, which will include a list of rec- ommended resources with annotations. More resources are needed, however. It is the task force’s opinion that those needs exist on multiple levels, and we recommend that the Synod commission or continue this work, which includes: o Practical r esources: In light of the survey data, the task force identified a need for practical resources to support church workers in their vocations. It is recommended that the ONM in collaboration with the Office of Pastoral Education develop published resources and continuing education offerings to aid church workers in responding to individual situations pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity, especially in pastoral care and student/parent rela- tions. It is also recommended that the ONM in col- laboration with the CTCR and LCMS Communica - tions develop a lexicon that provides definitions for sexual ethics, recommend and coordinate implementation with Synod entities and organizations that will best deliver resources to the Church, and encourage congregations to raise awareness of media propaganda, cultural intimidation, and mounting pressures upon all people to affirm viewpoints contrary to clear teaching in Holy Scripture, responding to those influences by the study of Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (particularly the Small Cat- echism).” The resolution finally asked the task force to report on its work and make further recommendations to the 2026 convention. The 2023–26 task force returned all regular members from the previous triennium, including the Rev. Christopher Esget (LCMS Fifth Vice-President, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Va.); Deaconess Dr. Tiffany Manor (ONM); Dr. Mark Rockenbach (fac- ulty member, Concordia Seminary); the Rev. Kevin Robson (St. Louis, Mo.); Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobien (faculty member, Concor - dia Theological Seminary); the Rev. Kevin Karner (Immanuel Lu- theran Church, Bristol, Conn.); the Rev. Jonathan Lange (St. Paul Lutheran Church, Kemmerer, Wyo., and Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Evanston, Wyo.); the Rev. Brian Barlow (Grace Lutheran Church, Banning, Calif.); and the Rev. Jared Melius (Mt. Zion Lu- theran Church, Denver, Colo.). In addition, at the direction of 2023 Res. 1-04A, it added the following representatives of other Synod entities: the Rev. Roy S. Askins (Managing Director of Editorial, LCMS Communications); the Rev. Dr. Jacob Corzine (Vice-Pres- ident of Publishing, Concordia Publishing House); the Rev. Dr. Richard J. Serina Jr. (Associate Executive Director, Commission on Theology and Church Relations [CTCR]); and the Rev. Dr. Scott Stiegemeyer (Associate Professor of Theology, Concordia Univer- sity Irvine). Pastor Esget served as chair, Dr. Serina served as vice- chair, and Pastor Karner served as secretary. The task force met four times during the triennium: June 13–14, 2024; Aug. 21–22, 2024; Aug. 6–7, 2025; and Nov. 4–5, 2025. In order to accomplish its work more effectively, the members divided themselves into two separate working groups that also met virtually to complete various projects. To fulfill the mandate to conduct field research, a research-focused working group developed multiple digital surveys concerning attitudes toward sexual orientation and gender identity, which it shared with LCMS commissioned min- isters and ordained ministers, as well as further qualitative study of select individuals and families. The nearly 1,500 respondents showed a remarkable unity of doctrine regarding human sexuality and gender identity issues. Furthermore, almost all survey respon- dents knew personal acquaintances or households in the school or church either struggling with sexual identity issues or family mem- bers struggling with them (see the attached appendix to this report for particular areas where church workers felt less than prepared to respond to such situations). To fulfill the mandate related to the production of resources, a content-focused working group assessed existing publications and digital materials, identified specific mate- rials to commend to the Synod, and identified other materials that are still needed. It compiled a list of recommended resources with annotations for distribution by ONM. In addition to its task force– specific work, individual members collaborated with the ONM for Created Male and Female programming and resource creation, helped lead multiple retreats for families affected personally by ho- mosexuality and transgenderism, offered educational opportunities at the LCMS Youth Gathering, and recorded videos and podcasts to address related topics. The ONM now hosts a website that will in- clude recommendations of literature, links to online resources, and other pertinent information (createdmaleandfemale.org). 2026 Convention Workbook 143 OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS lect delegates to conventions of the Synod to determine if they are adequate as they are or should be changed” and “to clarify some of the ambiguity in the Bylaws regarding multi-congregation parishes which cross district or circuit lines.” The task force was to include “the Secretary of [the] Synod, the Commission on Constitutional Matters [CCM], the Commission on Handbook [COH], and three district presidents and three district secretaries (from different dis- tricts) chosen by the Council of Presidents.” Realizing the difficulty of accommodating so many individuals, the CCM and COH each designated three individuals to serve as their primary represen- tatives to the task force. In preparation for the first meeting, the Secretary of the Synod drafted a white paper with the history of selecting delegates, the trend in delegate numbers to the convention and exceptions requested and granted, and a view toward the shape of the future based upon past and current demographics. The task force met nine times from October 2024 to December 2025 to re- view the charge by the 2023 Synod convention and to offer a report and to recommend to the Synod changes to the Bylaws to address the concerns raised. Background In its founding, the Synod defined its own polity, giving each congregation an equal vote (the equality of congregational votes is known as Stimmengleichheit). The office of pastor being a divine institution conferred through the congregation as the possessor of all ecclesiastical authority, the Synod determined to have each con- gregation receive two votes, one by its pastor and the other by its lay delegate. Before growth necessitated a change and the division into districts had been adopted, the Synod left it to the individu - al congregations to select a lay delegate to accompany the pastor and the matter was relatively simple. The franchise was given to the congregation, exercised by the pastor and a lay delegate to the Synod convention. The basic principles of this franchise gave con- gregations or parishes equal representation, no matter what their numerical size, and a “balance of power” was maintained by equal representation of clergy and lay. The Synod is conceived as an aid and, indeed, an extension of such congregations or parishes without any other constituencies or units. When it was no longer feasible because of size, and after the di- vision of the Synod into districts in 1854, beginning with the 1872 convention, the congregations and parishes of the Synod were rep- resented by a circuit delegation consisting of one pastor and one lay vote at the Synod convention. The Constitution did not change and was applicable to both district and Synod conventions. The practice for conventions of the Synod was that each pair of delegates, one a pastor of a Pfarrgemeinde (that is, the collection of congregations regularly served by one pastor: 2019 Res. 9-12, Bylaw 2.5.5) and the other a layman, now came from a group of congregations (cir - cuit). Since the 1969 convention of the Synod (due to 1967 Res. 5-18), electoral circuits have consisted of “either of one or two ad- jacent visitation circuits, as shall be determined by the district board of directors on the basis of the following requirements: each pair of delegates shall represent from 7 to 20 member congregations, involving an aggregate confirmed membership ranging from 1,500 to 10,000” (Bylaw 3.1.2 [a]). “Exceptions to these requirements may be made only by the President of the Synod upon request of a district board of directors” (Bylaw 3.1.2 [b]). The visitation circuits themselves are established by districts (that is, by district conventions, unless a district convention has explicitly authorized a district board of directors to carry this out) “according to geographical criteria.” There is technically no lower terminology related to sexual orientation and gender identity, along with a guide for the recommended use of such terms in Synod publications. o Countercultural resources: There is a need for cul- turally relevant literature that addresses these issues in plain language. The task force has begun this work by developing publishable resources that would tar - get the temptations, peer pressure, and media sub- versiveness associated with homosexuality, gay mar- riage, transgenderism, pornography, and casual sex. o Apologetic resour ces: There is a further need for resources that would specifically counter intellectual and theological arguments in support of these sexu- al errors. The task force has begun working with Dr. Armin Wenz, longtime professor in our German sis- ter church, SELK, to revise his earlier pamphlet ex- posing the theological errors of homosexuality based upon the New Testament. The task force encourages the completion of this work. It also commends the CTCR’s responses to ReconcilingWorks (and its document, “Lutheran Introduction to Sexual Orien- tation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression”), an organization that has misrepresented Lutheran theological principles and biblical passages to sup- port homosexuality. These are available at resources .lcms.org/reading-study/ctcr-library-individual- opinions-for-study-and-consideration. o Catechetical r esources: Finally, the task force be- lieves there is also a need for persuasive, biblically based literature that might be used in congregational settings to help the Church better understand the theo- logical reasons for the positions the Synod has taken on marriage and sexuality, as well as express pastoral concern for those who may be misled by opinions at odds with Scripture. To that end, the task force recommends that the CTCR, in consultation with the ONM and the seminaries, consider if and how studies might be produced on the family as a unit and the foundation for a healthy society (man and woman, husband and wife, parents and children, procreation and sexual chastity, vocation and the three estates), biblical anthropology, the vocation of singleness, same-sex attraction, and gender dysphoria. Christopher S. Esget, Chairman