“Preparing Pastors Worldwide” is the theme for the Synod’s 2007 National Offering, and organizers are hoping to raise at least $1 million to fund the training of Lutheran pastors in the United States and abroad.
Contributions may be brought to this summer’s 63rd Regular Convention, July 14-19 in Houston, or may be made online, beginning in April, at www.givenowlcms.org. The offering will remain open until the following LCMS convention in 2010.
Two-thirds of all gifts received in the offering will be used to support the Synod’s two seminaries — Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. The remaining one-third will benefit seminaries of LCMS partner churches around the world.
Packets with information about the National Offering will be mailed to all LCMS congregations in mid-April. Included in the mailing will be a cover letter from Synod President Gerald Kieschnick inviting congregations to take part in the offering, information about a bulletin insert with attached offering envelope, a responsive prayer, and an envelope that delegates can use to bring their congregation’s offering to the LCMS convention in Houston.
“This year’s National Offering supports the special tie that binds the church and its seminaries,” said Cindy Simpson, vice president of the LCMS Joint Seminary Fund. “Seminaries serve a vital role in preparing messengers of the Word — pastors who are called to proclaim ‘His love is here for you’” (1 John 4:9-11).
“The offering gathered at the convention highlights the relationship between the church and its seminaries,” Simpson said. “Attention at the convention on this National Offering provides the opportunity to build awareness and generate support for the preparation of pastors to boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ alone is the Savior of the world. This is our collective effort to proclaim worldwide the theme of our convention, ‘One Message — Christ!’”
More information about the 2007 National Offering will be available at www.lcms.org/pastoraleducation, beginning in April.
Posted March 22, 2007
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