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2026 Convention Workbook 24

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

congregations each, visiting their congregations as they are able to, although the challenges of travel and the cost of travel prevent frequent visits in many contexts. Church leaders in the region recognize that where the Word is proclaimed—Christ is risen, indeed!— and the Sacraments are rightly administered, a church is planted in the full and beautiful embodiment of Christ.

Lutheran church leaders across Africa recognize the LCMS for its clear Gospel proclamation, sound theology, and commitment to thorough church worker formation. Consequently, for many Book of Concord Lutheran church bodies, the LCMS is an important resource when they seek assistance in the formation of church workers. Those church bodies request residential missionary theolog - ical educators, short-term professors, textbooks from Concordia Publishing House, assistance in developing curriculum, support in building their seminary campus, and contributions toward their seminary’s operating costs or scholarships.

The LCMS OIM Africa region currently supports 14 Book of Concord residential seminaries that are owned, operated, and administered by one or more of the church bodies LCMS works with.

Collectively, these seminaries have hundreds of students in programs of pastoral and deaconess formation at certificate and diploma levels: the ILCA’s Concordia Seminary in Cabinda, Angola; the ELCE’s Beleza Training Center in Eritrea; the EELC’s Asella Lutheran Theological Seminary in Asella, Ethiopia; the ELCG’ s Lutheran Theological Seminary in Sasaabi-Accra, Ghana; the EELG’s Lutheran Center for Theological Studies (CLET) in Gueckédou, Guinea; the ELA-SCI’s Lutheran Center for Theological Studies (CLEET) in Toulépleu, Ivory Coast; the ELCK’s Matongo Lutheran Theological Seminary at Neema Lutheran College in Chabera/ Sondu, Kenya; the LCN’s Jonathan Ekong Memorial Lutheran Seminary in Obot Idim-Uyo, Nigeria; the EELC’s Lutheran Center for Theological Studies (CLET) in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo-Brazzaville; the FELSISA-LCSA-Bleckmar’s Lutheran Theological Seminary in Tshwane-Pretoria, South Africa; the ELCSS-S’ Concordia Lutheran Institute on the Holy Ministry in Yambio, South Sudan; the ELCT South East of Lake Victoria Diocese (SELVD)’s Shinyanga Confessional Lutheran College in Shinyanga, Tanzania; the LCEA’s St. Peter’s Lutheran Theological Seminary in Himo, Tanzania; and the ELT’s Lutheran Center for Theological Studies (CLET) in Dapaong, Togo. These are full residential seminaries operating in English, French, Swahili, or Portuguese, many of which are accredited and the majority of which offer three full years of pastoral formation with Greek and Hebrew. The region also supports specialty programs that provide a route to ordination through intensives, including the ICCM’s Theological Education Program in Villa de Senna, Mozambique; the CELC-SL’s Christ Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Jembe-Bo, Sierra Leone; and the ELCT-SELVD’s Bishop Emmanuel Makala Training Center outside Shinyanga, Tanzania. Finally, the region supports bachelor students studying through Riga Luther Academy in Latvia and graduate programs in the EECMY’s Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; FLM’s Martin Luther University/ SALT in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar; Concordia Seminary’s online master of arts in theology program; and Concordia Theological Seminary’s Gothenburg master of sacred theology program.

Beyond forming pastors for new church plants, the OIM Africa region supports the congregation’s building of their church structure through the Africa Tin/Chapel Roofs project. Although congregations are often able to collect sand, make mud bricks, collect firewood, fire their bricks, collect foundation stones, and fundraise sister churches, there are an additional 35 church bodies currently identified as theologically compatible with the LCMS, a few new church bodies in the process of forming, conservative districts and dioceses of larger Lutheran churches that have a breadth of theological expression, and even a couple church bodies not theologically compatible with the LCMS but deeply interested in learning about Book of Concord Lutheranism. Among all these relationships, the LCMS Africa team seeks to spread the Gospel, plant Lutheran churches, and show mercy such that the call Christ is risen, indeed!

goes out far and wide.

D.1. Spread the Gospel The OIM Africa region supports spreading the Gospel throughout the many church bodies it works with. The endeavor is multi - faceted, broad, and strategic. Collaborations with church bodies, RSOs, districts, congregations, auxiliaries, system schools, and other institutions provide the opportunity and the necessary resources for the Gospel message to reach the unreached.

Church bodies like The Lutheran Mission in Africa—Synod of Thousand Hills (LMA-STH) in Rwanda began radio programming supported by LCMS grants during COVID-19 lockdowns. This Book of Concord church body recognized an opportunity to use radio programming to reach not only their members across the country but also the unreached. Since 2020, the clergy of the LMA-STH have hosted a live 30-minute weekly radio program, which includes Scripture, a devotion, and engagement with the audience by taking calls on-air. Through this program, the church spreads the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the radio station’s nationwide audience of millions, proclaiming, Christ is risen, indeed!

Through the regional translation committee, opportunities to translate evangelistic materials, children’s books, and theological resources are prioritized based on the strategic emphases and areas of mission focus. These projects are coordinated with Lutheran Heritage Foundation, an RSO that closely collaborates with the LCMS OIM Africa region on translation projects. Through this partnership over the past triennium, with funding from the 2023 National Offering, the region supported the following translations projects and printing runs: the Small Catechism Enchiridion in Swahili (East Africa) and Kuria (Kenya); the full Small Catechism with questions and answers in Swahili (East Africa), Lulogooli (Kenya), and Moba (Togo); the Large Catechism in Tonga (Zambia); the Smalcald Articles in Tshiluba (DRC), Kinyarwanda (Rwanda), and Rundi (Burundi); the Apology of the Augsburg Confession in Dholuo (Ken - ya), Luba-Lulua (DRC), Tshiluba (DRC), Kinyarwanda (Rwanda), and Rundi (Burundi);

the Book of Concord in Malagasy (Madagascar); A Summary of Christian Doctrine in Swahili (East Africa); Pastoral Car e Companion in Swahili (East Africa); Jesus Never Fails in Kuria (Kenya); and A Children’ s Garden of Bible Stories in Ateso (Uganda).

D.2. Plant Lutheran Churches Most of the church bodies collaborating with the LCMS are experiencing rapid growth, with congregations springing up due to migration of Lutherans to new areas, engagement with Lutheran media, or intentional church planting strategies. Those congregations quickly appeal to their church officers for a pastor to be assigned to them, presenting a significant challenge to the churches with whom the LCMS works. This is a good problem to have.

There are so many congregations being established so quickly that there aren’t enough pastors to care for them all! Most pastors in the Lutheran churches in Africa oversee between five and fifteen