Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 90

2026 Convention Workbook
55
OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
ing committee of the Synod’s two mission boards, the Board for 
National Mission (BNM) and the Board for International Mission 
(BIM). It is composed of two members from each mission board. 
Its primary task is to facilitate and oversee the execution of Bylaws 
3.8.2.2 and 3.8.3.2, which task the BNM and BIM to work together 
for the “assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of the Syn-
od’s triennial mission and ministry emphases.” The JMAC assists 
the BNM and BIM in providing ideas and guidance to the Synod’s 
district conventions in order to fulfill their duty in accordance with 
Bylaw 4.2.1 (d) to “forward to the national convention a list of two 
or three triennial mission and ministry emphases for consideration 
by the national convention.” In addition to this responsibility, the 
BNM and BIM were tasked by the 2023 Synod convention (Reso-
lution 4-02) to “to continue to assess, clarify, and further refine the 
process whereby a recommendation for the triennial mission and 
ministry emphasis is brought before the Synod in convention for 
consideration and adoption,” and to “recommend a new mission 
and ministry emphasis for consideration at the 2026 Synod con-
vention.” The mission boards were also given the task (2023 Res. 
4-03) to “recommend possible revisions to the mission priorities 
and possible bylaw revisions that would articulate both the process 
for developing mission priorities and how those priorities would 
function in the mission and ministry of the Synod.”
B. Assessment and Conclusions from 
Conversations with District Leaders 
The JMAC first facilitated members of the two mission boards 
into conversation with all 35 districts to assess how the current 
mission and ministry emphasis (Making Disciples for Life) and the 
Synod’s seven mission priorities were perceived and being used in 
their district and among their congregations. Next, a survey was 
taken of a random sampling of pastors, church workers, and con-
gregations throughout the Synod to gather more grassroots feed-
back as to the awareness, visibility, applicability, and relevance of 
the current mission and ministry emphasis and mission priorities. 
As a result of these conversations and feedback, it was determined 
that: (1) many districts were coming up with and using their own 
mission and ministry emphasis in place of the Synod’s; (2) the Syn-
od’s mission priorities, while good, were too many and too wordy 
to be easily remembered and employed; (3) the mission and minis-
try emphasis and mission priorities were often confused, not clearly 
defined, and not coordinated; and (4) the process for developing 
and adopting a new Synod mission and ministry emphasis was too 
cumbersome, unworkable, and not being carried out.
C. Recommendations
The JMAC recommended to the BNM and the BIM that three 
overtures be offered at the Synod convention:
1. A 
new and streamlined process for assessing, evaluating, and 
proposing a mission and ministry emphasis;
2. To sunset the mission priorities of the Synod and in their 
place 
recommend attention to and use of the 10 objectives of 
Synod as listed in Article III of the Synod Constitution; and
3. To 
recommend to the Synod that Tell the Next Generation be 
adopted as the mission and ministry emphasis for the next 
triennium.
The new process being proposed for assessing, evaluating, and 
proposing a mission and ministry emphasis will give the mission 
boards a more direct role in guiding the mission emphasis of the 
Synod in collaboration with the President of Synod and in fraternal 
C. BIM Policy Development
The BIM established policies addressing multiple mission and 
ministry areas in its initial years of existence (2010–13) and has 
regularly updated these policies in support of programs carried out 
by the OIM. In 2023 the BIM approved a complete rewrite of its 
policies to focus on monitoring the strategic plan of the OIM and 
the supporting budget. The policies allow the BIM to monitor the 
OIM strategic plan to assure that OIM staffing and programs sup-
port Articles II and III of the Synod Constitution and the mission 
and ministry emphasis established by the Synod in convention. 
D. Assessment of Mission and Ministry
The Board for National Mission and BIM under Bylaws 3.8.2.2 
and 3.8.3.2 are, during each triennium between national conven-
tions, to gather sufficient information from Synod members to 
facilitate the boards’ assessment of the effectiveness of the Syn-
od’s mission and ministry. See Report R8 of the Joint Mission As-
sessment Committee. Based on this assessment, the boards jointly 
submitted two overtures for the 2026 convention’s consideration 
regarding the mission and ministry emphasis for the next triennium 
and proposed changes to the process for developing the same in 
the future.
E. International Schools
The LCMS schools in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Hanoi con-
tinue to be exemplary academic college preparatory schools. These 
schools primarily serve children K–12 of expatriate families. Due 
to religious freedom restrictions in effect in China and Vietnam 
the ability to maintain a Lutheran identity and to proclaim the pure 
Gospel is constrained for Shanghai and Hanoi. In order to address 
these concerns, the Synod Board of Directors and the BIM working 
with the Chief Mission Officer and the OIM have established an 
International Schools Task Force that is researching options and de-
veloping plans for the Synod’s international schools going forward. 
The task force is comprised of representatives from the BIM, Board 
of Directors, and officers of the Synod.
The Hanoi and Shanghai schools are accredited by the National 
Lutheran School Accreditation Commission (NLSA) and the West-
ern Association of Schools and Colleges. During 2026, the Hanoi 
and Shanghai schools will commence the process of re-accredita -
tion with NLSA.
While there are fewer restrictions in Hong Kong on religious 
freedom, the local school leadership in Hong Kong has not been 
supportive of the operating agreement provisions regarding the 
LCMS religious doctrine and education as well as governance mat-
ters. Therefore, in the fall of 2025, the Synod filed a lawsuit against 
the local management group, Hong Kong International School As-
sociation, Limited.
John W. Edson, Chairman
R8
Report of the Joint Mission Assessment 
Committee of the Boards for National 
and International Mission
A. Committee Responsibilities
The Joint Mission Assessment Committee (JMAC) is a stand-