ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 3, 2005

Lutheran Men In Mission Approves Its Three-Year Plan
05-138-FI

     NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (ELCA) -- About 125 men came here
July 21-22 from across the United States and Caribbean for the
Seventh Triennial Assembly of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM), the
men's ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA).  Delegates approved a three-year plan that will culminate
in the organization's financial independence and a close
relationship with the church.
     "We have been receiving some assistance financially from the
ELCA through the Division for Congregational Ministries.  That
has been in the form of about $19,000 per year program grant
money and some salary support for our director and secretary,"
said Heber Rast, Cameron, S.C., LMM president.
     "Beginning next year we will not receive the program
support.  The following year we will not receive support for the
secretary's salary.  The third year we will not receive any
support.  We will be financially independent.  We'll pay our own
way and hopefully be able to one day give back to the church
financially," Rast said.
     LMM delegates passed several resolutions at the assembly.
One asked that the "LMM board pursue an independent corporate
structure that provides for optimal ministry to men in the
congregations and communities that surround them."  Other
resolutions accepted a "Building for the Future" challenge and
supported the three-year plan.
     Building for the Future is a program to raise $500,000 in
cash and $500,000 in deferred gifts, such as bequests, for the
LMM Endowment.  Douglas and Ann Larson, Menomonie, Wis., made a
challenge grant to give LMM another $500,000 to meet that goal.
     Doug Haugen, LMM director, Chicago, told the assembly that
the organization would be able to operate without financial
assistance from the ELCA, if the endowment had $1.8 million.  LMM
does not spend the money in its endowment fund, but uses the
interest it earns to support LMM ministries.  The fund currently
has about $500,000.
     LMM's three-year plan builds on the organization's vision
statement -- "That every man grow in his relationship with Jesus
Christ through an effective men's ministry in every congregation"
-- and mission statement -- "We will build men's faith,
relationships and ministry through the resources we publish, the
events we produce and ongoing leadership development."
     The plan continues the organization's emphases on the
distribution of Bibles, young men's ministry and inspirational
events.
     Haugen reported to the assembly that LMM placed 6,000 copies
of "The Master Builders Bible for Men," featuring a Men's
Ministry Leaders Supplement, into the hands of six men in each of
about 1,000 ELCA congregations to help them start or revitalize
men's ministries.  He said a goal of the three-year plan is to
use the Bibles to help 1,000 congregations start men's ministries
each year.
     The Rev. Roland D. Martinson, Carrie Olson Baalson Professor
of Children Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn., gave the assembly the results of a Young Men's
Spirituality Project that he conducted with the Rev. David W.
Anderson, an ELCA pastor and director for home and congregation
renewal, The Youth and Family Institute, Bloomington, Minn., and
the Rev. Paul G. Hill, director, Center for Youth Ministries,
Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.  Luther and
Wartburg are two of the ELCA's eight seminaries.
     The purpose of the spirituality project was to learn more
about what churches can do to engage young men between the ages
of 18 and 34.  As part of the project, 88 young men participated
in extensive interviews across the United States.  Sixteen of
those interviewed were invited to organize the LMM Young Men's
Ministry Council.
     Instead of creating another program for congregations to
implement, Martinson said young men are interested in developing
personal relationships, especially with older men who can act as
mentors.  He summarized the approach as "go, listen, walk with" -
- go to the young men, listen to what they have to say and
repeat.  Young men are looking for genuine conversations about
Christian faith and life experiences, he said.
     Martinson said the research will produce a book, "Coming of
Age: Exploring the Identity and Spirituality of Younger Men,"
that will be available through Augsburg Fortress, the publishing
ministry of the ELCA, Minneapolis, in 2006.
     "Run the Race: Keep the Faith" was the theme of the assembly
and a three-day gathering that followed.  The LMM Young Men's
Ministry Council was instrumental in organizing activities that
demonstrated faith in action, such as a "blitz build" of a
Habitat for Humanity house and four sheds.
     After the assembly, members of the council met with the Rev.
Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA.  They discussed
details of the interviews and what they meant by "genuine
conversations about Christian faith and life experiences."
     Gary Moore, ELCA member and founder of The Financial
Seminary, Sarasota, Fla., told the LMM assembly that the lay
members of a congregation are better suited to talk with the
congregation about stewardship than the pastor.  "The pastor is
not director of the choir," he said.  "Don't put the pastor in
charge of stewardship."
     Congregation members who run businesses often
compartmentalize their lives and do not express their faith
through money management, Moore said.  Those who understand
capitalism should teach the congregation stewardship instead of
fund raising, he said.
     R. Murray Patzwald, chair, Lutheran Men's Ministry,
Saskatchewan Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(ELCIC), Regina, brought greetings from the ELCIC National Bishop
Raymond Schultz and the Rev. Paul N. Johnson, assistant to the
national bishop.
     "The ELCIC and the ELCA are working hard to be strong
partners," Johnson wrote in a letter Rast read to the assembly.
"We believe that we have gifts to offer you, and we celebrate
with deep thanksgiving the many gifts that you have shared with
us, not least of which is the developing ministry to, with and by
men who want to be faithful disciples."
     The assembly re-elected Rast as LMM president.  He received
92 of 107 votes cast on the second ballot.  Allen Anderson,
Paynesville, Minn., received 6 votes.  There were 18 names on the
nominating ballot.
     "We're hoping that these next three years we can lay the
groundwork for what we will be in the future," Rast said.  He
said he was excited about serving a second term as LMM president,
"because we are really at a crossroads -- a very important
juncture in the history of our organization."
     Delegates elected Norman Smith, Leawood, Kan., to be LMM
vice president and Charles Kalhorn, North Babylon, N.Y., LMM
secretary.  Judge Daniel Joy, Jamaica, N.Y., was re-elected LMM
treasurer.  Regional caucuses elected or re-elected another nine
members of the LMM board:
+ The Rev. Mark A. Anderson, Waverly, Iowa
+ Gus Brockman, Longmont, Colo.
+ Mark Dahl, Beaverton, Ore.
+ Henry Howe, Corinth, Texas
+ John Hyden, N. Tonawanda, N.Y.
+ Tim Crout, Lexington, S.C.
+ Joel L. Nevin, Sioux Falls, S.D.
+ Mark Spademan, Wooster, Ohio
+ Richard White, South Riding, Va.
     Officers and board members serve a three-year term.
     The Eighth Triennial Assembly of LMM will be in August 2008
in Omaha, Neb.
-- -- --
     The home page for Lutheran Men in Mission is at
http://www.ELCA.org/lmm/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news