Synod leader preaches, shares insights at Concordia on Founders' Day
Rev. J. Bart Day, executive director of the Office of National Mission (ONM) for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), served as the preacher for the Founders’ Day worship service at Concordia on Nov. 18, 2015, as the university celebrated 121 years of equipping men and women to learn, serve and lead in church and world.
Day’s sermon proclaimed the mercy of God that comes at His Word as He meets us face to face. “Faith receives God’s grace and always comes back for more,” said Day. “Faith always wants what God gives—hope, peace, life—and it’s all for free.”
Day, a 1992 graduate of Concordia, oversees support to districts and congregations in 17 ministry areas, including Lutheran education, where the LCMS operates the second-largest parochial system in the United States. Day’s appreciation for the role that Lutheran schools have within the church was evident during a meeting held with area Lutheran school administrators and members of Concordia’s faculty on Nov. 17. A topic of extended discussion was the anticipated deficit of future Lutheran school administrators, which Day termed “the coming tsunami.”
A Founders’ Day luncheon hosted by Concordia President Brian Friedrich for Day, officials of the LCMS Nebraska District and area clergy, as well as a public presentation that afternoon, both provided a unique opportunity for Day to share how the LCMS is working to provide resources for congregations in the areas of youth and evangelism. Day’s presentation gave an overview of similarities found between the rural and small town work and that of ministries in the inner cities. He also described the support work areas of the ONM, especially focusing on outreach initiatives such as the Lutheran Young Adult Corps.
While making it clear that North America is now the third-largest mission field in the world, following China and India, Day noted that the ONM, in partnership with LCMS districts and congregations, will be placing missionaries in four North American locations. To fill the mission field, he also spoke of renewed support for training the entire priesthood of believers to be proclaimers of Christ.
