The Florida-Georgia District has for more than 75 years been known for its focus on the mission of God. This is beautifully summarized in our Bylaws: Since God’s mission and ministry occur through local congregations, and it is our desire that every congregation be a church in mission; and every man and woman a missionary, all working together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, be empowered by His Gospel, to share His Love. Therefore, the Vision of the Florida-Georgia District is: Every member ... Equipped, Empowered, Engaged ... Connecting People to Jesus! Our district board of directors went through a two-year process of prayer, study, discussion, and visioning for its work ahead. Although we live in a day where the Church is faced with many challenges, the district believes that this is a time for us to remain steadfast and bold in our witness that many more might come to saving faith. The result was a renewed vision and strategy built around four critical ministry targets: • Cultivate the Christian Identity of Every Disciple … as those created, loved, redeemed and sent by God;
- Support Church Workers and Leaders in Healthy Ministry Practices;
- Help Congregations Engage Their Communities … moving beyond the church doors and becoming actively involved in their communities; and
- Foster a Sense of Shared District Identity around a Culture of Disciple-Making.
The district is diverse, stretching from the Florida Keys to the mountains of north Georgia. Despite Lutherans being a minority in a sea of denominations and religions, we are joyfully Lutheran, proclaiming the message of God’s grace through Christ by faith alone. We are committed to sharing this one true hope with all. We are committed to standing upon God’s Holy Word and celebrating the gift of the Sacraments. We continue to support campus ministries across our district to reach over 690,000 students spread out in our many universities. These students are not only being fed on Word and Sacrament but equipped and sent as witnesses and leaders for Christ. Financially, our district has remained healthy and debt-free. We are blessed with a wonderful spirit of unity. Pastors joyfully and faithfully gather for winkel conferences, sharing worship, Bible and Confessions study, and brotherly encouragement. Commissioned workers gather locally and at our annual conferences. As those who are God’s redeemed, we are sent to be a blessing. When so many are hurting, struggling, and living outside of God’s grace, it is our calling to “share the hope that is within us” (see 1 Peter 3:15). Therefore, we continue to provide opportunities to equip and empower the people of the district to be the leaders that the Church needs and to see each opportunity as a “divine appointment” for outreach and service to the Lord. Such equipping is accomplished through pastors’ conferences, regional gatherings and workshops, convocations, emergent leader training, treasurer workshops, outreach/evangelism training, the Kairos Network, Missionary Pathway Training, and other resources provided through the district and Synod. Others have been en-couraged and strengthened in their life and ministry through Grace Place Wellness Retreats, DOXOLOGY, Pastoral Leadership Institute, and seminary workshops. We are blessed to support worker wellness through Lutheran Counseling Services, Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support, pastors’ wives’ retreats and breakouts at our conferences, and working with Synod partner ministries. We are working to further develop our worker and family wellness plans. During this triennium, our educator conferences, pastors’ conferences, circuit convocations, and the President’s Equip Conference have all given priority to equipping God’s people for outreach and leadership. Attendance at these events has increased, with more than 800 at our pastor and educator conferences and over 1,000 at the President’s Equip Conference in 2023. We have seen new ministries start, our schools grow, and an openness to helping “Every Congregation Be a Church Planting Congregation—Start Something New” that will be a bridge to reach new people and connect them to Jesus. Youth ministry and children’s ministry in many of our congregations have reflected much of the change across Synod. However, we remain blessed with great directors of Christian education, deaconesses, and other youth and children’s ministry leaders who are working to reach out into their communities. Even with the challenges, we continue to offer excellent district youth gatherings for middle and high school students with more than 500 in attendance, along with annual servant events. Our 59 early learning centers and schools are growing. This growth is a result of the excellence in our programs, parental choice, and a growing population. We have seen two new schools open and others are under consideration. Yet not only do we provide exceptional education, but places where the seeds of faith are planted and nurtured in both students and parents. Over the past three years, we have seen more than 400 baptisms through our school ministries! Our district convention theme in 2025 was Compelled, based upon 2 Cor. 5:14–15: For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (NIV) The population of Florida and Georgia continues to grow rapidly (two percent or more a year), now totaling more than 34 million residents. With that growth comes many opportunities and challenges in reaching the diverse, large-growing ethnic population. This includes few bilingual pastors, but also leaders and congregations that will answer the call to send workers into the harvest. We are indeed blessed to have a number of ethnic ministries including Hispanic, Haitian, Korean, and Ethiopian. But there is more to do as we respond to what is before us and the Synod’s call to increase mission efforts to immigrants and various cultural groups. One response to these opportunities is our Rev7:9 Project involving 22 congregations in reaching diverse ethnic groups. This project is being supported through a partnership with Mission Nation Publishing and a grant from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. In addition, we have given more attention to new ethnic church plants and raising individuals to be trained through our seminaries. During this triennium, we have closed two congregations and planted three new congregations. Today, the Synod and our district are facing an ever-growing and critical need for workers. There are more than 600 congrega-
tions calling for pastors and fewer than 28 percent of our educators across the Synod are roster ed. This reality cries out for our daily prayers. The Lord says, “Pray that the Lord would send out workers into the harvest.” In our district we urge everyone to daily pray at 10:02 (Luke) for workers to be raised up and Christ’s Church to grow. In response to this need and the incredible opportunities before us, in January the district launched Compelled … A Mission Advancement Initiative to perpetually support three critical practices to the life and mission of the Church: (1) Plant new churches, (2) start new outreach ministries outside the doors of our congregations, and (3) raise up new church workers by providing additional financial aid. Raising and endowing $10 million is the goal to provide the resources needed to accomplish these critical objectives now and in the future. We continue to face approximately a 12 percent pastoral vacancy rate. This number is significantly less than it would be, due to the blessing of the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP), Center for Hispanic Studies, and Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology routes through the seminaries. SMP alone accounts for a little over 10 percent of our pastoral coverage. In addition, we are phenomenally blessed by retired pastors and workers who serve vacant congregations and classrooms faithfully. Yet, the availability of such workers is diminishing. We are doing what we can and working with Set Apart to Serve to address the need for existing congregations and church plants going forward. Yet more can be done to address needs as Christ’s Body together. My fervent prayer is that we will continue to be bold in living as Christ’s witnesses, proclaiming, “Christ is risen indeed!” Therefore, may we take to heart these words of the psalmist: Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. (Psalm 105:1–3, NIV)