In my more than three decades of ministry as a member of the LCMS, I have made it my goal to understand the mission context of North America. But understanding the context means I also study the mission practice of the LCMS.
The LCMS, as a denomination, may disagree on practice matters; however, the LCMS is known to approve of mission goals that do not even seem to be realistic in her national conventions, such as a goal to plant 300 congregations a year. The question for me would have been, where will we get the 300 planters? The simple arithmetic says that you need 300 planters to plant 300 congregations. The point is that it does not matter how unrealistic the goal is; that the church in convention agreed to adopt such an audacious goal is a powerful demonstration of our unity when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel to all people.
To proclaim the Gospel to all people groups, the diversity of gifts the Lord so lavishly blesses our church is to be utilized. The Lord does not give away his skills without any purpose. On the contrary, He demands mutual accountability of the priesthood of believers to employ the diversity of the gifts for the sake of His mission.
I am incredibly blessed to be part of districts and synod that has the mission of God as the guiding post for our life together. In Hebrews 10:24-25, we read, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” When we come together for grace-filled conversations, we spur each other to stand firm in our faith and do good work. We challenge each other to do more and better. We encourage one another not to give up but to stand up for what is proper.
Urban Ministry Associates International’s mission is to support urban ministry movements by coaching, training, and mutual accountability through strategic development. When the world around us works hard to segregate us by ethnicity, class, gender … etc., the church is a force to counter it with the uniting power of the Gospel. When human desires would pull us to focus on me, mine, and my kind, the Gospel challenges us to think, “panta ta ethne.” That is “Synod” at its best!
Urban Ministry Associates has national and international foci.
- Local Work: I will be available to work with urban congregations, networks, and church planters at the national level for coaching, training, and mutually accountable relationships.
- International Work: I have begun working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea to translate the Book of Concord, develop theological materials to answer contemporary Eritrean questions, and help strengthen the theological education for continuing education for current pastors and development of new pastors and church leaders.
As I embark on this worthy ministry, I covet your prayers.
Your partner in the Gospel,
Pastor Yohannes Mengsteab, PhD
Urban Ministry Associates International
