Witness, Mercy, Life Together in Charles City and North Liberty
– new mission starts in IDE
Rev. Dan S. Johnson
Witness, Mercy, Life Together... this statement is not only for individual congregations but it is a
statement for the Church. It is a description of who and what we are. It imparts to a secular
world a purpose for our existence. We as congregations of the Iowa District East of the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod are given a specific mission by our Lord – to
witness to the world the “reason for the hope which dwells within us,” demonstrating that
“hope” through acts of mercy as we live together in our towns and communities.
This “witness, mercy and life together,” in which we live, is exemplified by establishing
congregations in communities where such a witness, with mercy, in a life together can be
exercised. Such is being done in IDE. In Charles City, New Hope Lutheran Church has begun a
“life together” in witness and mercy. This June, at the IDE convention, an overture will be
presented to fund a new mission in the community of North Liberty. The missions in Charles
City and North Liberty will be the first new mission starts in IDE in over 20 years.
The IDE board of directors and district board for missions has expressed a necessity for these
missions to present an intentional Lutheran identity to the communities where they serve. They
will provide a witness, proclaiming a Lord of mercy through unambiguous liturgical and
sacramental worship and pastoral care. There are already many different “styles” of mission
activity being exercised in the North Liberty community by different Christian denominations.
The IDE board for missions has no desire for this new congregation to simply be one Christian
mission among many. It is the intent of IDE to establish a Christian ministry of “witness, mercy
and life together” that is decidedly and distinctively Lutheran in what is preached and practiced.
This is not a new idea, but is fundamental to the confession and practice of our Lutheran Fathers
who believed that Lutheran missions must lead to the formation of confessing Lutheran
congregations.
This is the intent of the IDE board of directors and the IDE board for missions, as we, in a “life
together” in witness and mercy, welcome New Hope Lutheran Church in Charles City and move
forward requesting your prayers and financial support in establishing a confessing Lutheran
congregation in North Liberty.
