The Concordia Story: A Fifty-Year History of Concordia Lutheran Church 1951-2001

✦
Above: Pastors from around the U.S.
share a meal at Concordia during the
Pastoral Leadership Institute, 1999.
Front left is Dr. Jerry Kieschnick,
president of the Lutheran Church
Missouri Synod. At the time of this
photo, Dr. Kieschnick was serving as
president of the Texas District.
Right: Dr. A.L. Barry, president of the
Missouri Synod from 1992 to 2001,
speaks at the MegaChurch Conference
hosted by Concordia in 2000.
at Concordia is part of his internship while
working toward a doctorate degree in counseling
at St. Mary’s University.
Concordia’s modern campus has become a
natural home for church growth and ministry
development organizations to hold conferences.
For example, the Pastoral Leadership Instititute,
an organization of outreach-minded Missouri
Synod clergymen held its week-long conference
at Concordia during 1999, 2000, and 2001.
Concordia hosted the MegaChurch Conference
for the Synod in 2000. And the Brazil Summit,
comprised of U.S. organizations which support
Lutheran missions in Brazil, took place at
Concordia in 1999.
Thompson’s involvement in supporting
Lutheran causes in Brazil has had far-reaching
effects on the congregation. Thompson was one of
the founders of the Brazil Mission Society and has
had close ties with church agencies in Brazil,
including the 66,000-student Lutheran University
of Brazil (ULBRA). He has traveled to Brazil annually,
sponsored by ULBRA.
Brazilian church leaders, choirs, and visitors
found their way to Concordia during the late
1990’s and early 2000’s. But none had more
impact than Rev. Ely Prieto and his family.
Thompson arranged for Prieto, who is a
professor and a pastor, to spend three years
at Concordia studying the congregation’s
ministry, with an eye toward incorporating
the best of Concordia into Lutheran churches
in Brazil.
70 ✦ THE CONCORDIA STORY