Lutheran Student Movement - USA

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LSM-USA
LSM-USA

The Lutheran Student Movement - United States of America (LSM-USA) is a student led, Christ driven organization of Lutheran college student. Though no specific headquarters exists, the movement's staff and resources are housed at the ELCA headquarters 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 continues to be open to all Lutherans, and tries to remain engaged with all expressions of the Lutheran Church in the United States.

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 sixteen 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 thirteen 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.

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 twice 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
Regions of LSM-USA

[edit] National Council

The 2008 National Council consists of the following members:

National Officers

Regional Representatives


Non-Voting Positions (advisory, liaison, or appointed)

  • LYO Liaison - Unappointed
  • LSM-USA Intern - Melanie Slease, alumnus, Capital University (through May 2008)
  • National Staff Advisor - Rev. Laurie Fox-Petrov, pastor, Lutheran Campus Ministry, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  • ELCA Staff Advisor - Kristen Glass, Director for Young Adult Ministry for the ELCA
  • ELCA Campus Ministry Advisor - Rev. Rich Zawistoski, Associate Director for ELCA Campus Ministry

Past LSM-USA Presidents

[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; Washington, D.C.; Houston; San Diego; and Denver.

LSM also participates in the quadrennial Celebrate ecumenical gathering, organized by the Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry. As Celebrate is also held over New Year's Day, LSM does not hold a separate gathering in those years, choosing instead to incorporate its gathering as part of Celebrate. Recent Celebrate gatherings have been held in Albuquerque and New Orleans.

The national gathering is organized with the institutional 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 advisers. 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 embodiment of this Christian community. Events at the gathering include worship, workshops, concerts, meals, dances, speakers, service projects, and plenary sessions.

[edit] Breaking Out!

In 2006, an annual alternative spring break opportunity, known as Breaking Out!, was instituted by LSM-USA. This is a week-long event that consists of service projects, theological education, social-ministry training, small group discussion, and community worship.

Breaking Out! was originally envisioned as three separate weeks for up to thirty students each. A challenge grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans allows students to participate in the program at minimal personal expense. The inaugural event was held in Atlanta, March 19-25, 2006.

The event is overseen by two committees of students - a planning committee, which is chaired by a student who participated in the previous year's event, and includes the president and intern of LSM as de facto members; and a fundraising committee, which is also chaired by a student from the previous year, and includes the secretary of LSM as a de facto member. These committees are responsible not only for planning the event, but also for selecting the participants from among the applicants for the program. In order to foster a diverse community, the planning committee will generally not accept more than two people from any single college or university.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the 2006 planning committee made a pledge that the 2007 event would be held in a Gulf Coast city. In response, the 2007 planning committee chose the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi as the site for Breaking Out! 2007. The event was held March 11-16, 2007.

The 2008 event to be held in Washington, D.C. was canceled due to lack of participation. The movement looks forward to renewing the event next year.

[edit] External links