Our Saviours Lutheran, Spearfish. Pre-Appeal Readiness And Feasibility Study

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1 Our Saviours Lutheran, Spearfish Pre-Appeal Readiness And Feasibility Study SPRING, 2014

2 First Lutheran Sioux Falls Augustana Lutheran, Sioux Falls South Dakota Synod Leadership EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Bishop David B. Zellmer, President Sioux Falls Carla Borchardt, Vice President - Sioux Falls Susan Leddy, Secretary - Milbank Erik Gilbertson, Treasurer - Sioux Falls Pastor Tom Opoien, Vice Chair - Custer Alex Jensen - Sioux Falls Michael Miller - Summit Peggy Namanny - Miller Synod Staff Lutheran Church of our Redeemer, Watertown SYNOD COUNCIL MEMBERS Duane Abata - Rapid City Verdelle Anderson - Lake Norden Pastor Siri Beckmen Sorensen - Sioux Falls LuAnn Denke - Rapid City Pastor Janice FitzGibbon - Webster Jesse Fonkert - Sioux Falls Teri Gayer - Waubay Pastor Deb Grismer - Aberdeen Marilyn Green - Sioux Falls Custer Lutheran Fellowship, Custer Matthew Johnson - Sioux Falls Christy Kimball - Vermillion Pastor Randy Koeller - De Smet Steven Koenig - Tyndall Kayla Koterwski - Tea Rose Lauck - Corsica Pastor Lance Lindgren - Mission Hill Lonell Moeller - Brookings Lorne Tilberg Mitchell The Rev. David Zellmer Bishop Susan Marone Associate to the Bishop The Rev. Bill Tesch Associate to the Bishop Suzanne Hansen Youth and Family Director Kathy Larson Companion Synods Coordinator Lois Borchardt Business Manager Kevin Stillson Coordinator of Evangelical Mission and Communications Crystal McCormick Candidacy and Mobility Office Coordinator Jim Schade Director of Lutheran Planned Giving Kurt Osborne Lutheran Planned Giving Rev. Karen Rupp Native American Ministries Director 1

3 Trinity Lutheran, Vermillion The South Dakota Synod Council, Bishop and staff have listened carefully to members of congregations across the Synod through various listening posts, private interviews council meetings, conferences and conversations. The following plan and goals for the plan are developed in response to those various conversations and consultations: Goal I: Providing Leaders For God s Mission The Synod strategic plan identifies leadership as our most important asset to build on for our future. The church of the 21st century will require not only gifted and well trained rostered leaders, but also a growing cadre of lay ministers who are full-time professional church workers, multi-vocational ministers, or committed volunteer staff. The Church will need pastors who can function as missional leaders who lead and equip teams to serve the people of God and to reach out with the Gospel. The Church will also be well-served by lay ministers who are grounded in the scriptures and the Lutheran confessions of faith. They will be equipped with specific training in evangelism, teaching and ministries of care, administration and administration. STRATEGY: To provide for a $3 million endowment dedicated to leadership development in the South Dakota Synod to be applied to the following purposes: Further enhancing our capacity to provide seminary scholarships to promising candidates for ministry. Providing the resources to pay off up to 50% of a rostered leader s seminary debt over a 5-year period when that leader makes a commitment to stay in SD for at least five years. Create a fully endowed permanent position on the synod staff for a person dedicated to recruiting, encouraging and shepherding new candidates for rostered leadership into college and seminary. Create an innovative, state of the art rostered leadership academy to equip leaders for increasing responsibility through the life cycle of their career. Such an academy would provide specialized tracks for career development designed to meet the needs and experience level of each stage of the rostered leaders development and tailored to each leaders unique, God given gifts and passions. Design and build lay leadership academy to provide grounding in scripture and Lutheran confessions along with specific training for evangelism and outreach, Christian education, ministries of care, or administration. Provide resources targeting leadership development with Campus Ministry and Lutherans Outdoors in South Dakota. Goal II: Going Where God Is Leading Us STRATEGY: To provide for $2.5 million endowment dedicated to missional outreach within the territory of the South Dakota Synod to be applied to the following purposes God is calling the Church to reach out to an increasingly more diverse world. This will happen through congregations that are invested in their complex mission field, that know who they are and why God has placed them in that place at that time. Meanwhile, many of the newest congregations in South Dakota are among people who bring wonderful gifts from their different cultures, but who also struggle with poverty and difficult social problems. To address this rapidly changing mission field it is proposed to provide significant resources for these missional enterprises: Ongoing resources to start and sustain new and emerging ethnic specific ministries and ministries with the poor. Ongoing resources to train and equip congregations seeking to renew their ministry and re-invest in their mission field. Capital resources required to renovate the Woyatan Lutheran Church property and to provide for an urban retreat program that can enhance and sustain this ministry with of our states most economically disadvantaged people. Resources for starting new congregations in South Dakota so that we can be ready to go wherever God leads us in the future. Goal III: Supporting God s Work With Our Partners STRATEGY: To Provide for a tithe ($550,000) split two ways: two-thirds to the ELCA s Always Being Made New capital appeal; one-third to support Luther Seminary. Summary of the Proposed Mission and Leadership Appeal Budget Goal I Providing Leaders For God s Mission $3,000,000 Goal II Going Where God Is Leading Us $2,500,000 Goal III Supporting God s Work With Our Partners $ 550,000 Campaign Costs $ 250,000 (Materials, travel, campaign staff, consultant, etc.) Total $6,300,000 2

4 The Proposed Leadership And Mission Appeal The South Dakota Synod has authorized plans to conduct an appeal to fund expanded leadership development initiatives, ministry and outreach with and through the congregations of the South Dakota Synod. The plans include funding six million, three hundred thousand dollars of the goal through direct and irrevocable planned gifts. The campaign will be conducted across the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA. The appeal will seek gifts from individuals, families, foundations and congregations of the Synod. Gifts will be received in the form of cash, assets readily converted to cash and irrevocable planned gifts such as charitable gift annuities, irrevocable trusts and other irrevocable gift instruments. Gifts may be committed over a three- to five- year pledge period and on a schedule chosen by the donor. Projected Appeal Timetable 2014 APRIL - MAY Feasibility Study Completed and Report received by Synod Council JUNE Announcement Kickoff at Synod Assembly JUNE - JULY Appeal Leadership Recruitment AUGUST - DECEMBER Leadership Gifts Begin 2015 JANUARY MAY Congregation Council Visits Conducted Leadership Gifts Efforts continue JULY AUGUST Leadership Gifts completed Congregation Leaders Trained SEPTEMBER DECEMBER Congregation Appeals Conducted 2016 JANUARY JUNE Congregation Appeals Completed Synod Assembly Celebration Congregation Gifts Appeal Each congregation of the South Dakota Synod will be asked to participate in this challenging appeal effort through a careful three-step process: STEP 1 Receive a congregation council visit to learn the specifics of the appeal projects, timetable and activities. STEP 2 Select a member of the congregation to serve as the appeal leader and have that selected leader attend an orientation and training program conducted by the Synod. STEP 3 Set a goal* for the congregation and then conduct a five-week appeal effort that offers every member family of the congregation an opportunity to participate through a contribution. Standard Of Gifts In order to fully subscribe the $6.3 million appeal goal the following gifts, and in the quantities listed, will need to be received. These gifts will be received from individuals, families, foundations and as results of individual congregation appeal efforts. These gifts include irrevocable planned gifts: Number of Gifts Amount Cumulative Total 1 gift $500,000 $500,000 3 gifts $250,000 $1,250,000 3 gifts $150,000 $1,700,000 4 gifts $100,000 $2,100,000 8 gifts $75,000 $2,700, gifts $50,000 $3,450, gifts $25,000 $4,200, gifts $15,000 $4,500, gifts $10,000 $4,900, gifts $5,000 $5,525,000 And many other gifts of other amounts $6,300,000 (Includes gifts from individuals, families, congregations, foundations, businesses) Naming and/or memorial gifting opportunities will be available to individuals and families contributing cash or asset gifts $25,000 or more to the appeal effort. Named and/or memorial funds may also be established for endowments via asset and/or irrevocable planned gifts. Congregation Goals Each congregation will be asked to set a non-binding, three-year goal for their appeal effort. Recommended goal levels are proposed on the basis of the average weekly worship attendance of the congregations since most pastors and lay leaders consider that statistic to reflect the effective size of their congregation. The following are the proposed goal levels for congregations. Basic Goal $100 per worshiper Advance Goal $200 per worshiper Challenge Goal $300 per worshiper For example, a congregation with an average weekly worship attendance of 100 persons could select from among the following three-year goals: Basic Goal $10,000 Advance Goal $20,000 Challenge Goal $30,000 3

5 April 2014 Dear friends and fellow members of the body of Christ in South Dakota, The desire and capacity of people to give to God s mission has never been higher than it is today. ELCA Lutherans in South Dakota want to give to insure that the Gospel is shared with generations to come and with all of our new neighbors from around the world. But the way people are giving is changing. The regular Sunday offering and the tithe is becoming a thing of the past. People want to give in a way that is focused, specific and impactful. The most critical way to positively impact the church of the 21st century is to invest in leadership development and in the growing edges of our church. This campaign proposes doing exactly that. Leadership development: South Dakota has a long history of investing in leaders. We send more people into ministry and fund more seminary scholarships than any other synod. But our work in this area is far from over. This generation of new pastors and rostered leaders is far outpaced by the rate of retirements of preceding generations. The costs of education continue to skyrocket, and the needs of the mission field cry out for ongoing professional education not only for pastors, but for all of God s people. We need to be whispering in more ears, encouraging young people to consider a call to ministry. At the same time we need an excellent program of professional development that will offer growth and encouragement to our rostered leaders through the life cycle of their professional ministry. Investment in Growth Going Where God Is Leading. The world around us is becoming more diverse. This is something God is doing. The needs of the mission field are rapidly changing. God is calling us to provide resources to insure that we continue to share the Gospel in a relevant and powerful way to all the people God has given us to love and serve. Our new and renewing congregations provide the growing edge of our church not only because they are our fastest growing ministries, but also because they provide the laboratory where new ideas and methods of reaching out are explored. Historically, the primary investment in new ministries and leadership development was from the church-wide organization. However as people change their giving patterns and begin to give directly and locally, that source of funding is dwindling. We do not see that trend changing any time soon. Now is the time to ensure that the South Dakota Synod will be able to make a strong investment in the future of the church through its leaders and through diverse and growing congregations. The information proposed in this document presents an appeal plan to fund significant initiatives to address these opportunities for the Church to respond. Your prayerful consideration of this plan and you candid response to it will be invaluable as we move forward. In Christ, Bishop David Zellmer 4

6 The South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) The South Dakota Synod is comprised of 212 congregations in South Dakota. The membership of those congregations includes 108,544 baptized members and 82,528 confirmed members. The South Dakota Synod was formed in 1987 when the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) and American Lutheran Church (ALC) merged to form the ELCA. Prior to 1987, the majority of the congregations of what is now the South Dakota Synod were members of the South Dakota District of the ALC and the balance were member congregations of the Red River Valley Synod of the LCA. Predecessor National Church Bodies The American Lutheran Church was formed in 1960 when the predecessor America Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church merged. They were joined in 1963 by the Lutheran Free Church. The Lutheran Church in America was formed in 1962 when the United Lutheran Church in America, the Augustana Synod, The Suomi Synod and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church merged. The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches was a group of approximately 250 former Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) congregations that left the LCMS and formed the AELC in S Summit Ave / Sioux Falls, SD / Phone: / Fax: /