Going to the Carolinas Mission Region Convocation is a lot like going to a family reunion. You get to see and catch up with people that you have not seen for a while. Along those lines, it was Pastor Marty Ramey and Pastor Dawn Rister. Also like a family reunion, the host congregation provides the evening meal on Friday night, this year it was bar-b-que and smoked turkey. However, unlike most family get to gathers, there is some business that must be attended to.
This year there were four items that needed to be voted on:
- Approval of the budget for next year-it was approved as presented by the Treasurer and Finance Team.
- Minor corrections to the CMR Constitution (mostly substituting “CMR” for “Carolinas Mission Region”)-this was also approved.
- Disbursement of unused funds in this year’s budget (estimated to be about twenty thousand dollars). The unused funds will be split among the CMR Ministry Partners.
- For the South Carolina Mission District, we needed to elect a lay person to serve on the Executive Committee. Larry Shull, whose previous term was expiring, was re-elected.
- Lastly, for the South Carolina Mission District, there is a proposal to get together a group to go to Kentucky sometime in the late summer early fall in coordination with NALC Disaster Relief to continue efforts rebuilding after tornados struck late last year.
Bishop Selbo gave the sermon at the opening Worship Service, and set the tone for the need to make Disciples and then go out and make other Disciples. After Worship Service, Rev. Dr. David Wendel introduced some new tools to help congregations to that end. The first is a study guide/book, Life-to-Life Discipleship, that was in the works for a long time. You can get an electronic copy of it off the NALC website. Also, he spoke about a new tool that is available to all congregations that provides a demographic, political, and lifestyle overview of people living within a fifteen minute drive of the congregation. This tool allows for better informed and targeted outreach programs.
The Lutheran Men (Bruce), Lutheran Women, and Youth Director (Melina Corn) all gave reports about their accomplishments over the last year. There was also a question and answer session with Bishop Selbo, Rev. Dr. David Wendel, and the new Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Bill White. Mary Bates with NALC Disaster Relief gave a report about their ongoing mission.
Lutheran Family Services of the Carolinas showed a video about their work with people that have had traumatic brain injuries. Sola Publishing had a large display showing off some of their available books. Lutheran Military Veterans and Family Ministries related their ongoing efforts helping returning veterans and their families through consoling and other charity work. They even brought one of their therapy dogs, “Patrick Dooly”.
NALC partners in Global Missions gave presentations about their ministry and how to get involved. As a quick overview, these included our own Pastor Nuottila representing Congo Mission International, and Pastor Heidi Punt representing SMI Haiti. Awakening Lives to World Missions (ALWM) primarily works in Asia and helps churches in the states begin or revitalize their global mission efforts. India Transformed works to educate the poor and lowest caste in India, while walking a thin line due to government restrictions on evangelization. Lastly, The Spiritual Orphans Network (SON) ministers to those that live in Eastern Europe and are lacking in Christian support due to the legacy of religious purges and militant atheism of the Soviet Union. Currently, they are focused on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. I have included links to the ministry partner websites below if you would like to learn more about them. Also, if you would like to go next year, just let the Council know. Anyone can attend, even though we need only one lay delegate.
Brandon
https://thecongomission.org/
https://www.smihaiti.org/
https://www.alwm.org/
https://www.indiatransformed.org/ FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/people/India-Transformed/100069909499950/
https://sonetwork.org/
https://lscarolinas.net/
https://lmvfm.org/
Facebook for NALC Disaster Response https://www.facebook.com/groups/373520556049693/
