Lutheran Student Movement - USA

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LSM-USA
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LSM-USA

The Lutheran Student Movement - United States of America (LSM-USA) is a pan-Lutheran college student organization, based in Chicago, Illinois.

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[edit] History

LSM-USA was founded in 1969. Two former Lutheran college organizations, the Lutheran Student Association of America (LSAA, founded in 1922) and Gamma Delta (founded in 1928) merged to create LSM-USA in 1969 while gathered in convention in Boulder, Colorado. LSM-USA assumed LSAA's position in the World Student Christian Federation upon its formation.

Since its inception, LSM-USA has maintained the idea of being a pan-Lutheran organization. Until 1985, LSM-USA was supported and sponsored by the American Lutheran Church (ALC), the Lutheran Church in America (LCA), the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS). In 1985, LCMS officially withdrew its support for LSM-USA, citing doctrinal differences, primarily LSM-USA's decision to declare itself a Reconciled in Christ organization. The LCMS then formed its own exclusive organization, the Lutheran Student Fellowship.

In 1988, ALC, LCA, and AELC merged to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), thus reducing the number of official Lutheran churches sponsoring LSM-USA to one. However, LSM-USA still identifies itself as a pan-Lutheran organization, continues to be open to all individual Lutherans, and tries to remain engaged with all expressions of the Lutheran Church in the United States, including the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Individual LCMS members, campus pastors, district presidents, and other parts of the Church are involved in and supportive of LSM-USA, and though official support from the national office of the LCMS is not a present reality, discussion still continues with high-ranking officials there, as it does with leaders throughout all parts of the Lutheran church.

In 1984, the organization Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA) began what is known as the Reconciled in Christ movement. This movement seeks Lutheran bodies that are willing to declare themselves accepting and affirming of all members of the body of Christ, regardless of ethnicity, age, or sexuality. LSM-USA became the first Lutheran organization to declare itself Reconciled in Christ. This decision led in large part to the aforementioned decision by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod to withdraw support.

In 2004, LSM-USA entered into a full ministry partnership with Lutheran Youth Encounter. This partnership provides outreach opportunities for both organizations within each other's events. While both organizations had recently experienced difficulty in working with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod national youth ministry office, this partnership was seen as a positive step not only for the organizations involved, but for the ministry of the Lutheran church as a whole.

[edit] Structure

LSM-USA is an independent and self-governing student organization. A National Council, made up of fifteen elected voting members and five non-voting members, meets twice a year to oversee organizational business and allow for National Council members to support one another in their ministry. The Council consists of the President; the Secretary, who also serves as the LSM-USA liaison to the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO); the Secretary of International and Multi-Cultural Concerns; an intern (non-voting member; position is paid for by the ELCA); presidents of twelve different regions; a web specialist; a liaison from the board of the LYO; and a national staff advisor, usually the campus minister of a university-based Lutheran Campus Ministry. There is one final advisory position on the LSM-USA national council, held by the ELCA Director for Campus Ministry or a designated representative of that office. This position is currently held by the Rev. Rich Zawistoski, Associate Director for ELCA Campus Ministry.

Decision-making authority rests first with the body of LSM-USA gathered annually in plenary sessions at the National Gathering; then with the National Council when it gathers in session bi-annually; and finally with the three national officers in between those meetings. National Officers are elected at the National Gathering by all present voting members, while regional officers are elected individually by their regions at different points throughout the year. All elected members of the National Council serve one-year calendar year terms. Other work of the organization is often done through specially designated ad hoc committees which are filled by students and campus ministry advisors through an application process (reviewed by the National Officers) and which report to the National Council, from which they derive their constitutional authority.

[edit] Regional Breakdown

Regions of LSM-USA
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Regions of LSM-USA

[edit] National Council

The National Council currently consists of the following members:

National Officers

Regional Representatives

Other Positions (advisory, liaison, or appointed)

[edit] National Gathering

The aforementioned National Gathering is held once a year, at a pre-determined location, over New Year's Day. Recent gatherings have been held in Chicago; New Orleans; Phoenix; Albuquerque; Washington, D.C.; Houston; and San Diego. The 2006-2007 gathering is scheduled to be held as part of the quadrennial Celebrate! ecumenical gathering in New Orleans. Celebrate! V is sponsored by the Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry.

The national gathering is organized with the insitutional support of the ELCA because of the inability of an organization of college students such as LSM-USA to effectively negotiate with hotels and other vendors in the necessary ways. Acknowledging this absolutely vital support, the gathering is convened by the Lutheran Student Movement - USA under the authority of the National Council and is planned by a student committee with campus ministry advisors. The primary purpose of the Lutheran Student Movement - USA National Gathering is to bring together the students of LSM-USA annually for five days to conduct the business of the organization and to live, work, worship, serve, and play together as the national emodiement of this Christian community. Events at the gathering include worship, workshops, concerts, meals, dances, speakers, service projects, and plenary sessions.

[edit] External links

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