It has been a joy traveling around to the different congregations and visiting with the saints here in North Dakota. The welcomes that I have received have been quite warm. As I visit congregations and present the goings on in the district, I have been upfront about two mind resets that we, as a district, need to have. The North Dakota District is a rural district with many small churches in rural communities. In each of these congregations, not only do they have fond memories of baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals, but more importantly, in the sacred halls of each of these congregations, the gospel is preached, the forgiveness of sins proclaimed, and the Sacraments distributed according to Christ’s institution. As whole communities grow smaller, the two resets of mind I propose are: 1) Missions don’t just happen over an ocean; the Lord’s mission is also right here in the rural congregations of North Dakota. 2) The day and time that we receive the Lord’s Gifts isn’t divinely tied to Sunday morning. In other words, the Lord has sanctified all days; and, if the Lord’s Gifts are received on a Sunday afternoon or a Tuesday evening, God be praised that He sent them.

For most people, the term “mission work” evokes images of a jungle in some far, remote place. Or, if we think locally, a Native American reservation or the inner-city of a large, urban area. While I do not deny, in the least, that mission work includes traversing vast oceans, reservations, or the inner-city, I would also suggest that included under the banner “mission work” are the smaller rural congregations of North Dakota.

People in far-off lands need the Gospel. People who dwell in reservations need the Gospel. People in inner-city Chicago need the Gospel. Who else needs the Gospel? The people of our rural communities. I will admit, this isn’t as flashy as spreading the Gospel overseas, but the dear saints of God in our rural communities are worthy of our consideration as well. In my former tri-parish, I would often hear comments such as, “There’s a lot of gray hair in the pews,” to which my response was, “Older people need to hear the Gospel too.” But these congregations are comprised of more than just senior citizens. One may be surprised at the young families that I’ve seen in attendance, also. The point is that the rural areas of our District need to hear and receive the Gospel, and that this is worthy of the term “mission work.”

So what would supporting this type of mission look like for a larger congregation in the District? There are two actions to consider: 1) Monetary and 2) Pastoral.

Monetary: As Paul collected offerings for the saints in Jerusalem throughout the Roman world, so a congregation may consider collecting funds for a congregation in their circuit, or where there may be family ties, or for a daughter or mother congregation. It would be a shame to lose the Gospel in these communities. Sometimes mission work doesn’t mean bringing the Gospel to a new place. Sometimes it means sustaining it where it’s already being proclaimed.

Pastoral: Not every congregation in North Dakota needs to be in a multi-point parish, but the parish down the road may be struggling to afford a pastor on its own. Mission work in our communities may look like this: a larger congregation that doesn’t need to be in a multi-point parish shares its pastor with one or more struggling congregations in the area. This is called a hub-and-spoke model. The smaller congregations contribute to the cost of a larger congregation’s pastor, and part of the pastor’s time is spent serving other congregations in the area.

Another way this may work is going back to the beginning days of the North Dakota District with the “Reiseprediger” (traveling preacher). The beginnings of Lutheran congregations in what would become the North Dakota District was due, in large part, to the work of the Reiseprediger. Pastors traveled into North Dakota (then the Dakota Territory) in order to plant churches. They would then serve several churches at once, often traveling through adverse weather conditions on horseback, buggy, or train to bring God’s people the Lord’s Gifts of Word and Sacrament. The areas that these men served were vast. It may be that we’re returning to the days of the Reiseprediger. A circuit, or circuits, could get together and help fund the cost of a man to travel the area. If that is something that congregations are considering as a mission project, please speak with me. I would love to talk to you about it.

For these to work, there must also be a second mind reset. This would require congregations to receive the Lord’s Gifts at a time other than Sunday morning. The early Christians began to gather to receive the Lord’s Gifts on Sunday morning, not because God mandated it, nor because it was convenient. They began to meet early on Sunday morning because that was the day Jesus rose from the dead. And when I say they met early on Sunday, I mean early. Sunday was still a workday. They had to receive the Gifts and then go to work. Thus, Sunday became the traditional day for Christians to gather, but not because it was the only time they could by Divine command. The Lord has sanctified all days. Any day is a good day to receive what the Lord has to give. If that’s on a Sunday afternoon or Tuesday evening, the Christian yearns for God’s Word and Supper whenever that may be. If the Lord provides them on a Saturday afternoon, give thanks to God for providing them. I know everyone’s preference is to gather on Sunday mornings, mine is too. But I would rather hear that my sins are forgiven and to receive that forgiveness into my mouth at a non-traditional time than not at all.

The North Dakota District is very involved in international missions – Project 24, and the Lutheran Church in Chile, for example. We should absolutely continue to look abroad and continue this work, but let us also consider the congregations in our backyard a mission field as well.

Let us go into the future without fear. The Lord is still Lord of the Church, and He does all things well. Where there are ways to prevent congregations from closing, let us consider them. The Lord has been faithful to His people in North Dakota from the very beginning, and He remains faithful today. As communities change and circumstances shift, His Gifts do not. Wherever and whenever His Word is preached, and His Sacraments are given according to His institution, there the Church lives. For this, we give Him thanks and praise.