Update Provided on LCMS Movement
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Ablaze! initiative is “reminiscent of what happened when John the Baptist introduced one of his followers, Andrew, to Jesus,” Kermit “Butch” Almstedt, chairman of the Board for Mission Services, told the 63rd Regular Convention.      “Andrew then introduced his brother, Peter, to Jesus. Following that, John the Baptist introduced Philip to Jesus, and Philip introduced Nathaniel to Jesus,” Almstedt continued. “One-on-one witnessing has been going on since the time of our Lord.”      Like early evangelism efforts, Ablaze! is “about fulfilling God’s Word to witness one’s faith and to disciple the nations, so that many more may have life in Jesus Christ,” Almstedt said.      The Ablaze! effort was endorsed by the 2004 LCMS convention. It has a goal to share the Gospel with 100 million people worldwide by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The LCMS has invited its 30 partner churches in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eurasia to take part in Ablaze! and has set up a web-based “counter” at www.lcms.org/ablaze to track the effort’s progress and share witnessing ideas.	In their joint report to the convention, Almstedt and Dr. Robert Roegner, executive director of the mission board, provided an update on Ablaze! Among the information they shared: 32 of the Synod’s 35 districts have registered as Ablaze! partners to support the effort’s goals. In addition to reaching 100 million people with the Gospel, those goals include starting 2,000 congregations in North America and revitalizing the mission efforts of 2,000 existing congregations that have static or declining memberships; 571 congregations also have declared themselves to be partners in the effort; about 1,000 congregations have downloaded the Ablaze! logo from the web site and have indicated they are “doing something around Ablaze! — from holding a special worship service, to some event like Friendship Sunday, to Bible study or outreach training,” said Roegner;      As of July 15, Roegner said, “The number of unreached or uncommitted people with whom the Gospel has been shared and reported to us is 5,267,615.”      Worldwide, LCMS World Mission last year sponsored four regional Ablaze! summits with partner-church leaders in England, Kenya, Bolivia and China, Roegner said. He added that 26 partner-church leaders were expected to attend an international Ablaze! summit following the Synod’s convention in Houston.

District Welcomes New Mission
Amazing Grace is more than a hymn — it’s our newest Florida-Georgia mission!      Rev. James Rockey was commissioned as mission developer for Amazing Grace-Oxford, FL, on July 8. Oxford is near the Villages and is a 50-plus senior retirement center that expects to be home to more than 200,000 people.      Rockey, who for the past three years served as Associate Pastor at Zion-Fort Meyers, FL, was called through the Florida-Georgia District. He was commissioned to serve Amazing Grace at Trinity-Summerfield, FL, a recent mission congregation located on the north side of the Villages that was established in 1996.      It is good when we see our mission congregations take an active role in establishing and planting sister congregations. I believe this bodes well for our future mission planting efforts.      Actually the North Central Circuit, the Mission and the Florida-Georgia District are all partnering together to plant this congregation. This, too, is becoming a trend.      Pastor Rockey shared with me that his vision for Oxford is, “transforming lives for today and eternity. We want to engage people where they are in their lives and we want to reach them in this community.”      Under his leadership, Amazing Grace members want to get to know the community and build a ministry that will meet their spiritual, emotional and physical needs.      “We will offer community service events and small groups that will allow Amazing Grace to be a learning center in the community,” Rockey said.	They are considering offering mentoring, tutoring and English as Second Language classes also. Amazing Grace will host outreach events and service projects that will involve sister congregations, providing them with the opportunity to serve as local missionaries.      “We are considering forming a Community Service Investment team,” said Rockey. “These teams will look for homes that need minor repair or yard work. The church would provide the materials and labor and put up an Amazing Grace sign telling the community we are good neighbors, we are here to serve and help.”      He emphasized the importance of being in God’s Word daily. Small Groups will be a strong part of how Amazing Grace will provide Christian education. The small groups will also help build community and congregational identity for the core group of about 35 very dedicated lay people.      Amazing Grace plans to launch public worship in November 2007 when the snow birds fly south. The mission needs this time to form and prepare to be a church. It also must reach the Oxford community through an aggressive outreach campaign. First Baptist Church-Oxford has opened up part of their facility for Amazing Grace congregation to use.      God has provided other blessings such as Shepherd’s Creek’s gift of a $20,000 sound system and other church equipment. The Florida-Georgia District purchased an advance site of 15 acres. The grace of God has been poured out on this mission.      Pastor Rockey and his wife Martha have two children: Elizabeth and Julia. Martha will be a second-grade teacher at St. John’s Lutheran School-Ocala, where both girls will be students.