About "Plan B"

Earlier in a comment concerning my review of the Schroeder Presentation --(http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg5jbc26_0dzcsh4) an MLC student asked about "Plan B" here is what President Schroeder had to say:

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The special offering being planned will address the synod’s capital debt of $22.4 million. Currently, we are budgeting nearly $3 million to make payments on that debt. If the debt is retired, we will have $3 available for missions and ministry. If the debt is not retired in full, we will continue to budget whatever is necessary to make payments on it.

There are plans under discussion right now to consolidate and restructure that debt. This step will reduce our payments by about $500,000 per year and will pay the debt off in ten years (this assumes that we receive NOTHING in the special offering.) So that is the first step of “Plan B,” if one is needed. On the spending side, we will be looking at many other possible solutions, including increased efficiencies in the way that we do things, potential staffing reductions where possible. On the income side, we have already seen a number of very positive signs that the support for the synod’s work is increasing dramatically. Early reports of congregational mission offerings are very positive. Gifts from individuals are running well ahead of projections. And gifts for the debt offering are already coming in, even before we have begun organized debt reduction efforts.

In other words, even as we plan for the offering to be successful, alternatives are being considered and plans put into place. Those plans will develop and change as more information comes to us during the next several months.

Rev. Schroeder

President Schroeder visits MLC...POSTED

Synopsis at events at Google Docs

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg5jbc26_0dzcsh4

Prayer Request and Personal Message

Prayers are requested today for the work of the WELS Committee for Interchurch Relations as they meet with the ELS Doctrinal Committee. Much is to be discussed, a few items in particular that a previous post dealt with. Pray that our leaders follow the advice of St. Paul when he writes.

"Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, and being born in human likeness took on the very nature of a servant."

Let God be glorified in all our work.

A Personal request of mine: I got my first comment today! Thank you Rachel, my sister, a member of Crossroads (Lutheran) Christian Church in Chicago, IL. I've been there. As much maligning as it recieves because of its decision to not put Lutheran in its name, I have always been duly impressed as scripture was taught in its truth and purity even though Luther's name was not on the doorpost.

If we could, so I can get a better handle of who's reading the site, please comment on this message with just a "hey Mike" or something of the same. And please in the future leave little comments so I know that I'm not talking to myself over here.

Synod Matters

~It has come to my attention that the WELS Q&A is now defunct in terms of answering questions of a synodical nature. If a person asks a question that has more to do with the WELS than Christianity as a whole, the question is answered personally (and privately) by Pres. Mark Schroeder. From all I have seen and heard from this man, both personally and 2nd hand (I have a lot of LPS alum friends) He has a servant's heart.

~Upcoming later this week (Thursday and Friday) is the meeting of the Committee for Interchurch Relations (CICR) and the ELS Doctrinal Committee. These meetings happen every other year, and usually its not a big deal. This year however there is at least one serious matter to attend to.

A while back, two churches in the WELS were allowing women trained to visit shut ins to give communion to other women. This made just about everyone involved or that knew about it uncomfortable. The WELS put a permanent moratorium on this sort of thing and told all the churches that they shouldn't continue.

The ELS would like something stronger, a doctrinal statement saying why it is wrong. The WELS (and this author agrees) that it would be irresponsible to make a law out of something which is clearly not forbidden in the Bible. And you know what? From the expatriate ELS correspondence I still maintain, there are quite a few in the ELS who hold that position too.

Many prayers are needed as these men sort out these matters. The ELS is the only American church with which we are in fellowship. We are the only two confessional Lutheran churches left (in theory if not always in reality)