President Harrison Won the Election. Now He Must Work for Unity

Congratulations President Harrison

Congregations Matter extends its congratulations to President Harrison on his victory in last week’s Synod presidential election.  We join the church in praying for God’s richest blessings upon him as he carries out his important responsibilities over the next three years. He must work to collaborate with the WHOLE Synod to provide more transparent, fiscally responsible, and trustworthy leadership.

Disaster recovery from Hurricane Harvey Flooding in Houston, August 2017. Disaster relief funds are staying in St. Louis. They cover cash flow problems at Synod.

Millions of Disaster Relief Dollars Still in St. Louis?

Did you send a check to LCMS Disaster Relief in St. Louis and specify you wanted your dollars to go to Hurricane Harvey victims?  Do you know what happened to your contributions? The Selfless Work By Our Texas District First, some good news. If you instead sent your contribution to the Texas District of the LCMS and specified your dollars were for Harvey victims, every single dollar you sent to our Texas District is going to Harvey relief.  Not a dime will be kept by the district office as it quickly distributes your funds to families with needs.  This is selfless of our Texas District since staff time has been heavily used for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.  And, this has been a labor of love for them. But, what if you sent your Hurricane Harvey donations to LCMS Disaster Relief at Synod headquarters in St. Louis? St. Louis Disaster Relief Keeps A

Broken Egg -- Broken Promises

Seminaries Scramble to Cover Synod’s Broken Promises

In early 2017, our Fort Wayne (CTSFW) and St. Louis (CSL) Seminaries suddenly learned Synod was backing away from $400,000 in budget commitments to help with the two seminaries’ ongoing expenses for Synod’s Global Seminary Initiative (GSI).  With no warning, each seminary has to manage a $200,000 loss of promised financial support from the International Center. Worse Than a Budget Shortfall, It Was a Broken Promise All of us are familiar with budget shortfalls.  They happen.  But here’s the rub.  Both of our seminaries have been participating in Synod’s Global Seminary Initiative knowing that money to assist them with the real costs of these programs is in the LCMS operating budget.  The Global Seminary Initiative Has Been Successful Through the GSI, dozens of foreign students came to Fort Wayne and St. Louis to study.  These students received various amounts of seminary subsidies.  Fort Wayne and St. Louis professors traveled around