Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 315

2026 Convention Workbook
280 NATIONAL  WITNESS
for the pastors, workers, lay leaders, and congregations engaged in 
this vital mission; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod encourage its districts, circuits, and 
congregations to actively and creatively seek ways to establish, 
develop, and fund new campus ministries, especially in areas with 
significant college or university student populations; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That all campus ministries be encouraged to maintain 
a direct connection to full -time Word and Sacrament ministry, 
either through a nearby LCMS congregation or by forming a 
preaching station or mission congregation in their own right; and be 
it further 
Resolved, That districts, circuits, and congregations be 
encouraged to maintain, support, and revitalize as necessary, but 
certainly not abandon, existing strategically valuable campus 
ministries and campus ministry locations; and be it further 
Resolved, That all districts, circuits, congregations, and campus 
ministries embrace dual ministry goals of: 
• Evangelizing the unchurched and seeking students interested 
in serious Christianity; 
• Sustaining and nurturing LCMS and other Christian students 
through the Means of Grace; 
and be it further 
Resolved, That the LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM) 
establish a Campus Ministry Coordinator (or similar title, or 
equivalent duties as assigned), who will serve the Synod by 
assisting and advising districts, circuits, congregations, and campus 
ministries in s trengthening existing campus ministry work and 
establishing new campus ministry preaching stations and 
congregations throughout the Synod; and be it further 
Resolved, That ONM continue conducting a LCMS Campus 
Ministry Worker conference, to help encourage collegiality, 
support, and cooperation among the various campus ministries of 
the Synod; and be it further 
Resolved, That ONM sponsor or conduct regional and national 
LCMS U conferences, for students, college-aged young adults, and 
campus ministry workers to attend and be built up in the faith, 
strengthened in the knowledge and fear of the Lord, encouraged in 
the Gospel and in the fellowship they share in Christ, and to interact 
with teachers and presenters who will help them thoughtfully to 
engage both classic and contemporary issues faced by college 
students; and be it further 
Resolved, That ONM investigate various funding models for 
domestic mission work on the nation’s college campuses, and issue 
a report to the Council of Presidents and the Board for National 
Mission no later than July 2028; and be it further 
Resolved, That the Synod not waver in upholding campus 
ministry as a significant mission priority from the national to the 
congregational level, constantly listening to the voice of our Lord 
Jesus Christ: “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the 
fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35); and be it finally 
Resolved, That the Synod and its districts, circuits, and 
congregations integrate campus ministry into their strategic mission 
and stewardship planning, recognizing that campus ministry is an 
investment in the church’s present and future. 
Board for National Mission 
Ov. 1-06 
To Increase Church Planting at the Parish Level 
WHEREAS, The Synod Office of National Mission  (ONM) 
currently is supporting church planting ministry across the Synod 
through resources, training, and grants; and 
WHEREAS, The districts and congregations of the Synod maintain 
numerous mercy missions and ministries to care for those in their 
communities; and 
WHEREAS, The process of planting new congregations is a 
priority of the work of the ONM; and 
WHEREAS, Our Lord Jesus Christ wants all people to be saved (1 
Tim. 2:4) and has commanded His Church  to make disciples of all 
nations by baptizing and teaching (Matt. 28:19); and 
WHEREAS, Acts 2:42 shows that the Church of baptized believers 
gathered around the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, 
which are foundational to the life and mission of the Church both in 
function and in goal; and 
W
HEREAS, The early Christians, having been gathered around 
Word and Sacrament, were sent into the world and established new 
churches as they went; and 
WHEREAS, The  Synod has historically planted most of its 
congregations effectively  through daughter  congregations, 
beginning with preaching stations that grew into new 
congregations; and 
WHEREAS, The establishment of preaching stations through 
existing congregations and their pastors  represents a faithful and 
cost-effective means of planting new churches by leveraging 
existing congregational structures; and 
WHEREAS, This historic pattern of Word and Sacrament 
expansion allows the local congregation ( uniquely suited as the 
front-line mission outpost ) to be the driving force in church 
planting; and 
WHEREAS, the Synod’s  human care efforts and community 
outreach provide natural connection points for the  proclamation of 
the Gospel, which can lead to the formation of preaching stations 
and, eventually, new congregations; and 
WHEREAS, Special attention should be given to regions where 
people do not have access to the seven marks of  the Church, as 
outlined in Luther’s Church and Ministry ( Luther’s Works AE 
41:148–65); therefore be it 
Resolved, That the Synod encourage districts, circuits, and 
congregations to plant churches through preaching stations 
supported by existing congregations and their pastors; and be it 
further 
Resolved, That the Synod encourage congregations to consider 
ways in which their human care efforts may be paired with Word 
and Sacrament ministry, so that new worshiping communities may 
form around the Means of Grace; and be it finally 
Resolved
, That the Synod commend this model of church 
planting as a faithful, practical, and historically grounded approach 
to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. 
Board for National Mission