Robert John (Bob) Scudieri

1. 10/8/1944, Sunnyside, Queens, New York City, NY USA

 

Spouse/Family

Wife: Lynn Marie (nee Gollenberg), b. 1/27/1946, Bridgeport, CT; m. 6/10/1967

Children: Nathan Robert (1970), Alison Grace (Greenhill) (1972)

 

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1971-1975 Orange, NJ USA Pastor, Redeemer Lutheran Church

1975-1984 East Brunswick, NJ USA Pastor, Christ Memorial Lutheran Church

1984-1991 LCMS English District Mission Executive

1991-2008 LCMS World Mission Area Director for North America/

Assoc. Exec. Director for National Missions

 

Biographical Summary

Bob Scudieri grew up New York City, a place of immense ethnic and culture diversity.  This rich cultural mix gave him ample opportunities to learn and to respect those of different ethnic and social backgrounds. He met his wife Lynn at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York.  He then attended Concordia Senior College in preparation for seminary studies, while Lynn headed to Concordia Teachers’ College in River Forest for her education.  Bob recalls that his interest in missions was strengthened by the example of a professor at Concordia whose sister was serving as LCMS deaconess in Hong Kong.

 

During his time at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Bob became student chairman of on-campus missions.  He notes that this early experience was formative for his later career, since it involved training leaders of small groups.  While at seminary, Bob also participated in an urban-missions quarter sponsored by the Board for Mission Services, which allowed students to serve in various mission areas in the United States with an action-reflection model of ministry.  Such an experience helped him immensely once he graduated and began pastoral work in an urban area.

 

Bob’s first parish was Redeemer Lutheran Church in Orange, NJ, where in 1971 he took on the pastoral duties of caring for a congregation.  At the time, he had not had much evangelism training and did not do a lot of evangelism work, although the congregation did grow.  The Scudieris’ son Nathan had entered the world in 1970, shortly before this call, and their daughter Alison was born while Bob was serving at Redeemer, in 1972.  After four years at Redeemer, Bob was called in 1975 to Christ Memorial Lutheran Church in East Brunswick, NJ.  He recalls that there were five women in the congregation who were excited about sharing the Gospel and who made evangelism house-calls once a week.  When Bob arrived as pastor, they asked him to train them further in evangelism, but he was certain that they knew much more than he did about such work!  He went so far as to call the district president, Walter Zeile, and request that a person be hired to assist with evangelistic work in the parish, a request which was met with silence…and then Zeile replied, “That’s your job.”  So Bob set to work training himself in evangelism through the aid of some teaching tapes, as well as through the example of the women who already were performing this ministry.  A few months later, he was surprised when Rev. Zeile called him back and asked him to be chairman of the district evangelism committee!  Bob took on the position and continued to train, including attending a conference at which he was taught “dialogue evangelism” by Leroy Biesenthal.  The evangelism committee decided to begin its own annual conference entitled “What’s Working in Evangelism,” and Bob also trained his own congregation in dialogue evangelism.  Based on this work, Rev. Biesenthal asked Bob to assist him in evangelism training around the country.  During his time in East Brunswick, Bob was also working on an STM degree and doctorate degree. As part of the doctoral work he undertook a survey of the economically poor in the community (largely single parents) and asked what the church could do that would benefit them the most.  He discovered that what was most needed was transient housing, transportation to jobs, and child care.  Motivated by this study, Christ Memorial Church opened an early childhood center, and Lynn Scudieri started the kindergarten for the center.

 

Meanwhile, as part of his work for the district, Bob was invited to share insights about evangelism with various district executives.  The president of the LCMS English District was interested in his work and in 1984 Bob was called to be the mission executive for the district.  He became responsible for evangelism, new mission starts, campus ministry, social ministry, and stewardship with the English District.  In conjunction with other leaders, Bob decided that mission work in the district would be best served by a focus on new church starts, particularly urban areas among diverse groups of immigrants.  Bob also worked with subsidized churches to help them move into a position of drawing from their own resources for their needs.  While in Michigan, Lynn worked for Concordia College in Ann Arbor, as well as at a displaced homemakers’ program at a community college in Oakland Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

 

One major development in which Bob participated during his service with the English District was that of the Open Arms ministry.  In 1989, Ascension Lutheran Church in Atlanta, GA began a child care center as a precursor to a new church start in the nearby suburb of Alpharetta.  Bob and others involved in evangelistic work picked up on this idea and helped in creating the Open Arms Institute, which has connected with ministries of the LCMS to help churches begin childcare centers (Open Arms Lutheran Child Development Centers) and is currently developing a model by which the Open Arms Institute itself will administer childcare centers while the affiliated church starts can focus on evangelism and ministry.  This combination of ministries has created inroads into many communities and proved a valuable asset for church-planting on the national level.  Also, as part of an effort to raise funds for new mission development, Bob led a campaign in the district to raise $7.5 million in new investments in the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Over $7.6 million was raised.

 

At the end of the 1980s Bob was called to LCMS World Mission to implement LCMS Board for Mission Services’ “Blueprint for the 90’s.”  He set to work equipping the LCMS to reach out to various groups, forming task forces among Latino, African, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jewish, blind, and deaf populations, as well as for campus ministry outreach.  Some time later, an outreach group to Muslims called People of the Book Lutheran Outreach (POBLO) was also formed.  A network called National Affiliates helped the various ministries to remain connected to each other.  Besides the goal of creating targeted outreach ministries, the task forces also provided a way for congregations to provide funding directly to particular ministries.  Much of Bob’s work was in identifying and training leaders for these task forces, hearkening back to his seminary days with on-campus missions and the small-group leadership training he did there.  In the 1990’s, Bob helped to spearhead the Pentecost 2000 drive, which was an intentional push for outreach to different ethnic groups.  Also, in 1997, the church-planting ministry of World Mission was rolled into the Center for U.S. Missions, an organization begun by Bob, which is a partnership between 22 LCMS districts, LCMS World Mission, and Concordia University in Irvine, CA, which provides resources and meeting space.

 

Also during the 1990’s, Bob helped create a new entity affiliated with but distinct from World Mission: the Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSFM).  He recalls that in the early 1990s he began to have a feeling that the division between academics in the seminaries and workers in the field was too great, and at a meeting of the American Society for Missiology he had a discussion with fellow mission-worker Eugene Bunkowske that resulted in LSFM.  With resources for its start provided by World Mission, LSFM had its first meeting in 1993 and began its publications Missio Apostolica and The Communicator.  LSFM also gives annual awards to congregations and individuals demonstrating excellent mission leadership.  During a sabbatical in 1990 Bob was a Research Fellow at Yale Divinity School. While in New Haven he lived at the Overseas Ministry Study Center as he conducted research for and wrote the book Apostolic Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Missionary, which is a study of the Nicene Creed from a missions perspective.  All proceeds from the book have been used to support the LSFM, to continue and expand its work.

 

While Bob was living at the Overseas Ministry Study Center Gerald Anderson was just finishing up his Biography Dictionary of Missionaries.  There are no LCMS missionaries in the biographical dictionaries because, as Anderson told him, no one from LCMS World Mission had responded to a request for biographical data.   Facing Missiology, the missionary profiles project begun in 2006 as a joint venture between LSFM, seminary faculty, and the Concordia Historical Institute is a response to that need.

 

One of the innovations Bob has perfected is the use of squnkwerks as a strategy for addressing issues faced by district mission executives. Squnkwerks on urban missions, rural missions, use of child care to begin new missions, missional leadership, and many others, have been conducted over the years. When a district mission executive faces a knotty problem, they will contact the national office and offer to sponsor a squnkwerks and other executives are brought together by Bob to address the issue together.

 

In his work with the Board for Mission Services, Bob became involved in other planning initiatives for mission work in the 2000s.  He participated in the planning team that led to the Ablaze! movement.  As part of this new focus, the Board for Mission Services shifted focus from areas within international mission to an understanding that there are two mission fields: national and international.  BFMS has now begun calling missionaries to the U.S., and in 2004 the world mission and evangelism arms of the LCMS began a period of intentional collaboration, so that World Mission is now working intentionally on evangelism in the U.S. and on church revitalization.  Bob has participated in these developments and in the creation of the Transforming Churches Network, a Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS through which synodical leadership partners with districts to revitalize congregations.  Meanwhile, during their time in St. Louis, Lynn has worked for a company that provides training for human resources departments, and she has served continually as a hostess and event planner in the Scudieri home which is always open for gatherings of missionaries and mission executives; an open house for the triennial mission convention; and visits by students and others who are passing through the St. Louis area.  The Scudieris continue to support the work of LCMS mission leaders in their professional and personal lives, providing leadership and hospitality for World Missions and particularly for the ministry of mission work in the United States.

 

Nota Bene

 

Parish pastor

President of the New Jersey District Pastoral Conference

Chairman District Evangelism Committee

District Mission Executive, English District

Associate Executive Director, LCMS World Mission

Presentations at many LCMS District Conventions

Chosen by the district presidents of the LCMS in 1992 to be the featured LCMS presenter at the biannual meeting of LCMS and ELCA bishops.

Teaches missions classes at both LCMS seminaries.

Presenter at the 2001 Synod Convention honoring heroes of Pentecost 2000

Numerous articles in various Lutheran publications

Author of the book Apostolic Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Missionary

Chairman of the Lutheran Society for Missiology since 1993

Publisher of Missio Apostolica

Received the Servant of Christ Award, the “highest honor” given by Concordia College, New York

Recipient of the Lutheran Society for Missiology Vision Award for the year 1998

Served on the board of publications of the American Society for Missiology

Founder of The Center for US Missions

One of the founders of The Open Arms Institute

Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Yale Divinity School

Winner of the 2001 Concordia College New York Servant of Christ award

 

Phase 2 Information

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The biggest issue faced by churches and church bodies in the United States at the beginning of the 21st century is the shift in the U.S. as a whole from a largely Christian culture to something else.  Churches must now understand themselves to be on a mission field, and they must consequently focus more heavily on evangelism than in the past; this is not always an easy transition to make.  For the LCMS, the task is to train its congregations to understand themselves as mission outposts and to develop resources according.  Bob notes that 32% of LCMS congregations currently do not baptize or confirm any adults in a given year; another 17% baptize or confirm only one adult.  Churches must focus on mission, and the resources for that mission must come from the mission field and be reproducible.  Part of the task is to understand congregations rather than districts as the front lines of mission work, while still recognizing the important roles districts and the national play.

 

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

Many of Bob’s contributions during his time of service have involved training of mission leaders and helping congregations better to understand their task of mission.  He strives to help congregations view themselves as mission outposts, with the recognition that “apostolic” means “missionary.”  His work has contributed to an increased awareness among Lutherans that they must constantly confront and answer the question, “How do you go and tell when your motto is ‘Here I stand?’”  More specifically, he has helped diversify and promote mission work in the LCMS by raising up exemplary leaders from ethnic groups that are not traditionally Lutheran.

 

Connection to today’s mission?

Bob has had a hand in many aspects of LCMS national mission work that continue to the present day.  His work in congregational starts, including with Open Arms, has helped promote both a drive toward evangelism in the U.S. and the structures that can help make such evangelism a reality.  As associate executive director for national missions in LCMS World Mission, he has been responsible for reaching out to congregations and communities doing mission; overseeing task forces among diverse populations; and, very importantly, training leaders for mission within many communities.  His work toward a changing understanding of national mission and toward bringing together leaders who will implement changes in evangelism will continue to move the LCMS forward in its sharing of the Gospel.

 

Lessons Learned

• “There’s no such thing as instant mission.”  Mission work is difficult work over a long time.
• Leaders are the most critical factor in mission.  Those who do evangelism must know how to raise up and develop mission leaders.
• Local resources are likewise critical: mission work should be self-sustaining using local resources.
• The Lord is full of surprises!
• Mission work requires an undiminishing reservoir of forgiveness all around.  All involved must learn to forgive as the Lord forgives.
• Follow the rule of three: the first two times you try something, you’ll probably fail.  Perseverance is the only way to undertake mission.
• We must be careful in our sharing of the Gospel: it’s not enough to be sincere; you can be sincerely wrong.
• The Lord is always opening a door if we have the sensitivity to see it and the faith and courage to walk through it.
• Even the best people fail and everyone certainly has quirks, even mission administrators.  Humility is a gift that should be treasured.

 

Best Practices

• Developing local resources that are indefinitely reproducible.
• Developing leadership: identifying, assessing, and training good leaders from the beginning of mission work.
• Creating a missional vision; people want to and should know why they are doing mission.
• Vision must be Biblically and theologically informed, always leaving room for the Spirit to work.
• A project like Open Arms is a best practices for mission work.  In this case, the vision of church-planting was supplemented by a practical way of helping communities and providing inroads for new churches through childcare programs.

 

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

Bob reports that it was in seminary that he truly understood and became excited about the Gospel message of freedom and forgiveness.  Once he began serving as a pastor, he was inspired to share this message by the example of the five women in his second congregation who were truly in love with the Gospel and with sharing the Gospel; they made him fall in love with it too, and he began building his career around the goal of sharing the good news of Christ.

 

Quotation by/about or brief story:

 

“How do you go and tell when your motto is ‘Here I stand’?”

 

“The church is apostolic not only in that its teaching is orthodox, but also in that it participates in the great missionary task, begun by Jesus and transmitted by Him to the apostles.”