The Rev. Dr. Jamison J. Hardy of Finleyville, Pa., was elected to his second term as president of the LCMS English District at the district’s 56th convention, June 19–21 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Hardy was elected on the first ballot.
Also elected were:
- Rev. Jeffrey G. Miskus, pastor of the Church of St. Mark — Lutheran, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, first vice-president, Lake Erie Region;
- Rev. Ben C. Eder, pastor of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Kenmore, N.Y., second vice-president, Eastern Region;
- Rev. Robert A. Rogers, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Villa Park, Ill., third vice-president, Midwestern Region; and
- Rev. Todd W. Arnold, pastor of Risen Savior Lutheran Church, Green Valley, Ariz., fourth vice-president, Western Region.
The officers were installed during the convention’s closing Vespers service.
Among 18 adopted resolutions, delegates voted to:
- urge the LCMS seminaries to include instruction in Hebrew and Greek for “all pathways to the Office of the Holy Ministry,” and to develop continuing-education opportunities for all pastors.
- memorialize the Synod to adopt four suggested improvements to the Specific Ministry Pastor program. The suggestions relate to ordination, continuing education and placements.
- memorialize the Synod to adopt the conclusions of the Lutheran Church—Canada document, “Cremation and the Christian.”
- support international missionaries who are members of the district. The resolution calls on the district to include missionary funding in its budget, and memorializes the LCMS to make funding for international missionaries a “key priority.”
- encourage all district congregations to take part in a new funding initiative to support directly new mission starts and “to model this for all Synod congregations.”
- ask the LCMS to either begin a fundraising campaign to help its higher-education institutions become financially independent of government funding or to restructure the Concordia University System to have fewer — but financially independent — schools.
- support the holistic well-being of district church workers and their families.
- encourage the district to research what it can do to help pastors transition from full-time ministry to retirement.
The convention theme was “Love your neighbor as yourself,” from Matt. 22:39.
Posted June 27, 2018
