Florida-Bahamas Synod, ELCA

Mission & Ministry Response Forms

Summary Report – Bishop Ed Benoway

2007-2008

Following our 2007 Synod Assembly, I invited the people of this synod into a conversation about the mission and ministry of our Florida-Bahamas Synod. The thoughts, hopes and visions shared on the Mission & Ministry Response Forms are a very significant part of this conversation.

In this report, I will share the general themes and some of the implications of this input for our life together as the people of the Florida-Bahamas Synod. A “Detailed Summary Report” is also available at www.FBSynod.com for those who desire a comprehensive summary of information shared on the forms.

Context of our Mission

The challenges of our synod territory are seen as significant opportunities for meaningful mission and ministry! We embrace our tremendous diversity, our geographic differences and distances, and our changing communities as the mission field that God places before us. It is critical that our congregations and pastors be inviting and welcoming to those within their immediate communities.

The Office of the Bishop continues to identify, develop and provide information about appropriate assessment tools to assist congregations in discerning the particular demographics and community needs of the communities in which they serve. A priority of this synod will be to work with the Unit of Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Ministry (EOCM) of the ELCA to establish new congregations and recruit leaders who reflect the ethnic diversity of the territory of our synod.

We will work with our conferences and with individual congregations to identify locations to plant new Lutheran congregations and communities where existing congregations may need to address redevelopment strategies to better use shared resources for mission, rather than maintenance of property and facilities.

Importance of Relationships

My first priority in the area of relationships is to be more visibly present with rostered leaders and congregations. I will continue my commitment on Sundays to preach and preside at the communion table in congregations throughout this synod on a rotating basis that allows for me to be present with the greatest number of congregations for worship. One of my special joys is meeting with rostered leaders and others who schedule personal visits to share their delights and challenges in their ministry and faith journeys.

My availability to rostered leaders and lay congregational leaders at the annual synod assemblies, the Lenten Visitations & Discipleship Days, the Conference on Ministry, retirement seminars, special meetings, and colleague gatherings is affirmed. Additionally, I will work with our communications specialist to produce more DVD and video recordings that may be used at conference gatherings, congregation meetings and other settings for the purpose of bringing more personal messages from me to those present.

Members of congregations express strong desire for greater involvement with members of other congregations in the area, especially other Lutheran churches, for fellowship and for sharing of common missional goals, best practices as well as struggles. My staff and I are working with lay conference chairs and deans to strengthen conference gatherings so that they will be meaningful for all who attend.

Rostered leaders lift up the need for greater collegiality and support from one another. Monthly colleague gatherings are seen as important to provide opportunity to address individual spiritual needs, concerns, and struggles. I have asked that my deployed assistants place high priority to attending scheduled colleague gatherings across the synod. I will personally attempt to be present at least yearly with the rostered leaders of each conference to share time together and to worship together.

Missional Strategies

With the Synod Council and our synod staff, I will provide overall vision and encouragement to conferences, congregations, and lay & rostered leaders to respond to God’s call to be engaged in the mission of God’s Church. We cannot be content with the status quo when the mission field before us is so ripe and in need of harvesting in the name of our Lord Jesus.

A primary focus of my staff and mission director will be assisting conference leaders and teams to develop outreach strategies for the territory of the conferences. Some of these strategies will involve all congregations of

the conference and others will involve clusters of congregations that focus on more specific geographic areas. The Outreach Committee of this synod will work with conference leadership to determine best locations for new starts and to determine viable areas for redevelopment of congregations for more effective ministry and outreach. Missional strategies will address needed social, mercy and justice ministries, as well as support of campus ministry and existing service ministry providers.

Individual congregations are encouraged to work on mission action plans that give direction to their outreach and focus to their endeavors to reach their immediate communities with God’s love and invitations to all to know and worship Christ. Rostered leaders and congregation councils need to hold one another accountable for action plans that shift the focus of ministry to the community and the world.

As the synod’s missional resourcing center, my office will seek and remain alert to the best resources available. Conferences and congregations desire assessment tools that can be tailored to particular situations. We will offer workshops and training events for specific programs deemed most appropriate for this synod such as Natural Church Development, Healthy Congregations, Listening Labs, and Asset Mapping. We will attempt to publicize many other opportunities that might interest various congregations in our synod.

I have appointed a Leadership Steering Committee to work with me in coordinating the many opportunities for continuing education for lay members of congregations and rostered leaders. We are building our efforts around five marks of leadership: Spiritual & theological formation, missional leadership, relational maturity, discipleship and collegiality.

A significant focus within congregations is transforming members into active disciples. As we welcome persons with tremendously diverse backgrounds and possibly no previous church relationship, we need to provide thorough and comprehensive new member orientation. In addition to “Christianity 101,” we need to develop strong “Lutheran 101” courses. Members and leaders of our congregations hunger for knowledge and understanding of matters like faith formation, Bible interpretation, Lutheran teachings, and discipleship. We have initiated the diakonia program and the synod deacon program to assist with lay leadership growth.

Many rostered leaders express that they feel ill-prepared for the ministry demands in today’s world and desire missional training to compliment their biblical and theological foundations. Through the recently approved Stepping Out in Mission Campaign, we are developing a comprehensive plan for providing on-going mission training for rostered leaders as well as lay leaders to strengthen evangelical outreach into our communities. This plan will include distance learning and seminar possibilities using advanced technologies. We will also provide information regarding mentoring possibilities between missional-minded/trained leaders and congregations or rostered leaders seeking to develop these skills.

The Mission and Ministry Responses offer significant support for renewed focus on justice ministries. Faith-based community organizing is being encouraged within our congregations and supported by recent synod assembly action. With my encouragement, a growing number of our congregations are joining forces with other churches in the community to address injustices within the greater community.

The continued importance of mercy and social ministry is affirmed even as this synod attempts to address the root causes of unfair and unjust practices within our society. Again, there is a stated desire for congregations to share their best practices in such ministries and to find opportunities to partner with other congregations and agencies in programs of advocacy and care.

Thank you for participating with me in this important conversation about the mission and ministry of the Florida-Bahamas Synod! I welcome your additional responses and comments as you wish to share them. It is a great joy to serve and work with the people of this synod. May God bless our ministry together and our mission of: Sharing Christ, Making Disciples and Doing Justice in the World!