By Anthony Oliphant
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Atlantic District met for its 62nd regular convention July 10–11 in Albany, N.Y., under the theme “In This Hope We Were Saved,” drawn from Romans 8:24. Delegates elected the Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor (The Bronx, N.Y.) by acclamation to his first full term. He previous served as district president for two years, completing the term of the previous president.
Also elected were:
- Rev. Matthew O. Staneck (Glendale, N.Y.), as first vice-president (non-geographic) to a first term after serving a vacancy in the position the last two years;
- Rev. David G. Wackenhuth (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), re-elected as second vice-president, Eastern Region;
- Rev. Dr. Victor H. Nelson Jr. (Cairo, N.Y.), re-elected as third vice-president, Northern Region; and
- Rev. Edward Alexander Marque (Jackson Heights, N.Y.), elected to a first term as fourth vice-president, Central Region.
Delegates adopted resolutions to:
- Give thanks to God for the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, encouraging congregations, schools and district agencies to share the faith of the creed and to “engage in faithful and appropriate ecumenical dialogue with other communions that confess the Nicene Creed”;
- Give thanks for Lutheran hymnals, recognizing the 500th anniversary of the first Lutheran hymnal and the upcoming 20th anniversary of Lutheran Service Book (LSB), and to encourage and support church musicians and efforts to create an LSB supplement;
- Give thanks to God for ministers of religion—commissioned, asking the Atlantic District Board of Directors to create a salary scale and “commit to a process of dialogue concerning the suffrage” for commissioned ministers; and
- Establish an Atlantic District Commission on Immigration and Immigration Resources upon examination of the 2012 Commission on Theology and Church Relations document Immigrants Among Us.
The Rev. Anthony Oliphant is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Elmhurst, Ill.
Posted Sept. 26, 2025
