Official Word from WELS on Changes: Kelm/Stroh No Longer Helping Congregations Perish

 

Where have you gone, Babtist Ed Stetzer,
Wisconsin turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Paul Calvin Kelm has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey). 

---

A WELS layman wrote: "Chicaneries: Don't think you're going unnoticed by those of us who  pay our churches' bills."

 

From the office of President Mark Schroeder

In its meeting last week, the Conference of Presidents (COP) took action to reconfigure the former Parish Services units into a new Congregation and Ministry Support Group (CMSG). The move comes after representatives of the various units of Parish Services and the COP developed a proposal that was in keeping with the intent of a 2009 synod convention resolution.

The convention spent considerable time discussing the role of the synod in helping to strengthen congregations and their members as they carry out their ministries. The convention recognized that the units of Parish Services provide valuable help to congregations, and it wanted to ensure that those resources are more widely accessible and utilized. Since the district presidents are called to supervise doctrine and practice in congregations, the convention eliminated the Board for Parish Services and the position of BPS administrator and placed the units of Parish Services under the responsibility of the Conference of Presidents (COP). The intent of this decision was to create a closer and more direct cooperative relationship between the district presidents and the resources available to them and the congregations in their districts.

The new CMSG offers some new and more targeted approaches to helping congregations. It will operate as an arm of the district presidents primarily to provide resources and training to called workers and congregational leaders. Familiar programs of direct ministry to laypeople such as youth rallies and various retreats, publications, and Web sites will continue to be offered and coordinated as possible. The CMSG will be responsible to the COP through the synod president. It will work closely with Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and Martin Luther College to deliver continuing education to called workers. It will develop networks of district pastors and teachers who will work with the CMSG to deliver assistance to congregations. With its various areas of expertise, it will provide a unified team approach to identifying the needs of congregations and their leaders.

CMSG composition
The units of the former Parish Services, along with their grassroots commissions, remain in place, with the following changes:

• The administrators for all of the entities are now called "directors."
• Adult and Youth Discipleship retain separate commissions but are served, at least temporarily, by a single director.
• The Commission for Parish Schools will now be called the "Commission for Lutheran Schools" to reflect its broader work of serving Lutheran high schools and early childhood education programs. The unit will be headed by a director and an associate director, with the possibility of adding a second associate director in the future to provide assistance to struggling schools and to congregations seeking to begin or improve early childhood programs.
• Since the COP has replaced the Board for Parish Services as the calling body and because of some changed responsibilities, the COP issued the following calls: Rev. Mike Hintz (Evangelism), Rev. Bryan Gerlach (Worship), Rev. Carl Ziemer (Special Ministries), Rev. Dave Kehl (Adult and Youth Discipleship), Greg Schmill (interim director of Lutheran Schools), and Jeff Inniger (associate director of Lutheran Schools).
• Each unit will be responsible for its own program and budgeting, but all units will also work in close cooperation with each other in areas where cooperation is beneficial.
• A new "Congregation and Ministry Support Council," comprised of CMSG directors, COP members, and representatives from WLS and MLC, will coordinate the work within the CMSG and the work of the CMSG with the COP and the synodical schools.
• One of the directors of the CMSG will serve as a coordinator of the CMSG units. This position will be filled by COP appointment on an annually rotating basis. Rev. Bryan Gerlach has been asked to serve in this capacity.
• In the interest of gaining better and more consistent distribution of CMSG resources, the COP will consider in the coming months whether the commissions should be comprised of the district coordinators of each unit.

Parish Assistance program discontinued
The Parish Assistance program will no longer exist in its current form. The COP eliminated the positions of Rev. Paul Kelm (effective Dec. 31, 2009) and Rev. Elton Stroh (effective June 30, 2010). The Forward with Lutheran Schools program (which had been a part of Parish Assistance) was placed under the responsibility of the Commission for Lutheran Schools. Should Greg Schmill accept the call as the interim director of Lutheran Schools, he will oversee a continuation of the Forward with Lutheran Schools program as time allows.

Parish Assistance is currently working with a number of congregations. In order to avoid a sudden discontinuation of services, congregations may choose to engage directly Kelm or the part-time consultants now serving them. These direct arrangements would be made between congregations and consultants and would not be a part of a synodical program. Stroh will work with other congregations now being served by Parish Assistance to determine how they will best be served.
The COP recognized that some form of consultative services to support congregations and their ministries should continue. It envisioned an entity with its own commission and director (as a part of the CMSG) that would provide short-term assessment of congregational needs and advice as to how those needs could best be met. The COP directed the synod president to appoint a committee to outline the scope and function of this new entity and to bring recommendations to the COP by its April 2010 meeting.

The importance of congregational health
These efforts to reconfigure the ministries of Parish Services underline the importance of congregational health. We have also recognized the valuable role that the ministries of the new Congregation and Ministry Support Group can play in helping congregations and called workers to address the challenges facing them. Please join us in the prayer that God will bless this new entity and that it will receive the full support and encouragement of our entire synod.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Official Word from WELS on Changes: Kelm/Stroh No ...":

The point about C&C and Lutheran Schools seems valid. Notice that in the 80's up to now when our schools under Perish Services & Perish Schools started focusing on licensing, accreditation, competing, marketing, charging more tuition, leadership, etc., and Perish Assistance pushed many "ministries"and other programs in the church (outreach,small groups, etc.) and less emphasis on our Lutheran schools - our churches along with our schools began to shrink.