WELS Home Missions is WELS’ church-planting entity. Uniquely equipped with resources congregations don’t have, Home Missions has been able to fund 63 new missions over the last decade so that we can reach more souls.

So, when the 2021 WELS synod convention adopted the 100 Missions in 10 Years initiative with the goal of planting 100 new missions from 2023–33, it aligned with Home Missions’ purpose. Home Missions wasn’t being asked to do anything new, but the initiative renewed our focus and zeal as a synod to carry out the outreach aspect of the Great Commission aggressively.

From the start, Home Missions identified two major challenges: money and manpower. Today we feel the reality of those challenges. The cost of planting and supporting new missions is increasing more than we anticipated. Called worker vacancies in our congregations and in our missions are high; 10 of the 28 new mission starts approved in the first three years are vacant as of January 2026.

This has led some to ask, “Should we abandon the initiative or recalibrate our goal?” It’s a fair question. We would be burying our heads in the sand if we didn’t consider the question and seek to answer it honestly.

Should we abandon the 100 Missions in 10 Years initiative or recalibrate our goal?

So here’s Home Missions’ answer: maybe. Maybe the time will come to reconsider, but maybe we need to give it more time to see how the Lord blesses our efforts. Here’s why I say that.

The 100 Missions in 10 Years initiative has generated a healthy urgency that we need. We naturally revert to what is common and retreat to our comfort zone. The initiative has stretched and pushed us . . . in good ways. It has strengthened our partnerships in WELS. God’s people have given generously for this initiative. We have seen how the initiative has been a catalyst for us to work together better as a synod.

At the same time, with a finite number of resources, we need to count the cost. This means recognizing the impact of approving a request. A yes to one means a no to another. We also know that part of church planting may mean discontinuing funding for a mission that isn’t being blessed in ways everyone expected. These are difficult, but necessary, decisions.

What it boils down to is balancing trusting God’s power, promises, and ability to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20), while not putting him to the test, expecting blessings we have not historically seen, and being poor stewards of our God-given resources.

So we pray for wisdom and seek wisdom as we make decisions. We learn from our leaders who went before us. Throughout WELS’ history, we can see how WELS leaders stretched God’s people—even nudged them out of their comfort zone—and the Lord blessed their efforts. Now, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, but the Lord has a track record for doing more than we can imagine.

Might this be another time he uses ordinary people like you and me, along with the generous support of congregations and others, to provide more resources than we imagined? Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. But let’s try and see how the Lord blesses our efforts. As we do, we will adjust as needed and give thanks for however he chooses to bless our faithful efforts. To God be the glory!

Learn more about the 100 in 10 initiative.