By God’s grace, the Montana District sought to organize its work together during the 2019–2023 period under the theme from , “The truth came through Jesus Christ.” We focused our thoughts and actions on the power of God’s Word, which is the truth.
A. Presidential Activities
During this quadrennium, the president of the Montana District visited every congregation of the district on a Sunday morning and offered a presentation designed to teach the biblical concept of truth under the theme verse from . He also visited with the elders of each congregation using the same theme to teach how elders can support their pastors. In addition, he met with the pastors of the district individually to review their Pastor’s Information Forms in order to encourage them in their ministries. Finally, he visited the schools of the district making a similar presentation on truth.
B. Goals Being Met The Montana district has made progress regarding resolutions of the 2019 Synod convention.
The congregations have been encouraged to use the evangelism programs the Synod has developed. A few of the congregations sponsored Everyone His Witness, Making Disciples for Life, and Rural Small Town events. The congregations have also exhibited growth in sharing ministry. Some 58 percent of our congregations have fewer than 50 people in church on a weekend. As a result, 72 percent of our congregations are in multi congregation parish relationships. This means they have to learn to care for one another. In addition, we have seen numerous occasions where congregations with budget surpluses have shared them with needy congregations of the district. The Montana District has a rich heritage of supporting life as a gift of God from cradle to grave. Congregational members from across the district attended a conference in Billings on life, and many generously support local Lutherans For Life groups. One of our circuits accessed the Life Grant from the Synod offices by raising $50,000 to support the local crisis pregnancy center. Likewise, there is great support in our district for Lutheran schools. Since most of our congregations are small, we have only six K–8 schools in the district. We have, however, developed a program whereby congregations without schools and their members can support those with schools through a fund offering scholarships to elementary Lutheran school students. The president in his visits strongly encourages the support of Lutheran schools and Lutheran school teachers, as well as strong cate cheti cal instruction especially in the home. The goal is to foster a next generation of Lutherans who know and live the faith. The Montana District is anxiously looking forward to the rollout of the Set Apart to Serve initiative of the Synod. We have one congregation participating in the pilot program. This initiative is highly publicized in our district communications and in the presidential presentation to congregations. The number of full-time church work students hailing from Montana has been markedly reduced during the last five years. One of our goals is to increase that number, not only for ourselves but for the work of the Kingdom. Another goal for the coming triennium is to carefully review our four subsidized congregations. Two of those congregations are on Native American reservations, and two are our newest mission congregations. The district board of directors is dedicated to making sure that offerings from our congregations are put to the best use for the proclamation of the Gospel. This triennium, our district theme is from , “Thy Word.” It dovetails nicely with the Synod’s theme, “We Preach Christ Crucified.” A world that does not believe in truth desperately needs to hear the Word of God proclaiming Christ crucified. The Montana District looks forward to such bold proclamation. Finally, we are looking forward to receiving our newest mission congregation into fellowship as a congregation of the Synod sometime this summer.
C. Strengths
The Montana District is remarkably homogenous in its dedication to the truth of God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions. The ministerium loves and cares for one another. The people of God are generous. Congregational offerings to the district have risen in all but one of the last 16 years. Our schools are growing. District conventions are looked forward to as times to study God’s Word together and celebrate the gift He has given us in one another.
D. Weaknesses Not only are the congregations of the district predominantly small, but they are spread out. The pastors of the Montana District cover a lot of territory. It seems to be increasingly unpopular to pastors to serve in multiple parishes. In addition, 40 percent of active Montana pastors are 63 years old or older. This means that the next three years could see a drastic increase in vacancies that will be hard to fill. The need for more pastors is very real for the Montana District.
E. Truth God’s Word is powerful. The message of Christ crucified is just what the world needs to hear. The congregations of the Montana District are resisting the impulse to circle the wagons and take care of our own. We are dedicated to advancing the Good News of Jesus to the people of our district.