“Society has changed,” Harrison wrote. “Marriage is delayed. Education comes first. Debt affects marriage and families. Delaying marriage and child rearing means far fewer children. Children are very expensive.”

Realizing the highest growth potential is abroad, the synod is in fellowship with more than 30 church bodies worldwide, particularly in Latin American and Africa. Harrison says Lutheranism “sputters and fails” anywhere clergy don’t have extensive seminary training. For that reason, he said, church leaders in Ethiopia and other areas have asked the Missouri synod for theological support.

“They know they need pastors against glory theology, against prosperity theology and against all kinds of charismatic nonsense going on in Africa,” Harrison said at the conference. “If we are going to stand tall against the culture, if we are going to be intense about reaching out, church planting among cultures of immigrants, nonwhites, etc., we cannot shirk seminary education. It is our crown jewel because it teaches our men what they need to know and give for the gospel.”

In the June 11-14 presidential election, Harrison faces the Rev. Dale Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary in Clayton, and the Rev. David Maier, leader of one of the synod’s largest 35 districts, Michigan.