Lutheran Services in America Is Making Connections

ST. LOUIS (ELCA) -- The Lutheran Services in America (LSA) annual conference here April 4-7 celebrated the alliance's ability to make connections among millions of people, resources, social ministry organizations, congregations and God. The conference served as a transition point for LSA leadership.
LSA's founding president and CEO, Joanne Negstad announced her retirement after five years as head of the organization. The LSA board introduced Jill Schumann, LSA director for member services, as the new president and CEO effective May 1.
Based in St. Paul, Minn., LSA is the largest nonprofit in the United States, spending almost $7 billion per year on its services. It is an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and their nearly 300 social ministry organizations, serving more than 3 million people through a wide array of health and human services.
The conference theme "Joined at the Heart in Ministry: Congregations and Social Ministry Organizations" was stressed in worship, workshops and keynote sessions. More than 435 participants -- Lutheran social ministry directors, managers, staff and board members -- attended the annual meeting.
"There is a deep hunger out there that most of us have dedicated our lives to relieve," said the Rev. Craig J. Lewis, Central Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Minneapolis, in the conference's keynote address. "There are seekers of God in our lobbies and waiting rooms" from all around the world, he said.
"Those in our lobbies may understand us as an extension of the U.S. government," said Lewis. He said he was worried that the "professional faces" of Lutheran social ministries could be misunderstood as being cold. "Let's talk about how we can develop more caring dimensions."
"Do those in our lobbies know how Jesus has made us caring people?" Lewis asked. "Caring means listening ... listening to people in our lobbies ... listening to people in our congregations," he said. "Caring takes more time than curing."
Lewis pointed out that the church trains its missionaries to learn the language and to respect the culture of people they will serve overseas. He suggested Lutherans put as much effort into "learning the lives of those for whom we care" across the United States and Caribbean.
"The people we serve suffer one major problem ... poverty," said Lewis. "When it comes to the economy, there are no sidelines," he said, encouraging the social ministry leaders to "become more entrepreneurial."
Lewis said community services can work with local banks and businesses to create "sustainable community development." He said, "Healthy communities can solve their own problems."
"We need to be creative in the caring business," said Lewis. "Use the entrepreneur in our midst to enhance this ministry of caring."
The conference included a "keynote conversation" in a "talk-show" format, which the Rev. Paul W. Devantier, chief communication officer for Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services, Watertown, Wis., hosted. Panelists were Dr. Jennifer L. Braaten, president, Midland Lutheran College (ELCA), Fremont, Neb.; Elizabeth Ekholm, director for community/church relations, Lyngblomsten, St. Paul, Minn.; the Rev. Keith D. "Tony" Ingle, executive director, Lutheran Social Service of North Dakota, Fargo; and the Rev. Charles S. Mueller, Trinity Lutheran Church (LCMS), Roselle, Ill.
Devantier asked the panelists for the most effective ways to bring congregations and social ministry organizations together for ministry. "We are in the people business ... people joined with people to help people," he said.
"It's about relationships," said Braaten. When Midland needed a campus chapel, the college engaged "the congregation on the corner" for the use of the church. "Be bold in Christ," she said, pick up the phone and talk with people in congregations.
Ekholm said she makes it clear, every opportunity she gets, that Lutheran congregations are the owners of the senior-care programs at Lyngblomsten. She recommended that agency managers go to congregations and thank them personally for their support.
"Congregations are not funding sources but colleagues," said Ingle. The expertise to solve problems is in the congregations, he said. "The job is to break down those barriers that we've set up."
Congregations involved in social action are thriving, said Mueller. "When pastors understand that, their ministries change and their attitudes change toward you," he said. "You are survival for many churches and a bright new future for many."
Deaconess Dorothy Prybylski, director for specialized pastoral care and clinical education (chaplaincy), LCMS Board for Human Care Ministries, St. Louis, brought greetings to the conference on behalf of the Rev. Robert T. Kuhn, who became president of the Missouri Synod on March 23 at the time of then-President A.L. Barry's death.
Prybylski told the conference that two graduates this year from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, have been called to serve both a congregation and a social ministry organization. The Christian leader of the future is called to be vulnerable and to serve humbly, she said.
The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the ELCA's Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod and a member of the LSA board of directors, preached during the opening worship service. He encouraged participants to be satisfied with doing all that's humanly possible.
McCoid retold the biblical story of a woman pouring perfume on Jesus' feet and being scolded for wasting money. Jesus defended her by saying: "She has done a beautiful thing to me. She has done what she can."
"We become anxious when we realize how much more remains to be done," said McCoid. "God respects our limitations, and it's important that we do too," he said. "Did you do what you could?"
Ruth A. Henrichs, president and CEO, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Omaha, and Dr. John P. Schuelke, LSA board secretary, Woodland Park, Colo., provided biblical reflections, "Joined by the Word."
Social ministry organizations don't serve people, said Henrichs, they serve God by working with people. "We must ask those with the problems to help solve the problems," she said.
"So long as there is human need in this world, we do not lack opportunity to serve," said Schuelke. "LSA is a partnership with God, with the social ministry organizations, with the church bodies and with all the communities we serve."

TRANSITION IN LSA LEADERSHIP
A brief business session provided a formal time for LSA members to bid farewell to Negstad and to welcome Schumann as LSA president. The Rev. Nelson C. Meyer, LSA board chair and president of Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, introduced both women.
"In our LSA life, I believe God has led us with Joanne Negstad," said Meyer. "God's blessings do not come once and for all," he said, referring to Schumann.
Negstad was president of the Association of Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations, which became LSA in 1997. She noted that nurturing LSA has meant making connections.
"We are connecting to what it means to be Lutheran, we are connecting with each other, we are connecting to resources, we are connecting our voices in the public policy arena, we are connecting social ministry organizations and church bodies," said Negstad.
Schumann said social ministry organizations are "not just faith- based organizations but faith-full organizations ... full to overflowing." Connecting means "to fill each other up when we are not full to overflowing but when we are in despair and discouraged," she said.
"We learn what it means to be 'Lutherans in service' from Scripture and from each other," said Schumann. "We learn from stories told at the annual conference."

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