Pacific Southwest re-elects Gibson, looks to convention

Gibson

By Anthony Oliphant

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Pacific Southwest District (PSD) met for its 47th regular convention June 25–27 in La Quinta, Calif. Delegates re-elected the Rev. Dr. Mike Gibson, Huntington Beach, Calif., on the first ballot to a third term as district president.

Also elected were:

Rev. Vince Harman, Yuma, Ariz., Region 4, re-elected as first vice-president;

Rev. Dr. Mark Manning, Fullerton, Calif., Region 3, elected to a first term as second vice-president;

Rev. Dr. Dustin Parker, Cerritos, Calif., Region 2, re-elected as third vice-president; and

Rev. Dr. John Palka, Venice, Calif., Region 1, elected to a first term as fourth vice-president.

All elected officers were installed during the convention.

Under the convention theme, “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Tell Their Story,” inspired by Psalm 107:2, delegates also adopted resolutions:

To welcome and serve the delegates and participants of the 2026 LCMS convention in Phoenix;

To engage the world at the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles;

To encourage congregations to set aside funding to support church workers to take sabbaticals to promote healthier church workers and ministries, and to instruct the PSD to provide ministry sabbatical policy guidelines as a template;

To memorialize the LCMS to develop a process through which a Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP), after demonstrating years of ministerial competence, spiritual fitness and being grounded in the daily work of pastoral ministry, may apply for general ordination status on the roster without having to complete the SMP to General Certification course of study; and to create pathways for non-residential seminary students to be granted a Master of Divinity degree; and

To support and clarify the prior approval process by memorializing the LCMS in convention to create clear and transparent criteria for prior approval for each position requiring such approval, and to share the rationale for decisions regarding prior approval be shared with the calling entity, the district president, and the individual.

The Rev. Anthony Oliphant is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Elmhurst, Ill.

Posted Aug. 6, 2025