Proposal from the Bishop

I recieved this email from the Bishop. If you think this is something that Hosanna should support, contact Jeff Hartmann or myself- Pastor Tart

This note is a follow-up from the conversation we had at the Theological Conference earlier this week. For those who were not able to attend, I will begin with a brief explanation and then provide suggestions and directions for responses.

Mission Partner Congregations for Galilean, La Place, LA

Galilean Lutheran, La Place, is in need of about 20 “Mission Partner” congregations for the next three years. This congregation, which is more than 20 years old, has never been able to take the step of refinancing the lease from Mission Investment Fund into a self-sustaining loan. We’ve worked to accomplish that goal for over ten years with intentional plans (usually in a two year cycle), but each time we come to the place where the loan is to be issued, something has interrupted the process. MIF has now determined they can no longer continue holding the lease on the property and will either have to sell the property OR Galilean will have to find a way to take out a loan and begin to service it as owners of the property.

The Post-Katrina reality of La Place is that about 15,000 – 18,000 new residents have arrived in town. The area just west of Kenner and about 50 miles east of Baton Rouge is a place where these dislocated folks have now settled. The vineyard has grown substantially and the harvest is ripe – to use a couple of familiar images. We don’t want to lose this opportunity in terms of our Lutheran presence and witness.

I have identified a pastor who the call committee at Galilean is interviewing. She and I talked today and she is very excited about the possibility of coming to lead this congregation into the future God has planned for it. They have invited her back for an second interview and she will lead worship for them on February 11th. She is a second career pastor (who served 12 years as a legislator in the Wisconsin State Congress) and is mature in many good ways – an excellent match for the context.

I have committed to provide the financial resources for her compensation package for the first year out of funds received for recovery and relief from the hurricanes. However, the congregation needs some assistance, still, in getting the loan in place and serving it so they can gain some momentum and strength to grow and become fully self supporting in the three year window.

The Proposal:

I am asking each of you to discern and invite your congregation to become one of those Mission Partner Congregations. The commitment would involve providing $200 to $500 per month for three years to help them qualify and service the loan. Their debt is still fairly significant (somewhere in the $350,000 – 400,000 range I believe. (This was one of the “Fast Start Congregations” the former LCA developed – which meant land was purchased, a building put up, a pastor called and then the pastor was to grow the congregation. And, “oh by the way, you also have a mortgage of several hundred thousand” – which turned out to be a burden of such immensity that we’ve closed 3 or 4 of those fast starts since I’ve been bishop already. We’d like to keep our presence in La Place if at all possible.)

Will you please ask your congregation to consider becoming one of the mission partner congregations?

The Process

We will ask you, as a congregation, to sign a very simply document making the commitment to be a Mission Partner and indicating the amount you will provide each month for 3 years.

The check each month will be sent directly to Galilean, marked as a Mission Partner gift. The funds will not be restricted, per se, but the intention is that the first funds received will always be applied to the new loan. Any other funds will then be used for compensation for the pastor (and other staff as that grows into place) as well as for programming, etc.

As noted above, I’m going to provide the bulk of the funds for the compensation of the pastor for the first year. When years two and three arrive, they will have to be prepared to step in and provide that on their own – but perhaps, then, with the mission partner support. By year four, it is hoped they will be fully self-supporting in every way.

I am convinced that a three year window is a reasonable time line for this to allow them to become financially capable, solid in ministry, etc. If that does not prove to be the case, then the next bishop and other leaders will have to make a decision about whether to keep this ministry there or not. But, that’s not where we want to head or are heading now.

A Response:

When you have made a determination about being a mission partner in this situation, would you kindly contact me at the synod office? (Even if you choose not to participate, let me know, so I can gage where we are in the process, etc.) For your information, I received a phone call last Sunday night from a friend in Henning, Minnesota. They learned about this situation and at their congregational meeting, our friend made a motion to become a mission partner with La Place and it was adopted with enthusiasm. So, as members of the same synodical body I’m inviting you, now, to take this step forward together.

Thanks, in advance, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Please let me know by April 1st at the latest.

Paul Blom, Bishop