The Synodical Council (SC) will meet later this week to carry out its regular tasks of reviewing and overseeing the work being carried out by all areas of ministry. The council will review the directives of the synod convention and see to it that the various resolutions will be carried out by the appropriate groups or individuals. They will also monitor the state of the synod's current financial situation and address the continuing challenges facing the synod in maintaining and expanding its programs of mission and ministry.

The synod convention also directed the Synodical Council to begin to develop a long-range, comprehensive plan for the mission and ministry of the synod in keeping with the priorities and direction adopted by the synod in convention. The convention resolution was fitting and proper, since the responsibility for developing such a plan is given to the Synodical Council by the synod's constitution. Once developed and adopted, this plan will provide guidance, focus, direction, and goals for the work that the synod does, in keeping with God's blessings, in the next five to ten years.

The SC has added an extra day to its normal meeting schedule in order to begin this work. The initial task will be to determine the scope and nature of the plan and to determine the process of developing it. Input from various boards and committees, including the Conference of Presidents, will be requested and considered. A progress report will be shared with the districts next summer, and a final plan will be submitted to the 2011 synod convention for adoption.

After the difficult reductions that were necessary in the last nine months, the SC will be looking for every possible way for the synod once again to expand its efforts in home and world missions and to provide the necessary support for the training of future workers. Please keep these men in your prayers as they strive, under God's blessing, to help our synod meet the challenges and opportunities before us.

Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder