Robson accepts call as LCMS chief mission officer

The Rev. Kevin D. Robson, an LCMS pastor who has extensive prior experience in business enterprises, has accepted the Synod’s call to be its chief mission officer (CMO).

Robson, pastor of Prince of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baxter, Minn., since 2006, plans to begin work at the International Center on May 13.

Robson commented: “I’m a parish pastor at heart, and it is a great challenge for me to depart from the duties of caring for a faithful, much-loved congregation. Living only under God’s grace, I intend to do my very utmost in a new field of service to support our blessed church body in the accomplishment of our common mission. I eagerly anticipate the privilege of working alongside the multitalented and energetic saints who are daily and diligently carrying out their vocations at the International Center and elsewhere around the world.”

As CMO, Robson succeeds the Rev. Gregory K. Williamson, who was the first to hold that position mandated by the Synod’s 2010 national convention that adopted a resolution realigning the church body’s national ministries under two new mission boards. Williamson served in the post from early 2012 to mid-2014. The Rev. Bart Day, executive director of the Office of National Mission, has been the interim chief mission officer since then.

Synod President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison appointed Robson to the position after consulting with the LCMS Boards for National and International Mission and with the unanimous concurrence of the LCMS Board of Directors.

In a letter that went out to Synod employees March 12, Harrison said, “Much care and prayerful consideration went into filling the chief mission officer position. Several years of working within the new structure established by the 2010 Synod convention have brought clarity to the type of man needed for the job. He must carry out, under my direction, the mission and ministry emphases adopted by the Synod in convention in accordance with the policies of the Boards for International and National Mission. Additionally, much of the chief mission officer’s day-to-day work focuses on the supervision of the unit executive directors and their respective program areas at the Synod’s International Center. With this in mind, I sought a candidate with strong leadership skills, a substantial background in business and significant analytical and problem-solving skills. Pastor Robson possesses all of these qualities.”

Among his duties as the Synod’s chief mission officer (in Synod Bylaw 3.4.3 — 3.4.3.8), Robson will:

• serve as the LCMS president’s liaison to Synod commissions and corporate entities.
• work closely with the Synod’s chief financial officer and chief administrative officer in carrying out the programmatic, administrative and financial functions of the national Synod.
• supervise the work of the Office of International Mission, the Office of National Mission, national LCMS fundraising efforts and Synod communications, including the official periodicals.
• provide leadership, coordination and oversight for pre-seminary, seminary and post-seminary education, and advocacy for pastoral education and health in the Synod.

Since earning a Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS), Fort Wayne, Ind., in 2001, Robson also has served at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Elgin, Minn. — first in a deferred vicarage (2000-01) and then as pastor (2001-04); as vacancy pastor of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hay Creek (Red Wing), Minn. (2004); and vacancy and sole pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Long Prairie, Minn. (2005-06).

From 1989 to 1997, he held a number of management, specialist and consulting positions with Air Products and Chemicals Inc., of Allentown, Pa. And from 1982 to 1988, he held several research and development posts with Union Carbide Corporation of Chicago.

Robson is an alumnus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, earning an MBA in Finance and Marketing in 1988. He also earned both a BS degree in Chemistry and a BSE in Chemical Engineering in 1982 from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

He is a 2009 alumnus of the DOXOLOGY pastoral continuing-education program. He has completed course work and is currently researching his final dissertation project for the Doctor of Ministry degree from CTS.

Robson and his wife, Peg, have one son — Karl, 24.

Posted March 12, 2015

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