Staff Minister Brent Bitter

After five years of learning, I graduated from Martin Luther College in 1998 equipped with a degree in education and trained in parish ministry through the Staff Ministry Program. I awaited Call Day with great anticipation, eagerly looking forward to discovering what role God had for me in his church.

President Olsen announced my call from the podium: “Brent Bitter, staff minister, exploratory mission, Jacksonville, Florida.” I had lived almost my entire life in the heart of Wisconsin surrounded by long-established WELS congregations. What did it mean to be called to an “exploratory mission”? And what would my responsibilities be in such a setting?

Pastor Phil Hoyer, my new teammate in the ministry, briefly greeted me after the Call Service. He had accepted the call to lead the exploratory efforts in Jacksonville just weeks before Call Day at MLC. He had spent half of his 19- year ministry in the mission field and was excited to begin this new venture with a partner.

I hurried to receive my call package from the South Atlantic District President, Pastor John Guse. As I perused the call materials, I discovered that my assignment was to assist with “outreach to the unchurched; training lay members for service; teaching, visiting the sick; administrative work and other ministerial duties as directed by the pastor and mission board.” I didn’t know what specific duties my call would entail, but I was thankful to serve under the direction of an experienced mission pastor and a District Mission Board experienced in starting new congregations. Pastor Hoyer and I began working as a ministry team in August 1998. The congregation was named Victory Lutheran Church with the mission of “Winning Souls for Christ and Coaching Christians for Life.” Now all we needed was people!

In these early stages, being a staff minister at Victory Lutheran Church meant knocking on doors and making phone calls; developing brochures, tracts, newsletters, and invitations; and also managing a prospect database. We canvassed thousands of homes in our area as we searched for people who were not attending a Christian church. We’d invite them to participate in a Bible Information Class that Pastor Hoyer led at a nearby elementary school each week. Our first class had five participants. After six months of making contacts, we celebrated our first worship service on February 21, 1999, in a conference room at the University of North Florida. We diligently worked to maintain relationships with the prospects we discovered through mailings, phone calls, and visits. We averaged around 40 people in attendance each Sunday during our first year of worship.

Victory has come a long way after nearly ten years of mission work. The congregation operates a beautiful 7,600 square foot facility located on six acres of prime real estate. We average just over 100 people in worship each weekend, and we have 145 souls in our membership records.

As the congregation has changed, the role of the staff minister has changed too. The duties of the staff minister have regularly been modified to suit the needs of the congregation.

At some point in my ministry, being a staff minister at Victory has meant knocking on doors, making telephone contacts, following up with worship visitors, coordinating mass mailings, publishing a monthly newsletter, presenting children’s sermons, leading Vacation Bible Schools, creating a church website, leading Adult Bible Studies, teaching Bible Information Class, coordinating fellowship activities, leading the Sunday School ministry, teaching confirmation class, organizing small group ministries, leading our youth group, coordinating a Lutheran Pioneer program, assisting with weekly worship, visiting hospitalized members… and other privileges as directed by the pastor and District Mission Board.

Being a staff minister at Victory today is distinctly different than it was ten years ago.

The congregation recently altered my call to focus on reaching out to the community through the development of a preschool ministry. As the years pass by, the needs of the congregation will continue to change and the role of the staff minister will change with it.
This venture of a pastor-staff minister team to establish a home mission was a new approach by the District Mission Board and, after ten years, still remains a one-of-a-kind strategy. The team approach to mission work in Jacksonville has been an expensive endeavor, but it has enabled our congregation to touch more lives in more ways than just one called worker, the pastor, could have done alone. I’m thankful to have served in this mission congregation for nearly ten years. Lord willing, I’ll serve Victory for years to come in whatever capacity is needed.

Mr. Brent Bitter serves as staff minister at Victory Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida.