Enflamed by the Spirit of God, the mission of the Southwestern Washington Synod Outreach Board is to…
- Enable new mission starts,
- Empower the renewal of congregations, and
- Educate the people of God for mission
Our first priority is to “Enable new mission starts.” The new model of mission starts in not by the ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission program unit planting new congregations. Now new mission starts begin from the grassroots with local support and local commitment.
Our second priority is to “Empower the renewal of existing congregations.” We are interested in helping every congregation become more mission minded and focused. Our desire is to work with congregations before any might need a complete redevelopment. One of the means for congregational renewal is by challenging local congregations to directly support new mission starts in our synod. Mission Partners, under the volunteer direction of Rev. Dick Knutzen is part of our strategy to develop 1000 Mission Friends made up of both congregations and individuals who directly support these new mission starts.
Our last priority is to “Educate the people of God for mission.” Change and Lutheran have not always gone together. Our design is to swing back to the first century church for direction regarding mission for the twenty-first century church. This means we will all be challenged to think outside the box in order to make God’s mission direction our priority.
Outreach Board Members
Rev. James Stender – Chair
Rev. Russell Hillman
Mr. Paul Morris
Mr. James Reddick- Synod Council Rep.
Ms. Earla Ferry
Rev. Richard Knutzen
Rev. Eugene Wiegman
Rev. Valinda Morse, Southwestern Washington Synod
Rev. Red Burchfield, Region 1, Seattle
Rev. Stacy Kitahata, Region 1, Seattle
