If you were told that you either have to loose an arm or a leg, which would you choose? As an above the knee amputee of over 12 years now, I know exactly how difficult it is to get around with one leg. Even with an amazing prosthesis with which God has richly blessed me, maneuvering can be quite tricky. But I have no idea how hard life would be if I had to loose an arm. As I type this, I wonder how I could ever function as a pastor without an arm - typing sermons, responding to emails, distributing Holy Communion.

How about you? If you were told you had to choose, would you decide to loose an arm or a leg? I would guess that your first choice would be neither! Wouldn't you explore ways to keep both?

That's how I felt at the Southeastern Wisconsin District Conference earlier this week in Milwaukee. Our dear Synod is in some dire straits, and it's not necessarily from poor planning. We had actually built up a sizable cushion ($3.4 million) to soften the blow from economic downturns. However, no one was prepared what happened financially throughout the world last fall. Giving has decreased due to job losses and diminished retirement funds. Regular and reliable contributions that were tied to the stock market are simply not there. While our cushion helped, we are still facing some serious shortfalls.

Two options were proposed. Shall we loose an arm or a leg? That might not even be an accurate picture. It might be better to think of it as losing a whole leg plus a hand, or losing a whole arm and a foot. One option look at our synodical schools (leg) on which our worker training stands. We provide some of the best qualified and Biblically sound teachers and pastors in the world. The other option looks at our missions (arm) with which we reach out to the world. One option proposed to balance our budget would be to cut 53 teaching positions at synodical schools (foot) and be able to keep them open, while defunding 38 missionaries (arm). That's 42% of our missions! The other option cuts 89 teaching positions (leg) and closing MLS, one of our prep high schools, while bringing home 27 missionaries (hand).

Which would you prefer? How about neither? Might this be a good time to take a good look at ourselves? Even in bleak financial outlooks for our nation, God has showered luxuries upon us, such is his love for us! Have we responded in kind? Is my giving regular? Is it proportionate to what I make? Does it reflect that God is first in my life? Can we as a congregation do more to support our Synod more than we are? Can we resolve to inform our Synod that they will have more to work with in the coming years so that we can soften the cuts that are coming?

I ask you to prayerfully consider these things for yourselves and your family. I have done and will continue to do the same. May God bless decisions that we make based on that prayerful consideration to the glory of his Name.

Pastor Jansen