Mission boards hold last meetings of triennium

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Board for International Mission (BIM) and Board for National Mission (BNM) met in St. Louis April 30–May 1 and May 7–8, respectively.

Both boards will hold their next meeting Sept. 17–18 in St. Louis in conjunction with the installation of the LCMS president, vice-presidents, other officers and board and commission members elected at the 69th Regular Convention of the LCMS.

BIM

During its meeting, the BIM issued missionary calls and solemn appointments for a church planter in the Eurasia region, an academic support specialist in the Africa region, and both a church planter and an ESL teacher/volunteer coordinator in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

The Rev. Dr. Cory Rajek, executive director of the LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM), praised the work of the Rev. Dr. Mark Rabe, director of missionary recruitment, and Rabe’s team, noting that 2025 brought “the largest recruiting class … that we’ve had in eight years.” Fifteen candidates are currently exploring the possibility of missionary service, with nine slated for consideration at the BIM’s next meeting. Three of those nine would serve in the Africa region, which currently has the smallest staff of the four regions.

Rajek reported that the LCMS now has 119 missionaries (335 including family members) serving in 31 countries around the world. Roughly half of them are ordained, and of the ordained, 17 are alliance missionaries, meaning that they are called by LCMS partner churches to serve, with LCMS support, alongside LCMS missionaries. The alliance missionary program was initially borne out of a mutual need: The LCMS needed more missionaries, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB) — with whom the LCMS is in fellowship — had more pastors than congregations.

Although the majority of LCMS alliance missionaries are from Brazil, a handful are from other church partners such the Synod’s partner churches in Venezuela and Nigeria. Calling the program “a testament to the partner relationship that the OIM has with our sister churches,” Rajek also highlighted how the program helps to guide and teach partner church bodies as they grow to develop and engage in international mission. “It’s really been a tremendous blessing from our vantage point, and from theirs as well.”

Rajek updated the board on FOROs — meetings that help to connect congregations and parishioners in the U.S. to their mission partners abroad — noting that 17 countries are currently participating and new locations are in development. FOROs can now be found in every LCMS international region.

Rajek also reported on the work the OIM does in support of theological education, noting the OIM’s partnership with Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF), which translates confessional materials into other languages. Recently, LHF translated the Book of Concord into Mandarin.

The Rev. Dr. David Preus, regional director of Eurasia, joined the meeting via Zoom. Preus affirmed the importance of translation projects and of the partnership with LHF, as the Eurasia region — which stretches from Iceland to Pakistan and the Canary Islands to the far side of Russia — contains 23 unique languages. Translations of the Book of Concord are currently in the works in 21 different languages, and Preus shared that LCMS missionaries are also working to create hymnal resources in Farsi, Italian, Romanian and Hebrew.

The BIM also heard from the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Shaw, assistant to the president and director of LCMS Church Relations, on some of the recent fruits of international theological conversations, including:

The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations’ overture to recognize altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Christian Church of Bolivia and to support and encourage recognition of the same with Lutheran Mission – Australia;

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya’s unanimous decision to withdraw from the Lutheran World Federation;

Upcoming international church relations forums in Europe, Africa and North America; and

Upcoming theological education conferences in Korea and India.

The BIM also heard from LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison about likely convention business that especially pertains to the BIM’s work. (Harrison gave a similar presentation to the BNM).

BNM

During the BNM meeting, the Rev. Daniel Galchutt, then interim LCMS chief mission officer (CMO) and executive director of the LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM), discussed the development and implementation of a constituent relationship management (CRM) tool at the LCMS International Center, which will allow the many branches of the LCMS to work more cohesively to better serve the church. (Galchutt gave the same report to the BIM).

“We are very excited about the opportunity for us to better communicate and work together for the mission of the Synod,” said Galchutt, giving thanks for Katie Fiene, mission program manager of the LCMS, whose work since moving to that position has been largely centered around ensuring that the CRM transition is a smooth one.

The BNM heard an update on the ONM’s work from ONM Managing Directors Rev. Michael Meyer and Deaconess Dr. Tiffany Manor, who highlighted the facilitation of monthly Zoom meetings for district mission executives to share and collaborate. The ONM has also developed an online platform for district mission executives to more easily share and reference resources.

Meyer and Manor shared other updates from the ONM:

The Rev. Dr. Heath Trampe has been speaking widely on evangelism and revitalization on behalf of Discipleship Ministry;

Youth Ministry is adding a second YouthLead training event this year due to high demand;

Disaster Response has received a $1 million implementation grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help build sustainable readiness across the nation;

LCMS Campus Ministry is planning a national conference for college students/young adults in 2027 or early 2028; and,

An initial gift of $500,000 has been given to the National Offering. This triennium, the National Offering theme is “Tell the Next Generation,” supporting the faith formation of young people in the church.

The BNM heard a theological presentation on “Reaching the Culture” from the Rev. Dr. Harold Senkbeil, and Galchutt also presented on the ONM’s fiscal plan for the coming year. The ONM gives away a large portion of its budget in grants every year, and fiscal year 2027 will be no different, with the ONM projecting that 29% of its budget will be dispensed in grants to areas such as church planting, disaster response, all nations ministry, life ministry, worker wellness and more.

The BNM gave thanks for member Carla Claussen, who was attending her final BNM meeting after serving on boards for the Synod since 2004. In parting comments, Claussen asked for the Lord’s continued blessing on the BNM’s work: “I’ve seen many things over these last 22 years, and I look forward to hearing … more positive things in the way that we conduct the business of the church, [which is] the spread of the Gospel and the conversion of hearts to Christ. Thank you, everyone, for your support and encouragement, and I give thanks to God for all of you. God’s blessings in your efforts.”

Posted June 26, 2026