Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 62

2026 Convention Workbook
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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
$405,000 to help Igreja Evangélica Luterana do Brasil rebuild 
eight churches, reprint essential confessional materials destroyed 
in the disaster, and support a nationwide disaster-response train-
ing conference attended by more than 200 pastors and laity. These 
efforts strengthened the IELB’s capacity to serve more than 2,200 
affected Lutheran families, many of whom lost homes, church 
buildings, and livelihoods.
In Chile, catastrophic wildfires devastated Viña del Mar, de-
stroying more than 12,000 homes. LCMS Disaster Response sup-
ported the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile with two grants 
totaling $310,000. These funds provided construction materials to 
rebuild 100 homes, sustained a Lutheran psychologist offering trau-
ma counseling, supported ongoing food distribution (over 30,000 
meals given), and funded full-time pastoral care, children’s min-
istries, and volunteer construction teams from across Latin Ameri-
ca. The project demonstrated a strong Lutheran mercy witness and 
served more than 8,000 people through preaching, teaching, and 
spiritual care.
G. Ministry to the Armed Forces
In a world that often feels shrouded in darkness—where cultur-
al winds howl and threats to religious freedom grow louder—God 
has not left His people without witnesses. He has raised up faithful 
LCMS pastors to serve as military chaplains, carrying the unstop-
pable, life-giving message into the hardest places: Christ is risen, 
indeed!
While many denominations struggle to find qualified pastors 
willing to wear the uniform, the LCMS has been richly blessed. 
Dozens have answered the call to go where their flock goes—into 
training, into danger, into austere and lonely places—to preach in 
season and out of season that the tomb is empty and Christ lives. 
Our chaplains eat the same food, endure the same dust and cold, 
bear the same risks, all to shepherd souls with Word and Sacrament, 
showing the compassion of the risen Christ, who once said, “Peace 
be with you,” even while bearing His wounds.
Yet the harvest is great, and the workers are still too few. If 
not us, then who will send shepherds to serve those who selflessly 
serve our nation (and their families)? We need more voices boldly 
proclaiming that death has been swallowed up in victory, that sin no 
longer has the last word, that because Jesus lives, every battlefield 
grave will one day give up its dead.
Right now, 51 faithful LCMS chaplains serve on active duty, 
and another 65 ministers serve in the Reserve, National Guard, Civ-
il Air Patrol, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Veterans Affairs (V A)—
plus 2 directors of religious education. They stand protected (for 
now) by law and Department of War policy to preach the Gospel in 
its truth and purity, without compromise, treating every soul with 
dignity while refusing to bend the knee to the spirit of the age. In an 
environment that daily tests conscience, they keep lifting high the 
cross and the empty tomb: Christ is risen, indeed!
Your Ministry to the Armed Forces surrounds them with prayer, 
pastoral care, Lutheran continuing education, and fierce advocacy 
for religious liberty. We fight to keep them endorsed, equipped, and 
free to be faithful. Our goal: 70 active duty and 120 Reserve/Guard/
V A chaplains by 2027—so that no service member or veteran ever 
lacks a pastor who will look them in the eye and say with unshak-
able certainty, Christ is risen, indeed!
Every quarter we mail over 17,000 pieces of solid Lutheran de-
votional material—Portals of Prayer, So Help Me God, and more—
To support pastoral formation and church planting, the Asia re-
gion has continued translating materials. Since the 2023 conven-
tion, volumes from Chemnitz’ s Works, The Lutheran Difference, 
and Luther’s Small Catechism have been translated into Japanese. 
V olumes from Luther’ s Works as well as works by David Scaer, 
C.F.W. Walther, and William Weedon have been translated into 
Mandarin. Several resources, most notably the Baku Ibadah Luther 
(Indonesian hymnal), have been translated into Indonesian.
E.2.b. FOROs
To support the planting of Lutheran churches through the 
spreading of the Gospel and pastoral formation, the FORO model 
of mission support is being established in Asia and will expand. 
The first FORO was held in the Philippines in early March to sup-
port and strengthen the work of Lutheran Theological Seminary in 
Baguio City, which serves the Philippines but also serves as the 
pastoral formation for several nations in Asia. The groundwork for 
FOROs in Australia and Japan was also laid in early 2026 to sup-
port church planting and the formation of church planting pastors in 
those respective nations. OIM Asia’s goal is to have six developed 
FOROs in the next triennium.
E.3. Show Mercy
Mercy is always connected with the Gospel and flows from con-
gregations where Christ is rightly preached and His Sacraments are 
rightly administered. In Taiwan, multiple English Bible camps are 
offered to connect the Taiwanese to the local Lutheran congrega -
tion. In Cambodia, deaconesses were brought together for a con-
tinuing education conference to strengthen their service to the com-
munity. Across Asia, where typhoons and other natural disasters 
struck, the church came alongside the suffering with the Gospel of 
Christ crucified and raised from the dead.
As the Asia region continues to spread the Gospel, plant Lu-
theran churches, and show mercy in the most populated area on 
the planet, the Asia region extends deep gratitude to the Synod’s 
prayers, partnership, and ongoing support as well as our mutual 
confession of faith that Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
F. Disaster Training and Response
Since January 1, 2023, LCMS Disaster Response has supported 
work in 12 countries across three regions (Asia, Latin America, and 
Africa), providing $1,082,873 in grants to assist sister churches fol-
lowing natural disasters. These grants primarily supported the re-
building of Lutheran churches and schools, church worker homes, 
and community homes and the provision of food, water, and essen-
tial relief supplies after natural disasters.
F.1. Disaster Training
Two major projects in Brazil and Chile exemplify the contin-
ued implementation of 2023 Res. 3-04A, which directs the Synod 
to continue producing disaster-response training, resources, and 
grants. Together with similar work in Asia and Africa, LCMS Di-
saster Response has strengthened sister churches, provided relief to 
suffering communities, and expanded the global Lutheran mercy 
presence during times of crisis.
F.2. Disaster Response
Significant work was carried out in Latin America following 
two major catastrophes in centers of Lutheranism. In Brazil, his-
toric floods in 2024 severely affected the Rio Grande do Sul re-
gion. LCMS Disaster Response funded three major grants totaling