Rev. Dr. Dean Rothchild, Assistant To The District President

Proclaiming Christ Jesus Capital Campaign

   Luke 24:46-47 states: “And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  Those are the marching orders which Jesus has given to His Church.  Our Pastor’s are privileged to do that through their preaching office and those who are hearing that word preached are called to proclaim Christ Jesus through their daily vocations.  The goal of that proclamation is to have people gathered together in the Divine Service to receive the gifts of God, namely, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.

   It was those verses which were chosen as the basis for our District’s Capital Campaign which has as its purpose to help raise gifts to support new church starts here in Iowa District East.  On October of 2011 New Hope Lutheran Church began gathering for Divine Service in Charles City.   Area Pastors are helping to serve this new congregation.  New Hope Lutheran was received into membership at a chartering service on Saturday April 21^st, 2012.  They are working toward having a called Pastor.

   By the time you read this, St. Silas Lutheran Church in North Liberty will have held its first Divine Service.  That happened on February 3^rd, 2013.  Pastor Andrew Richard was called by St. Paul’s Chapel in Iowa City to be their Assistant Pastor and the Planter for this new congregation.  If you have members who are residing in the North Liberty area who are still on your books but no longer live in your area, please forward those names on to Pastor Richard.  The saints in Christ Jesus need to be connected to an altar and pulpit where they can be nourished in their baptismal life.

   So how is the capital campaign going?  As of this writing, we have received gifts from congregations and individual donors in the amount of $112,000 and future intended gifts of $43,000 for a total of $155,000.  The stated minimum goal was $600,000.  Congregations have included this campaign in their budgets and individuals are responding to the opportunity to help fund new missions starts in our District.

   The ongoing challenge for all of our congregations is how do we engage people in our communities with the Gospel of Christ Jesus?  What do Witness, Mercy, and Life Together look like in our particular locality?  To receive more information on the Proclaiming Christ Jesus campaign, please contact Rev. Dr. Dean Rothchild at: deanrothchild@lcmside.org or call him at 319-373-2112.  He is available for individual visits or presentations to a congregation on Sunday mornings.