Developers interested in Synod Administration Building
From the office of President Mark Schroeder
WELS has been approached by several commercial real estate developers who have expressed interest in purchasing the Synod Administration Building (SAB) on Mayfair Road in Milwaukee, Wis. The entire area has undergone major redevelopment in recent years, and the location is viewed to be very desirable from a commercial standpoint.
A committee has been discussing the various options open to the synod.
The committee is already aware that major infrastructure repairs are needed in our current building, which is more than forty years old. Just bringing the building into compliance with various codes, replacing original windows, and updating the building's wiring will cost more than $1 million without any structural improvements to the building itself. Good stewardship requires that we ask if putting a large amount of money into this building is the wisest possible use of those dollars.
In view of the estimated cost of the repairs, and with developers expressing an interest in our building now, looking at other options seems to be the obvious thing to do. We are asking the question, "Does it make sense to invest more than a million dollars in an aging building? Or do we now have the opportunity to sell our current building and receive enough to build or buy in a different location?"
The committee has taken the position that any project should be "revenue neutral." In other words, the cost of relocation would need to be covered by funds received from the sale of the current building and other facility funds already on hand. We believe that relocation should happen only if we do not use mission offerings to do it. We do not intend to recommend using mission dollars for a relocation, even if the project is important.
The committee has already explored several options for the potential relocation. Some have already been rejected as unworkable. Others are still in the exploration stage. We will share any concrete developments or decisions as they happen.
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary holds its annual Mission and Ministry seminar
Last week, I had the privilege of preaching for the opening worship service at the seminary's Mission and Ministry seminar. The theme of this year's seminar was simply, "Go!" It's just one word that seems very simple at first. But that one word has profound meaning for Christ's people today—just as it did for the first disciples gathered around Jesus for the last time before his ascension. The meaning is profound, because in that one word, Jesus gives purpose, direction, and mission to us as individual Christians, as congregations, and as a synod.
Seeing the young men at our seminary was another reminder of the grace of God. Those young men represent the next generation of full-time ambassadors and heralds of the gospel. In a time when so many church bodies have difficulty finding workers and filling pulpits, we can be thankful that the Lord continues to provide his church with willing workers—well trained, dedicated, and eager to begin their service in his church.
Please share this newsletter
I'm very thankful for the work being done by Communications Director Joel Hochmuth and his staff to produce this electronic newsletter. Thanks go to many of you who have sent comments to them about their work. We would like as many people as possible to receive this important communication. Please help us in this by forwarding a copy to people you know and encourage them to subscribe (http://together.wels.net/subscribe). Pastors, please include a note in your bulletin or an announcement after worship to let people know that this is available. And thank you to the many congregations that are distributing printed copies of "Together" in your church bulletins. The more people know about their synod, the more connected they will be with our shared mission.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder
Top Stories
Compiled by WELS Communication Services
WELS Foundation receives gift
A WELS family that wishes to remain anonymous has made a donation of non-voting, private stock to the WELS Foundation—a separate incorporated entity that manages funds for donors who wish to support some portion of the work of synod, its congregations, or affiliates listed in the WELS Yearbook.
The gift is expected to generate an income of $700,000 in 2008. That income will primarily benefit the congregations and affiliates of the synod. Additionally, $100,000 of the income will go toward the support of WELS' operating budget.
WELS President Mark Schroeder is expressing thanks for the gift. "This is truly a remarkable blessing from God," he says. "We're thankful to him, and we're grateful for the generosity and faith of this family. God continues to bless our synodwide ministry in ways that we could not have imagined."
Filed Under: gift, WELS Foundation
New Parish Assistance consultant called
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The Board for Parish Services has called Rev. Donald Sutton, who currently serves at St. Paul in New Ulm, Minn., to fill one of two vacant Parish Assistance (PA) consultant positions. Parish Assistance is a synod-supported service that helps congregations wishing to strengthen and give direction to the work of the Lord in their midst.
This is the tenth call for this particular position—funded equally by Parish Services budget dollars and fees paid by congregations that use Parish Assistance services. It’s been vacant since August 2006.
Currently, there are two other full-time PA consultants—a fourth position has been vacant and unfunded since July 2004. Parish Assistance is currently working with about 70 different congregations—others are being told they have to wait at least until the call is filled.
Filed Under: Parish Assistance, Parish Services
Suit against Lutheran high school dismissed
A Superior Court judge in Riverside County, Calif., has thrown out a lawsuit brought against California Lutheran High School (CLHS), Wildomar, Calif., that alleged the school discriminated against two female students by expelling them for their homosexual relationship.
Judge Gloria Trask ruled last month that there was no legal basis for the claim that CLHS—operated by an association of WELS congregations in California—falls under the state's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in business settings.
Through its attorney, John McKay, CLHS argued the school is a private religious institution and can remove students for behavior that contradicts Christian values. "You can't infringe upon the basic rights of a religious group and their right of association by forcing them to accept people who don't believe in their values," McKay told the Riverside Press Enterprise. "How could the school teach that homosexuality is a sin, and at the same time allow these two girls to be students there?"
The two girls were 11th-graders in September 2005. They were questioned by then-principal Rev. Gregory Bork after other students reported the girls had told them they were in a lesbian relationship—something they publicized on their own Web page. The girls then admitted the nature of their relationship to him. Rev. Bork says the school was forced to expel them after he lovingly worked with the families and the girls refused to repent and end their relationship.
The ruling ends, for now, more than two years of legal proceedings; the plaintiffs are expected to appeal. Still, Mr. Steven Rosenbaum, the current principal, is expressing thanks for the ruling. "It's always humbling to step back and watch the Lord's hand at work in his time," he says. "He works everything out for the good of his people."
Filed Under: California, lawsuit, legal
More volunteers needed in New Orleans
More volunteers are needed to help complete the last phase of a rebuilding project in New Orleans organized by a partnership of WELS agencies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Mr. Mark Vance, disaster relief project coordinator for WELS Committee on Relief reports volunteers with finishing skills such as cabinetry, carpentry, and flooring are needed in April to help complete renovation of about 10 homes. All but one are within a five-mile radius of Crown of Life, the WELS congregation in New Orleans. Some of the homes belong to members of the congregation, others belong to prospects.
The two-year rebuilding project is set to end at the end of April. When it is complete, about 71 homes will have been gutted and about 22 renovated in the partnership between Committee on Relief, which has funded the effort, and Faith in Action and Builders for Christ volunteers—both part of the parasynodical group WELS Kingdom Workers.
Currently, about 30 WELS volunteers are working on-site, 19 from one congregation alone—Christ in Pewaukee, Wis. Vance, who has been involved with the project since it began, says he's confident the needed volunteers will come forward. "It's just continually amazing that the Lord continues to provide exactly what we've needed," he says. "It's a project that just goes on by the will of God."
For more information or to learn how to support the effort financially, go to www.welsrelief.net.
Filed Under: Committee on Relief, COR, New Orleans
WLS immersion trip prepares students for ministry
Ten students from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS), Mequon, Wis., returned from Torreón, Mexico, on Jan. 18 after spending two weeks in the Spanish Immersion Cultural Experience—a program designed to better equip future pastors to minister to growing Spanish-speaking populations both at home and abroad.
The highlight of the trip was the 7th annual Mequon-Mexico workshop—a two-day conference attended by the seminary students, WELS missionaries, and pastors and seminary students of WELS' sister synod, the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mexico.
"The workshop is an opportunity for fellowship between the Mexican church and WELS, and provides some interaction between the two groups," says Rev. John Schuetze, WLS professor and coordinator of the trip. "It also strengthens our students and their ability to understand Spanish and the culture of Mexico."
"We got to work with the pastors and seminary students on real issues," says Ryan Cortright, second-year student at WLS. "Just by being there, we were learning ourselves and they were helping us. It's really a great thing that both seminaries can have that compañerismo, that fellowship every year." Paul Fritz, also a second-year student, says he enjoyed the cultural experience. "You're able to see that these students are the same as you are, and you see they have the same enthusiasm about the Word of God that you have."
As part of the program, seminary students studied the Spanish language intensively, visited cultural sites, and stayed with host families. "We want to strengthen our students and give them an opportunity to grow in their understanding of the culture and the language," says Schuetze. "Even if these students never serve overseas, odds are they'll be serving some people from Mexico in one way or another in their ministry."
Spotlight on Streams: WELS Connection online
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Did you miss last month’s edition of WELS Connection? Now you can watch online through WELS Internet media network, Streams. Videos are posted the month after they air. In January’s edition, learn about WELS’ ministerial education system through the journey of Nathan Scharf, a recent seminary graduate: streams.wels.net/video/jan08
Filed Under: Streams, WELS Connection
