A Brief History of the What a Way initiative

In May 2000 the President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod initiated an action group to address "the current concerns which our church body has relative to the recruitment and retention of full-time professional church workers in our Synod."  He named the action group and described its task.  He wanted a group that would say, "How can our entity help address this situation - Actions! What new things can we try?"

The eleven member Action Group assigned the recruitment part of the equation to the Board for Higher Education, the retention part to the Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support, and the responsibility quotient to the Council of Presidents and the Synod's Board of Directors.

The recruitment action plan was developed with input from Concordia Publishing House around this mission statement: God prepares future workers for the church through a process that commences in the home, continues in the local congregation, and culminates in centers of higher education at the church's universities and seminaries.  A partnership of eleven entities was developed for comprehensive implementation.

The retention action plan was subsequently developed to address church worker care.  An assessment of retention initiatives actually available in the church body was conducted, and a plan was made to use best church practices to assist persons, congregations and districts to assist church workers in their vocation.

The Action Group then concluded its preliminary work and entrusted the ongoing implementation to a Working Group comprised of L. Dean Hempelmann, Director of Pastoral Education- Board for Higher Education, Bruce Hartung, Executive Director- Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support, and David Gehne, Project Manager- Concordia Publishing House.

The Working Group presented the concept to current President Gerald Kieschnick who whole-heartedly approved and agreed to head the initiative. Dr. Kieschnick had already identified "the recruitment and support of professional church workers as one of the primary matters of importance facing our Synod…" during his election acceptance address and continues to emphasize it wherever he speaks to the church.

Implementation of What A Way is funded by The LCMS Board of Directors through a block grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.  Emphasis is being placed on development of a communications plan and key resources including: a) a redesigned web site - an interactive place for recruitment and retention exploration and support, b) printed curricular resources geared toward K-8 Sunday and Day School use, c) the publication and distribution of a book, Leap of Faith, addressing transition from a current career to pastoral ministry, and d) new worker support opportunities.