Welcome to the Northwestern Ohio Synod

BISHOP’S REPORT FOR THE 2008 ASSEMBLY

Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we who belong to the congregations, agencies and ministries of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, together, will seek to witness to God’s creative and redeeming Word to all the world.

The Northwestern Ohio Synod Mission Statement serves to remind us both of our identity and our purpose. As I offer this Report, I hope to do so in a way which demonstrates ways in which, by God’s grace, we are living out our synodical Mission Statement and embodying our Guiding Principles. At the same time, I will seek to lift up some goals for the next several years. Before doing so, however, I want to express deep appreciation for our rostered and lay leaders who are doing their part to help us “own” this Mission Statement and live in to it. As last year’s Assembly, we distributed posters which include the Mission Statement and the Guiding Principles. It is heartening to visit so many of our congregations and to discover that the poster has been framed and included in a prominent place in the church.

We need to consider our Mission Statement, our Guiding Principles, and our work within the context of some realities. The membership of the Northwestern Ohio Synod has declined approximately 14% in the past years. Some of that decline is related to the aging population of this church and lower birthrates among Lutherans. Some is related to shifting demographics. There has been a reduction in the population in many of our counties. However, some of that reduction may be traced to a preoccupation with the congregation’s membership and inattentivity or even resistance to mission and ministry to the neighborhoods of which we are a part. Some of that may reflect a lack of hospitality to the stranger in our midst. Some of that decline can be traced to congregational conflict and distress of one sort or another.

Related to that membership decline is the reduction of Mission Support for the mission and ministry of this synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. With the exception of last year, we repeatedly are failing to meet even the Mission Support received the previous year. When combined with the effects of inflation, that reduced Mission Support has meant a reduction of support for a whole host of ministries within this synod and the ELCA. Lastest statistics indicate that the average Lutheran gives about 2.3% of income for the support of the mission and ministry of this church. There is room for growth!

As you read this Report, I invite you to do so through the lens of your experience and mission and ministry context. Where are you seeing God at work enabling us to live out our identity and purpose as the people of God? Where do you see God inviting us to go in new directions as we seek to discern God’s intention for our life together in Christ and for God’s witness through us in the world? In what follows, neither the list of what is happening nor the list for specific goals is meant to be exclusive. Rather, they provide a sample description to which we can and will add much.

A REVIEW OF THOSE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND HOW THEY

ARE SHAPING THE LIVING OUT OF OUR MISSION

STATEMENT

1. Guiding Principle: Christ Jesus is Lord. Christ crucified and risen for all remains at the center of who we are and what we do.

2. Guiding Principle: The cross is at the heart of the Lutheran understanding of the Gospel and will be at the center of our life and work together as a synod. It is in the cross of Christ that we know God’s grace and understand the Trinity. The cross is at the heart of Word and Sacrament. The Lutheran Church is a “cross shaped” church.

A. WHAT IS HAPPENING

1. Throughout this synod the people of God gather to devote themselves “…to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42

This happens as the people of God gather for worship and Bible Study, in congregations, at camps, at our seminaries and universities, at hospitals, jails, nursing homes, care centers, restaurants and work places. Whenever we participate or hear in such gatherings we have cause for rejoicing. God is at work through the Holy Spirit, creating and nurturing faith, and empowering us for service and witness in the world. That gives us every reason for hope and confidence for the present and the future.

2. For the past several years many of the pastors responded to invitations to come to the Synod office, to lead worship and preside at the Lord’s Supper together with other colleagues and the Synod Staff. Following worship we meet for conversation about preaching. In the course of our conversation we talk about what it means to keep the crucified and risen Christ at the heart of our worship and preaching.

NOTE -- For the remainder of the Bishop’s Report please click on the file “Report of Synod Leadership, Part A” in the list of pdf files.

The following files are available in pdf format by clicking on the applicible file.