All three Center for U.S. Missions (CUSM) office staff positions directly impact outreach in the U.S. mission field. The executive director writes for Center publications, visits leaders within and beyond Synod to see and share where God is working to grow His kingdom, and develops new resources. The director of training writes new materials in various formats (seminar presentations, workbooks, Internet instruction, etc.) and arranges for seminars to be held throughout the country. The coordinator supports all the functions of the Center, working directly to provide individuals with publications, seminars, and resources. We continually learn and grow from feedback from the seminar participants and newsletter readers. The e-mail newsletter goes to more 750 people every two weeks and the print newsletter to 1,700 people quarterly.

The major training workshop that is held each year is the Mission Planters Institute. One session is held in February in the Orlando, Fla. area and the other is held in July on the campus of Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., where the CUSM office is located. In 2004, 34 mission planters attended these week-long trainings. A coach attended with each planter and many planters attended with their spouse. Planter, spouse, and coach worked as a team throughout the week to create a mission plan tailored to their mission. Many planters tell us that this training gives them a workable plan and a strong foundation for beginning a new church. Support from LCMS World Mission allows the Center to provide this service with only a small additional cost of $100 per person. Travel costs are paid by the district. This support ensures that no planters miss this training due to lack of funds.

About one-third of the support for training allows the Center to hold seminars at those times when, although registration has been less than expected and income does not entirely cover expenses, we feel it important to hold the seminar anyway for the sake of those who eagerly desire the training. It is also used to support higher-priced outside presenters, until such time as we can train our own presenters in the material, allowing for more reasonable expenses.

New this year will be the entry of the Center into evangelism (outreach) ministry. This is a huge leap. From supporting 35 districts for new church development, we are moving to supporting more than 6,000 congregations in evangelism-outreach ministries.

The Center for U.S. Missions serves the entire U.S. and, therefore, travel is a major part of the jobs of the executive director and the director of training. Seminars are held across the country. Collaborative relationships are built with district leaders and those who are on the cutting edge of research and development of information and resources that aid churches. Close ties are maintained with the LCMS headquarters and other Synod organizations that are working in outreach. To improve the stewardship of time and money, we are working to communicate through the voice and video capabilities of the Internet when possible, but as this technology is still evolving, face-to-face meetings are still frequently necessary. Networks of trainers are being built for many of the most requested seminars. There are currently five Daughter Church Planting trainers, ten Turnaround Church trainers, and eleven New Church Development Coach trainers. Periodic meetings of each group of trainers are important for maintaining quality and planning strategy.

Materials are needed to support the development of new seminars and also the development of new resources. As we seek to provide churches and leaders with the best available training and resources, we must purchase CDs, DVDs, training manuals, books, and videos to learn about and evaluate what others have done. We are also actively seeking materials that support and encourage outreach that we can make available on our Web site—Bible studies, articles, worship service materials, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Most of the resources will be given to us or prepared by us and distributed free of charge. We also plan, however, to include more extensive resources—dissertations, more extended writings and presentations—for which we will need to charge. We will be purchasing these extensive materials from their developers.

*If this project becomes fully funded, your gift will be applied toward other projects on this field.