The 60th biennial convention ended Friday with a final encouragement to delegates from WELS President Mark Schroeder. "Our work here at this convention may be done, but it is just beginning. . . . Please go back to the people you know and just give them a little taste of what you've experienced here. Just a little taste of what God has done for us in these days together. Do everything you can to help them focus on the same cross, the same love, and on the same mission that he has given us to do."
About 370 voting delegates spent five days in fellowship, committee work, and formulating and voting on resolutions that will shape ministry for the next biennium. "The delegates seemed to be serious in thinking about the decisions that had to be made . . . and yet there was an overriding sense of joy in the mission that we have together in spite of the challenges," says Schroeder.
Some of the decisions made included
- passing a balanced budget for 2009-11;
- changing the first vice president position to part-time;
- electing Rev. James Huebner as first vice president, Rev. Joel Voss as second vice president, and Rev. Robert Pasbrig as secretary;
- restructuring the Board for Parish Services and placing it under the Conference of Presidents; and
- encouraging continuing education for WELS called workers.
Delegates passed the $30 million budget—a budget cut from $38 million or 20 percent—after more than two hours of debate. The budget approved by the convention differs from two budget options brought to the convention by the Synodical Council (SC). The SC's options—and the convention-approved budget—all reflected $8 million in needed cuts across all areas of ministry. The SC was giving the convention the option of deciding whether $1 million of the cuts should come from missions or ministerial education. In the proposal approved by the convention, that $1 million comes from technology, financial services, communications, Parish Services, mission counselors, and travel.
Schroeder finds blessings even though cuts needed to be made. "We have confidence that God is going to get us through this," he says. "Whatever he has in store he is going to use it to bless his church."
This was Schroeder's first convention as WELS president. "The synod convention doesn't sound very exciting. It sounds just like a lot of reports and votes and motions and paper shuffling, but I would really wish that everyone in the synod could have been a part of this convention," he says. "It refocused our attention on both the reason for our joy and on the mission that we are privileged to carry out."
That joy and mission is reflected in the new synod theme, "Christ's Love, Our Calling," a theme that was introduced at the convention. Schroeder hopes this theme is used widely throughout congregations.
"Everything we do is focused on Christ's love and his cross and then trying to instill a sense of what our calling is—we have this calling to be God's people; we have this calling to be faithful to his Word; we have the calling to share the message," says Schroeder.
