Goal #3: Give 10 Percent to Support Worker Training at Martin Luther College
As the Holy Spirit blesses our gospel efforts, God’s people at Living Hope could contribute 10 percent of our gifts to Martin Luther College (MLC) to train a corps of Christian witnesses to meet the ministry needs of our synod in our nation and our world, perhaps even benefiting our own ministry needs in central Virginia.
The faithful preaching and teaching that we enjoy requires a multi-generational commitment to preparing workers for the harvest field. In WELS, we have two preparatory schools, a college, and a seminary that train nearly all of the pastors and teachers who serve in our churches. Our Pastor, Michael Seifert, is a product of one of our 304 elementary schools, one of the prep schools, Martin Luther College, and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
With 730 students, MLC trains almost every pastor and teacher who will serve in our church body. “Equipping Christian Witnesses” is a two-year, silver anniversary capital campaign that will help MLC increase its enrollment to 1,000 students to train for the Gospel ministry, provide matching funds to reduce student costs, and offer adequate facilities for their programs.
Why would we participate in a campaign for our college in New Ulm, Minnesota? Don’t we have other needs closer to home? Certainly, we do. Consider these reasons.
We teach that we give generously of the “firstfruits” of our income. Why wouldn’t we do the same as a church?
Our church body provides a training system for called workers that has served us well for more than a century. Together as a synod, we supported the preparation of thousands of pastors and teachers who serve in established churches, start home missions like Living Hope, and serve in the mission fields around the world. With our offerings and campaign gifts, we can participate in bringing the Gospel to 42 world mission fields.
In addition, we serve as a “Macedonian encouragement.” In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul writes to the Corinthians about the offering he is collecting for the Jerusalem churches. Trying to encourage them to give super- generously, he urges them to imitate the Macedonians. The Macedonian churches apparently did not have much to give because they gave even more than they had! And though they had little, they were a huge encouragement to Paul and to their fellow Christians in wealthier places to give sacrificially. We are currently a small church compared to many WELS congregations in the Midwest. But we together could serve as an example in our sacrificial giving, not looking out for ourselves first, but looking out for the needs of others first.
And we can be confident that those gifts will come back to us, to benefit Living Hope when we need another pastor, a teacher, an early childhood director, or a staff minister.
For an additional way to help Martin Luther College, you can give directly to their Equipping Christian Witnesses Campaign.