The Board for International Mission (BIM) is charged with developing and determining policies in support of mission and ministry in foreign countries for the Office of International Mission (OIM). These policies shall embrace and apply the mission and ministry emphasis adopted by the national convention. BIM serves as the only sending agency through which workers and funds are sent to foreign mission areas of the Synod including
the calling (ordained and commissioned) and appointing (lay workers) as missionaries in foreign areas. The board also reviews and endorses the OIM strategic plan and provides input on the OIM annual budget.
A. Assignments from the 2023 Convention The 2023 Synod convention adopted three resolutions directing the board to study the following matters. 2023 Resolution 2-03, “To Strengthen Pastoral Care of Missionaries and Clarify Ecclesiastical Supervision,” and Res. 2-06A, “To Study Synod Relationships with Independent Lutheran Congregations in Foreign Mission Areas”: These resolutions, respectively, called for BIM to: (1) identify and implement measures to improve pastoral and spiritual care of foreign missionaries; assess and revise ecclesiastical supervision policies, procedures, and practices in collaboration with the Council of Presidents (COP); and (2) to study and provide recommendations to the 2026 convention regarding a mechanism for receiving international, independent Lutheran congregations into Synod membership in collaboration with the COP. The BIM established a task force for each of these resolutions and appointed two of its members, and the COP appointed two of its members to each task force to study these matters. The Chief Mission Officer and Executive Director for the OIM also were members of the task forces. After careful study, the two task forces determined the issues being considered were similar and they joined together to carry out further discussions. The combined task force concluded that the issues raised by the resolutions could be addressed by joint policy statements by the BIM and the COP. The work of developing those policies continues. 2023 Res. 4-02, “To Affirm and Continue Making Disciples for Life as Mission and Ministry Emphasis for 2023–26 Triennium”: The Joint Mission Assessment Committee of the BNM and BIM was assigned to define activities under continued mission and ministry emphasis; recommend refined process to the 2026 convention; and engage districts in conversation regarding the next mission and ministry emphasis. This was undertaken as part of their normal triennial mission assessment and is discussed further in their separate Report R8.
B. Calling of Missionaries The BIM works closely with the OIM in the selection and calling of missionaries. Currently the OIM has over 100 LCMS missionaries, 15 alliance missionaries (missionaries ordained by other church bodies with whom we are in fellowship), and over 345 missionary family members in foreign mission fields. A high priority of the BIM is to encourage the recruitment of new missionaries to expand our presence in foreign mission areas of the Synod and to provide missionaries to fill positions as current missionaries retire or accept calls to serve in other contexts. The BIM also works closely with the Office of Ministry to the Armed Forces (MAF) to call military chaplains. The recruitment, orientation, and deployment support efforts carried out by both the OIM and MAF are exemplary. Currently we have 51 LCMS military chaplains on active duty, and 65 pastors/chaplains in the Reserve, National Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Veterans Affairs Hospitals, as well as 2 directors of religious education serving the military.
C. BIM Policy Development The BIM established policies addressing multiple mission and ministry areas in its initial years of existence (2010–13) and has regularly updated these policies in support of programs carried out by the OIM. In 2023 the BIM approved a complete rewrite of its policies to focus on monitoring the strategic plan of the OIM and the supporting budget. The policies allow the BIM to monitor the OIM strategic plan to assure that OIM staffing and programs support Articles II and III of the Synod Constitution and the mission and ministry emphasis established by the Synod in convention.
D. Assessment of Mission and Ministry The Board for National Mission and BIM under Bylaws 3.8.2.2 and 3.8.3.2 are, during each triennium between national conventions, to gather sufficient information from Synod members to facilitate the boards’ assessment of the effectiveness of the Synod’s mission and ministry. See Report R8 of the Joint Mission Assessment Committee. Based on this assessment, the boards jointly submitted two overtures for the 2026 convention’s consideration regarding the mission and ministry emphasis for the next triennium and proposed changes to the process for developing the same in the future.
E. International Schools The LCMS schools in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Hanoi continue to be exemplary academic college preparatory schools. These schools primarily serve children K–12 of expatriate families. Due to religious freedom restrictions in effect in China and Vietnam the ability to maintain a Lutheran identity and to proclaim the pure Gospel is constrained for Shanghai and Hanoi. In order to address these concerns, the Synod Board of Directors and the BIM working with the Chief Mission Officer and the OIM have established an International Schools Task Force that is researching options and developing plans for the Synod’s international schools going forward. The task force is comprised of representatives from the BIM, Board of Directors, and officers of the Synod. The Hanoi and Shanghai schools are accredited by the National Lutheran School Accreditation Commission (NLSA) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. During 2026, the Hanoi and Shanghai schools will commence the process of re-accreditation with NLSA. While there are fewer restrictions in Hong Kong on religious freedom, the local school leadership in Hong Kong has not been supportive of the operating agreement provisions regarding the LCMS religious doctrine and education as well as governance matters. Therefore, in the fall of 2025, the Synod filed a lawsuit against the local management group, Hong Kong International School Association, Limited. John W. Edson, Chairman
ing committee of the Synod’s two mission boards, the Board for National Mission (BNM) and the Board for International Mission (BIM). It is composed of two members from each mission board. Its primary task is to facilitate and oversee the execution of Bylaws 3.8.2.2 and 3.8.3.2, which task the BNM and BIM to work together for the “assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of the Synod’s triennial mission and ministry emphases.” The JMAC assists the BNM and BIM in providing ideas and guidance to the Synod’s district conventions in order to fulfill their duty in accordance with Bylaw 4.2.1 (d) to “forward to the national convention a list of two or three triennial mission and ministry emphases for consideration by the national convention.” In addition to this responsibility, the BNM and BIM were tasked by the 2023 Synod convention (Resolution 4-02) to “to continue to assess, clarify, and further refine the process whereby a recommendation for the triennial mission and ministry emphasis is brought before the Synod in convention for consideration and adoption,” and to “recommend a new mission and ministry emphasis for consideration at the 2026 Synod convention.” The mission boards were also given the task (2023 Res. 4-03) to “recommend possible revisions to the mission priorities and possible bylaw revisions that would articulate both the process for developing mission priorities and how those priorities would function in the mission and ministry of the Synod.”
B. Assessment and Conclusions from Conversations with District Leaders The JMAC first facilitated members of the two mission boards into conversation with all 35 districts to assess how the current mission and ministry emphasis (Making Disciples for Life) and the Synod’s seven mission priorities were perceived and being used in their district and among their congregations. Next, a survey was taken of a random sampling of pastors, church workers, and congregations throughout the Synod to gather more grassroots feedback as to the awareness, visibility, applicability, and relevance of the current mission and ministry emphasis and mission priorities. As a result of these conversations and feedback, it was determined that: (1) many districts were coming up with and using their own mission and ministry emphasis in place of the Synod’s; (2) the Synod’s mission priorities, while good, were too many and too wordy to be easily remembered and employed; (3) the mission and ministry emphasis and mission priorities were often confused, not clearly defined, and not coordinated; and (4) the process for developing and adopting a new Synod mission and ministry emphasis was too cumbersome, unworkable, and not being carried out.
C. Recommendations The JMAC recommended to the BNM and the BIM that three overtures be offered at the Synod convention: 1.
A new and streamlined process for assessing, evaluating, and proposing a mission and ministry emphasis;
2. To sunset the mission priorities of the Synod and in their place recommend attention to and use of the 10 objectives of Synod as listed in Article III of the Synod Constitution; and
3. To recommend to the Synod that Tell the Next Generation be adopted as the mission and ministry emphasis for the next triennium.