Due to COVID-19, the North Dakota District’s January 2020 convention was postponed until January 2021. The theme of the convention was “Rejoice in the Lord Always! Rejoice!” from . When I hear the words of , I think of “rejoicing in music!” This love of music and hymns in church has caused me to do a study on songs versus hymns in the LCMS churches of North Dakota. The study was done on 414 songs used in the North Dakota District churches in comparison to 414 hymns from Lutheran Service Book. To do this, I asked pastors for the lyrics of the songs they were using from other sources than the hymnal, and the hymns were chosen randomly. I would take two and skip one throughout the whole hymnal so that I would not be picking only the hymns I wanted or liked. When I had these 414 songs and 414 hymns, I would read the text of the song or hymn and ask of each one 48 questions and score or grade them. Now, I can’t sing or read a hymn or song without running 48 questions through my mind. One of the questions was, Does the song or hymn text mention heaven? One of the tendencies of Lutheran hymnody is that we contemplate our death and give thanks for the victory over sin, death, and the grave through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself teaches us that we are to be ready for the end of life, for we do not know the day or hour (). We long for our real home, heaven, which was given to us when our names were written in the Book of Life through the waters of Holy Baptism connecting us to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Heaven was revealed 74 times in the texts of songs, although 51 of those times there was only a desire, never assurance, and without using the word! That leaves 23 times the word heaven was actually used. With the hymns, the word heaven or assurance of heaven was given 332 times in the 414 hymns scored. That is 80 percent. Of the 332 times heaven was mentioned, 272 times it was in the last or second-to-last verse of the hymn. When it was in the second-to-last verse, it was there because the last verse ended with the triune God Doxology. Therefore, we rejoice in our rich hymns reminding us of the joy of heaven that has been won for us by Christ crucified. The North Dakota District adopted a new model for funding the missions of the district. This model was first implemented in the English District in June 2018 and commended to all districts by the Synod in convention of July 2019 (Res. 8-02). It is called 1.1.1. Every baptized member of the Body of Christ in the congregation (from the newest baby baptized to the oldest member) is involved by giving one dollar every week. It demonstrates the power of the Body of Christ working together, prompted by faith, with many giving a little regularly. COVID-19 came along and slowed this model, so an effort is underway now to reinvigorate this 1.1.1 mission model. The district missions are annual support of $10,000 for “Christ Care for Children-Kenya”; $20,000 a year in mission support of the Maule Region of the Iglesia Luterana Confessional de Chile; support of a full-time campus pastor at the Wittenberg Chapel located at the University of North Dakota campus in Grand Forks; and $5,000 a year for Shepherd’s Hill at the Crossroads Camp, which is a Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS found in the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. A few of the Synod resolutions the ND District has worked on are 2019 Res. 3-04A, 4-11A, and 5-09A. Res. 3-04A: To Encourage Training of Our Pastors, Church Workers, and Congregations to Recognize and Provide Pastoral Care for Those Suffering from Clinical Depression, Mental Illness, and Other Mental Disorders. The district is in a process of pursuing working with the Recognized Service Organization of Lutheran Family Service of Iowa to assist our pastors and the members of the churches that they serve to recognize and assist those with these sin-fallen-world sufferings. Res. 4-11A: To Encourage the Study of the Doctrine of Close(d) Communion and Faithful Practice in All Congregations has been attempted with a North Dakota District guidebook on the practices of the district in different areas including close/ closed Communion with a Communion statement that could and is encouraged to be used by all for a common practice.
Resolution 5-09A: To Confess the Biblical Six-Day Creation, to Encourage Pastoral Conferences to Study Our Synod’s Statements on Creation, and to Help Congregations Concerted ly Address Issues Related to the Intersections of Faith and Science is being accomplished through continued pastors conferences with presenters presenting on good theological topics. The pastors of the North Dakota District are faithful in Preaching Christ Crucified in their service to God’s people in all settings. When I say all settings, I am speaking of single, double, and triple parishes, and even one quad parish. This is ministry in North Dakota.