The fifth resolved of LCMS 2019 Convention Resolution 1-02 called for “the ONM [Office of National Mission], in partnership with the districts, [to] issue a report telling the stories of new mission plants prior to the 2022 Synod convention.” As part of a larger Church Planting Initiative launched in 2022, the ONM has been conducting research into the history of church planting in the LCMS from the early 1900s until the present. This research has provided a great deal of information on church planting practices and church planting results during the past 100+ years. In addition to researching church planting through data provided by LCMS Rosters and Statistics and the Concordia Historical
Society, the ONM conducted interviews with a number of district presidents, mission executives, and church planters to gather insights into the challenges, successes, and failures of contemporary church planting. A synopsis of the data collected through this research and the findings resulting from the research will be published by the ONM in summer 2023 prior to the Synod convention in the first of a series of monographs on church planting history and practice. One of the planned monographs will pay special attention to church planting activities since 2000. The monographs will also feature the stories of new mission starts presented as case studies. These case studies will serve as examples of best practices in church planting and also provide lessons learned from church plants that were unsuccessful. Mark A. Wood, Managing Director