North Dakota delegates re-elect Baneck

The Rev. Dr. James Baneck of Mandan, N.D., was re-elected as LCMS North Dakota District president to a third and final three-year term during the district’s 57^th Regular Convention, Jan. 18-21 in Grand Forks, N.D.

Baneck was elected on the first ballot by 67 percent of the voting delegates. He is ineligible for re-election at the next convention in 2018 because of the district’s three-term limit for officers.

Also re-elected was the Rev. Arie Bertsch of Minot, N.D., who will serve his second term as first vice-president (West Region).

The Rev. Tom Eckstein, Jamestown, N.D., was elected to his first term as second vice-president (East Region).

The convention — the first of 35 LCMS district conventions that will take place this year — focused on the theme “Baptized for this Moment: Being Lutheran for this Moment,” based on 1 Peter 1:3-4.

Among resolutions adopted, delegates voted to align the district’s vision and goals with the Synod’s focus of “Witness, Mercy, Life Together.”

In the area of “Witness,” delegates voted to plant two new churches in Watford City and Stanley, in western North Dakota, where populations have surged because of the oil boom.

For “Mercy,” delegates voted to continue the district’s support for “Project 24” — whose mission is to build 24 orphanages in Kenya, East Africa — in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. They also voted to explore the possibility of sending a district pastor and a layperson on a mission trip to Santiago, Chile.

In the area of “Life Together,” the convention offering of $37,150 was designated for Shepherd’s Hill at the Crossroads, a camp and retreat center in the district.

The convention was greeted by LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, who preached at the opening worship service and later gave his President’s Report. The convention essayist was Synod Third Vice-President Rev. Daniel Preus, who addressed “Being Lutheran for this Moment.”

Posted Jan. 22, 2015

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