Planned Giving Gift Summary - Lutheran Church-Canada

to the Lord’s Supper” was reviewed. In addition a
paper entitled: “A Pastoral Response to the Challenge
of Closed Communion,” was prepared and presented by
Rev. Dan Abraham. As a number of the Circuit
Counsellors serving in the East District are new to this
position during this triennium, emphasis has been
placed on the duties and functions of this office as well
as the direction being given for the Circuit Counsellors
to be diligent in their role in visiting the congregations
of their circuits.
Department for Outreach Department for
Outreach:
Three Years of Transition
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;”
(Lamentations 3:22)
Many changes marked the triennium 2008 – 2011
within the East District of the Lutheran Church-Canada.
However, throughout the past three years, we again are
witnesses to the steadfast love of God for us in Christ
Jesus. He never changes and his mercies never come to
an end. We are the recipients of His grace and mercy.
Thanks be to God!
The most significant transition within the district was
the retirement of Rev. Al Maleske as District President.
In advance of this change, the Assistant to the District
President, Rev. Mark Hartburg who was the full-time
staff person working with the Department for Outreach
received a call and left the position vacant. We give
thanks to God for the service of these two men and the
work God did through them in our midst. Thankfully,
the Lord continued to provide for His people through
the members of the Department for Outreach of the
East District who took on many of the tasks that were
previously done by the administrative staff of the
district. In addition, Rev. Gilvan de Azevedo, remained
in the position of chairman for the Department for
Outreach, which also continued to give continuity to the
nine members of the department.
Just as changes were affecting the Department for
Outreach, so also changes occurred in various outreach
initiatives and their relationships with such entities as:
POBLO (People of the Book Lutheran Outreach)
ministry; the partnership that was formed with the
English District of the LCMS working in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA) and the Windsor-Essex County
Lutheran Outreach (WECLO) endeavours. If these
changes were insufficient in themselves, the economic
changes of 2008-2009 threw yet another opportunity to
rely on the “steadfast love of the Lord.” God utilized
the changes for our good and enabled us to make
transitions which kept His goals front and centre.
E. 39
1. The Transition of the District President
Three significant actions pertaining to the Department
for Outreach also occurred during the past triennium
with the transition of a newly elected president for the
East District. These actions included.
A. The Last Doctrinal Unity Conference needed to take
place in our District which was significant from
Department’s perspective because it was entitled:
“Pastor and People together… in Mission.” Rev. Dr.
Neitzel, the new LCC Mission Executive was the
presenter at this conference.
B. The past East District President, Rev. Al Maleske,
was available to be called as a Missionary-At-Large
to Kingston. An action that was taken by the East
District Board of Directors.
C. And thirdly, the new District President required
time to evaluate the needs of the District, especially
as it concerned the position of Mission Executive.
2. POBLO Ministry
People of the Book Lutheran Outreach (POBLO) is a
LCMS recognized mission society. This Ministry over
the past triennium has provided many lay ministers who
have a South Asian background and who are now
serving in the East District. However, the official
relationship between POBLO and the East District has
been transformed to the degree, that there are no longer
any ties existing between the East District and POBLO
per se. However, many of those that were identified as
POBLO missionaries in the East District are now
candidates in the Pastors with Alternate Training
(PAT’s) program, now being supervised by LCC
Mission Executive, Rev Dr. Leonardo Neitzel and
under the auspices of the Counsel of Presidents (COP)
of LCC.
3. English District Cooperation
Initially an advisory group was formed between English
District and East District for coordination of the GTA
Missionary and all activities. Due to the financial crisis
in late 2008 and its greater impact on the US, alongside
the changes occurring in our own District, the English
District re-evaluated it ability to participate.
Throughout this time, the English District remained a
valuable partner in the Windsor Essex County Lutheran
Outreach (WECLO) ministry. This has now enabled us
to currently re-establish our relationship with the goal
to re-invigorate the ministry potential in the GTA.
4. Inter-Cultural Ministry
Late in 2008, it became clear that sustaining full-time
ethnic work was not working and needed review. As
such we began to focus not on single culture/language
ministry but rather intercultural work. For example,
Hispanic ministry and Korean ministry were not each
able to support a full-time pastor. It was decided to