To Commend and Support LCMS Campus Ministry, Particularly At the University of Minnesota

WHEREAS, our forebears in the faith built strategically located Chapels to conduct Word and Sacrament ministry at major college campuses across our country, and to promote Lutheran Christian evangelism among students and  community members; and

WHEREAS, ministries at these Chapels are a refuge and a help to Lutheran and other Christian college students, many of whom are away from home for the first time, and to others who are brought to faith in our gracious God in that context; and

WHEREAS, these ministries serve students from all over the country and from international locations as well, and thus their ministries are a service to the Synod at large and indeed to the Church as a whole; and

WHEREAS, one such active congregation, University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis, MN, serves one of the biggest public universities in the country, provides a vibrant town/gown ministry, has been the source of dozens of pastoral and diaconal students for service in our Synod, and has provided leadership in theological studies that have been helpful to many other congregations; and

WHEREAS, this faithful congregation’s strategically located campus church home was sold by the MNS BOD for demolition by a developer who paid $3,250,000 for it; and

WHEREAS, the congregation was left without a church building; and

WHEREAS, although the MNS BOD did not provide any funds for the continuation of this congregation, the MNS district in convention granted the congregation part of the proceeds ($2,000,000) from the final sale price of $3,250,000 ; and

WHEREAS, on-campus property is extremely expensive, but campus ministry effectiveness is immeasurably assisted by the presence of such a church location; therefore be it

Resolved, that the LCMS thank the congregation and pastor of University Lutheran Chapel–Minneapolis for their service to our students and to the broader Church; and be it further

Resolved, that the LCMS grant this congregation $1,250,000 to assist them in building a replacement campus chapel and to more justly compensate them for their loss; and be it further

Resolved, that the LCMS express our thanks to God and to all of the campus congregations and pastors of the Synod for their service to the Church, and particularly for their service to students who are blessed to attend universities which have them; and be it finally

Resolved, that the LCMS encourage the title holders of existing campus ministry Chapels to regard these properties as sacred trusts on behalf of the Church at large, and to retain them for posterity, to the glory of God.

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