2025 NOW District Convention – Day 2
The second day of our NOW District Convention kicked off bright and early with a worship service, hosted by congregations from Circuits 15 and 16. Synod President Matthew Harrison preached the message.
The next item on the agenda was NOW District President Mike Von Behren’s Report – with a special introduction by President Emeritus Paul Linnemann. Linnemann took a moment at the microphone to share his thanks and encouragement to everyone in the District; he also encouraged the delegates.
“When we come to a convention like this, it’s really easy to get lost in the mechanism of how we do what we do,” he said. “You’re about to enter into that. And what it means to come together as a church is not about getting the most votes or winning an argument or losing an argument… It’s God’s people coming together to try to discern where he wants to take us.”
President Von Behren’s Report included initial observations from his travels around the Northwest. He offered three things we are called out for:
· Extend – Gospel Outreach
· Explore – Synod
· Expect – New Leaders
“We have been called out to extend the gospel into the community,” Von Behren said.
He posed several questions for consideration:
Are there resources from Synod that we can utilize?
Are you connected and supporting ministry with one another?
Are you inviting others to partner with you?
Are you sharing resources, sharing ministry leaders, working together to support each other?
The elections that began the day before also wrapped up. District Secretary, NOW BOD members, and the District nominating committee members were all selected. The list of Circuit Visitors was ratified as well. Click here for complete election results.
Session #4 introduced our keynote speaker, Rev. Jeff Cloeter, author of “Loved & Sent” and senior Pastor of Christ Memorial Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Cloeter spoke candidly about the challenges we face in ministry, and the importance of WHO over/before WHAT. Our worth is not determined by how productive we can be.
“We want to start with who over what. Who comes before what,” he said. “Be comes before doing. Roots come before fruit. Who you are is more important than the tasks that you do.”
He talked about new muscles for ministry – skills (“muscles”) that we have that we don’t utilize enough. Perhaps things we need to tone or are underdeveloped.
Throughout the day, Floor Committee #1 (“Structure and Partnerships for Mission”) and Floor Committee #2 (“Ministry and Leadership in Mission”) presented Resolutions. The new practice of taking an advisory poll before each official delegate vote was also put to use. This gave advisory delegates more of a voice than ever before.
The following Resolutions were adopted:
Resolution 1-01 – To Accept Reports
Resolution 1-02 – Circuit Realignment
Resolution 1-03 – To Determine Location of Future Northwest District Convention
Resolution 2-01 – To Accept Reports
Resolution 2-02 with amendments – To Celebrate and Encourage Lay Service and Leadership
Resolution 2-05 with amendments – To Encourage the Raising Up of Servant Leaders
Floor Committee work will resume during Session #7 on Saturday morning.
The night concluded with a special “In Memory” video honoring the faithful servants who have been called to glory since the last convention.
*Huge thanks to Rev. Eric Bohlmann for assistance with photos!
Click here to read the Day 1 recap.
