Delegates 
to the LCMS Iowa District West convention June 18-21 at Camp Okoboji in Milford, Iowa, re-elected Rev. Paul Sieveking of Fort Dodge to his third three-year term as district president.
Sieveking, 56, was elected on the first ballot.
Theme for this year’s 36th Iowa West convention, which marked the district’s 70th anniversary, was “Joy in the Journey — With Hearts Ablaze!”
Also re-elected to their offices were Rev. John Schauer of Carroll, Iowa, first vice president, and Rev. Steven Turner, Algona, Iowa, second vice president.
Dr. Arthur Porter, who formerly served as pastor of a Synod congregation in New Orleans, was installed during the convention as executive director of the Los Angeles Nehemiah Ministries project. Porter will be serving as an Iowa District West missionary, working with a number of inner-city churches in the Los Angeles area. The project is a partnership venture between the LCMS Iowa West and Pacific Southwest Districts. As its executive director, Porter succeeds Rev. Leland Settgast, who recently retired.
Noting that Iowa District West has long been recognized as a Synod leader in providing financial aid for professional church-work students, a resolution the delegates adopted authorizes exploring the matter of providing district financial assistance for nonchurch-work students enrolled at LCMS colleges and universities.
The resolution states that such assistance, provided mainly through gifts and endowments, would help meet “an ongoing need for all church laity to receive a foundation of Christian education to carry out the work of the Church.”
Delegates also adopted a resolution calling for regional youth gatherings, some of which might be held on Synod college, university and seminary campuses.
That resolution, which does not suggest that national youth gatherings be discontinued, notes that regional gatherings on Synod campuses “would be potentially less costly in terms of transportation and may also serve as a tool for student recruitment.”
In other resolutions they adopted, delegates reaffirmed the Synod’s position on close(d) communion and encouraged LCMS congregation members to continue speaking out in support of the sanctity of human life.
Also during the convention, new Sudanese and Laotian congregations in Des Moines, Iowa, were welcomed into Synod membership.
Posted June 27, 2006
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