Redesign and Creative Use: Hugo, Minnesota

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This architectural series is intended to present the experiences of renovating churches as they seek to make new use of existing structures for expanded ministry. As such, one might wonder why a new build facility is included in the series. But while the Hugo project was not a renovation of an existing structure, it is an example of meeting challenges through redesign and creative use of multipurpose space.

A Little History

Christ Lutheran was a founding church in the city of North St. Paul in 1887. After 115 years of faithful ministry in the community, 2002 brought an opportunity to expand Christ Lutheran’s reach to a growing community 13 miles to the north.

Hugo, Minnesota, had been a sleepy little crossroads town settled in 1850 and organized in 1870. Over the next 130 years, it remained largely agrarian and unchanged. But urban sprawl and improved roads brought suburban development. By the time of the millennium, population growth projections forecasted an exponential increase over the next 20 years. Clearly, this was a golden opportunity to connect people with the gospel.

And yet, this potential mission field was not within the parish reach of any WELS church. In fact, there were just three existing churches of any denomination within city limits. Christ Lutheran leadership recognized an opportunity for multi-site ministry, and by late 2005 a group of worshipers was meeting in the gym of the local public elementary school.

It wasn’t long before the anticipation of increased enrollment led the local school district to build a second elementary school. It would be a state-of-the-art facility and would include a cafetorium—a large gathering space serving as both cafeteria and auditorium. Its vaulted ceilings, chandeliers, polished woods and terrazzo floors would be ideal for Sunday worship. We were blessed to be able to secure Sunday morning rental of the new facility.

When the facility became available to us, it lived up to the hype. There was plenty of space for gathering, worship, and fellowship. The school provided chairs for seating, tables for eating, and even decent acoustics for singing. And if all of this wasn’t enough, the entrance was through a cross-bearing clock tower.1 Our first gathering for worship in the new space was two days before the school opened for students. For years members would joke that it was our building and we just let the school district use it during the week. It was a blessing for which we are thankful, but it did set the expectations for facility rather high if we were to ever build a Hugo campus of our own.

A Vision

As time passed and the Word was proclaimed, it became clear that there was an opportunity to be seized and a need to be met. While we made use of local gathering places like coffee shops and the community room at a local credit union, meeting space during the week was sorely needed. Guests and members alike expressed hesitance to commit to a church that continued to rent a facility rather than build. Further, families in worship, demographic research, and outreach events helped us to see the growing opportunity for sharing the gospel through child care and Christian education. Work began in earnest to develop a vision for the future long before the purchase of land for future ministry. Hugo outreach opportunities looked like they would come through childcare and a permanent presence in the community.

Facility to support this vision included a dedicated sanctuary for worship, childcare facilities for 100+ children, as well as 16 classrooms and a gymnasium for a Lutheran Elementary School. It was fun to dream, and we pray that this all-inclusive vision can one day be realized in God’s time and way. But available resources dictated a phased approach over ten to fifteen years. That left us with the challenge of seizing the childcare opportunity in a timely way, yet providing gathering space for worship and midweek events—and on a limited budget.

A Challenge

We were blessed to work with local architectural and building firms with excellent reputations. The architect helped us design a facility that would meet our needs. But it didn’t come without challenges.

Childcare facility regulations are specific regarding square footage and accoutrements. So many square feet are needed for each student and each level. Teacher-to-student ratios dictate the needed number of classrooms. Bathrooms, security requirements, kitchen regulations, and a host of other factors were largely set for us. In fact, this part of the building would prove the easiest to design. But the challenge was designing a building that would meet this specific ministry need while remaining flexible for church use throughout the week and ready for future expansion.

Working with our architect, our building committee set to work designing meeting, office, and multi-purpose space. This proved to be difficult. How do you provide gathering space that is suitable for Sunday morning worship, yet also suitable for play space during the week? How do you offer a secure facility for children, yet make the building accessible for guests and members? How do you build a kitchen space that can serve regulated meals for childcare students during the week, yet convenient enough for church fellowship events? How do you design a worship space that clearly proclaims the power and permanence of the Means of Grace, yet is flexible enough to host a community dinner or a childcare center kiddy dance?

These and similar questions kept our architect and building committee in near constant discussion. Multiple plans were drawn. Rooms were moved and re-shaped. Height, space, acoustics, technology, security, and a host of other aspects all needed to be considered. We knew God had a path for us, but we seemed to be stuck.

Centered on Christ

There is a phrase that has been proposed in the design of ecclesiastical buildings: Form follows function follows faith.2 Basically, the design of the building supports the ministry of the congregation. The ministry of the congregation is reflective of the faith which the congregation confesses. To this point, our building committee and architect had embraced “form” and “function.” But it wasn’t until we had some help and fully embraced the “faith” aspect of the phrase, that our design finally came together.

Form follows function follows faith.

The “help” came in the form of a liturgical consultant. Whether you’re renovating existing space or building new, a liturgical consultant is a tremendous help. The liturgical consultant team helped us clarify and prioritize what was truly needed to carry out the ministry we intended in the worship space. They asked thought-provoking questions. They educated our team on how light, color, and materials communicate the message of our faith. They pointed to symbols, shapes, furniture, art, and placement of such things as opportunity to point to Christ. These conversations led us to a focal point from which everything else would find centrality.

Hugo, MN - Baptismal Font

A living water font in a prominent location.

In Hugo the dominant spiritual influence is a non-denominational church with Baptist roots. This multi-campus mega-church welcomes thousands on a Sunday yet downplays the gospel in Word and sacrament. We knew early on that our confessional stance on the Means of Grace would make us distinctive in the community. We knew that we had a remarkable opportunity for future baptisms through the childcare center, and we wanted a living water font in a prominent location. The design came together when our liturgical consultants suggested a particular placement for the font. This became our focal point.

The suggestion was to place the font at the intersection of two axes: 1) the axis between the main entrance and multi-purpose space altar; and 2) the axis between the childcare center and a dedicated sanctuary to be built some time, and Lord willing, in the future. This concept shifted some rooms and moved some walls, but the placement of the font and subsequent building design would form a geometric cross. Driving the point home, the consultants further suggested hanging a suspended cross over the font. Above both, emphasizing our focal point, would be a clerestory. In the completed building the font and cross will be visible, whether from the altar, the main hall of the childcare center, or the entrance. Parents bringing their children to the center will pass within feet the focal point. These three features (font, suspended cross, clerestory) combine not only as the focal point for everyone who enters the building but also as its symbolic and geometric center, clearly proclaiming that baptism is at the heart of our mission and ministry at Christ Lutheran Church and Cornerstone Childcare Center.

Font at intersection of two axes in three phase plan.

Font at intersection of two axes in three phase plan.

Multi-Purpose—What Does This Mean?

With the placement of the font, the rest of the building fell into place. There was one exception: the multi-purpose space. We already knew that the space would need to include the typical furniture found in a Lutheran sanctuary. We also knew that we wanted these pieces to have a certain gravitas, emphasizing the power and permanence of the gospel. And yet much of it had to be movable to allow for multiple uses of the space throughout the week.

This led to a frank discussion about how the room would be used (actually, not just potentially) both by the congregation and by the childcare center. The question that needed an answer was this: Would the childcare center need the multipurpose space for active play? In other words, did it need to serve as a gymnasium as well as a sanctuary? As it turned out, it didn’t.

In order for the multi-purpose space to be considered as play space for the children, it had to be within the center itself and its security features. But because of design needs, the multi-purpose space would have to be outside the security features of the childcare center. By regulation, then, any time spent in the multi-purpose space would be considered a field trip and the space would be unusable for regular play. This was welcome news for the building committee as it struggled to balance church and child ministry. But there was more work to be done.

Not needing the space to serve as a gymnasium didn’t mean that flexibility within the space was no longer necessary. It just meant that we no longer needed to be concerned with flying discs and bouncing balls damaging furniture and walls. The space needed to be designed for acoustical balance, technological advances, positional seating, movable appointments, and adjustable lighting. It needed to be a do-it-all kind of room. A seemingly impossible task.

Bringing It All Together

It is important to note at this point, that we had a great team: architect, liturgical consultant, builder, and building committee. As a team we brought it all together through frank discussions, open conversations, and willingness to see alternative perspectives. This became increasingly clear when we hooked into a major snag.

We had finalized a design which included three phases:

  • Phase 1 – Childcare center with meeting and multi-purpose space for worship
  • Phase 2 – Dedicated sanctuary and gathering space for worship
  • Phase 3 – Classrooms and gymnasium for the addition of a grade school

It was a beautiful design giving us everything we were looking for. But when the job was put out for bids by the builder, the bids came back significantly higher than the architect and builder had anticipated. A slight increase in bids might have been expected, but the recession of 2008 had forced many contractors to scale back their workforce or to shut down completely. Consequently, though there were fewer building permits being pulled, there were also fewer workers to do the building. Contractors were able and needed to charge more for the work.

There was nothing we could do. We didn’t have the funding to build what we had designed. We had to go back to the drawing board and scale back on the features, materials, and square footage in order to bring the cost of Phase 1 into line with our budget.

This is where “team” became so important. After some tense moments of questioning and head scratching, we were able to begin redesigning together. The architect went to work moving walls and adjusting space in conjunction with building committee priorities. Building committee members reassessed technology needs and worked with designers to adjust and reposition components and access points. The liturgical consultants went through several drafts of furniture design in order to balance our desire for gravitas with our need for mobility. Musician space, traffic flow, ceiling height, window placement, and a long list of others factors all had to be reexamined and modified. It was stated above that while the Hugo project was a new build, it ended up being a near-complete redesign, one might even call it a renovation. Yet by God’s grace, the building once again took shape. In the final analysis we were still able to incorporate nearly everything we had wanted.

Worth It

As mentioned above, our desire was to have a living water baptismal font. This proved to be quite a challenge with an elegant solution. The floor of the multipurpose space is stained and polished concrete. Only around the base of the font, however, is the concrete stained in a design that highlights the cross and four gospels, thus designating the space as something special. Centrally recessed in the concrete is access to electricity. The font is designed to rise above it. Within the base of the font is a reservoir for distilled water. The water is pumped up to pool in an art-glass bowl. From there, the water gently spills over the sides, running down into another bowl. This bowl is formed in the hand-chiseled stone top of the font base. From there, the water returns to the reservoir. Because all of this is enclosed within the font, it can moved, if necessary.

Yet as impressive as the design is in its elegance and functionality, we were overjoyed to see how the glass bowl reflects the natural light, how the water dances down the sides, and how the solidity of the font captured the very gravitas we sought. Even so, the greatest joy was yet to come.

Around the inside lip of the stone bowl is chiseled a summary of Galatians 3:27. It reads “Baptized into Christ + Clothed with Christ.” These words were chosen both for the miracle they describe and for the simple explanation they provide for the emphasis we place on baptism. It was our prayer that these words would serve as a focal point and conversation center for discussions with parents about the baptisms of their children.

The conversations started immediately and continue to happen. Children love to stand at the font and watch the light play with the water as they are reminded of their own baptisms. (And yes, the occasional hand reaches out to touch the water.) Guests to the childcare center often ask of the significance of the “fountain.” And parents bring their children to be baptized. One couple connected with the childcare center asked about the font. Standing alongside it, one of our pastors was able to use the passage and the font to describe the miracle that takes place through water and the Word. The couple shared that they had sporadically attended the local mega-church. But they also admitted that they had been uncomfortable with that church’s teaching on baptism. Both felt that there was more to baptism than an ordinance of commitment. Only a few weeks later their daughter was baptized.

This is what kingdom work is all about. In the midst of challenges it can be difficult to see what the Lord has in store. He calls on us to cast the net of his gospel, promising that the results will be according to his will. Today, the childcare center is full. Dozens of souls have been washed clean through water and the Word. Thousands of souls have received nourishment through Word and sacrament. Souls are saved. Hearts are healed. Eternity is assured. It is our prayer that in this way the Lord continues to use the font, the facility, the members, and the ministry of Christ Lutheran to proclaim the gospel and share the good news of salvation through Jesus.

Written by Joel Gawrisch

Joel Gawrisch served for 14 years at Christ Lutheran before taking a call to New Life in Shoreview, Minnesota. He serves on the Minnesota District Worship Committee, the Schools of Worship Enrichment team, the Rites Committee for the new hymnal project, and with the Commission on Congregational Counseling’s Self-Assessment and Adjustment Program.

1 A local developer team of brothers had donated the property to the school with the stipulation that the building would incorporate a clock tower of their design. The sons of a Methodist pastor, the developers designed the tower to clearly incorporate a cross behind the clock face.
2 The original concept “form follows function” was first authored by American architect Louis Henry Sullivan (1856-1924). Sullivan is considered to be the “father of skyscrapers.”

2017 National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts

Kenosha, WI (June 13-16) and Irvine, CA (June 27-30). Something for everyone: lay leaders, musicians, pastors, teachers; Children’s Choir and High School Honor Choir. wels.net/national-worship-conference.

 

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Preach the Word – Preach specific law as law

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To Correctly Handle the Word of Truth

Preach Specific Law as Law

You are preachers. So let me ask you: What’s the worst reaction to a sermon you’ve experienced? Is it the councilman standing in the back where you can see the steam rising off his bald head as you approach afterward? Or maybe it was when he just left the building altogether? Or was it worse when you saw the woman breaking down in tears over on the side? Or when the prospect was offended by what you said? While I get it, none of those are fun—I’d throw another option into the mix…the yawn.

Jesus himself called the members of the church at Laodicea on the carpet for that one: “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are luke-warm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”1

I wish you were either one or the other. Can you relate? God’s Word produces a reaction. We know that. We can hum some choir piece that will instantly put the words of Isaiah 55 swirling in our heads. “As the snow falls from heaven…this is my Word.”2  We know his Word produces a reaction, “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”3 So when you see the yawn, when you sense apathy, aaarrrrghhh.4 What did I do to prevent the Word from being heard? Why aren’t you people listening to me?!

That’s a good question. In our most recent circuit meeting, we had a roundtable discussion on a couple of the topics I’ll be tackling in this volume of PTW. I asked the men gathered around the table what sermons have been most powerful for them as listeners, the most impactful. Then I asked them why. What made them connect to you?

Across the board, the first thing they all mentioned was what I had come up with as my own answer for the question: Specific law. I’ll let their words speak:

  • “The more stinging the law, the more specific, the more my attention is focused. In fact, if the law isn’t specific, sadly, you probably don’t have my attention.”
  • “When the preacher finds the way to cut through the idea that ‘that’s for those people, not me.’”
  • “When there is a clear malady I can relate to.”
  • “If I don’t hear that specific law that pushes me into the corner and tells me this is what you’ve done—I feel that they haven’t put the time in …to preach my soul into the depths of hell so you could bring me up again. You didn’t put the time in to let Jesus shine in this sermon. That’s why I came to be fed.”

The more stinging the law, the more specific, the more my attention is focused.

And then they came right back around to talking about how we have to hold ourselves to that same standard too. The old question was revisited: “What’s the difference between a good sermon and a great sermon?” The answer: “About 5 hours.”

I think we can all agree with the goal we talked about in the last issue of this newsletter. Our goal in every sermon is “That they would see Jesus.”5  And as Lutherans, I think we can also agree with the truth that this happens when we first realize our need for him. Helping people see Jesus happens when we come to grips with our own need to see him. As God so often demonstrates in his Word, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”6 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.”7 We’re talking about the God who, as Mary said, “brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.”8

Walther hit that with his sixth thesis: “In the second place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Law is not preached in its full sternness and the Gospel not in its full sweetness.”9 Your goal is to let them see Jesus, and that happens when the law does its work first, not a general statement that “sin is bad,” but the reality of what it does.

The law is not gospel. It is not a solution, something that makes your life better if you just do it right. The damage of that kind of preaching came to life for me in my discussion with my panel of former seekers that I introduced in the last issue. I’ll let them make this point:

  • “I now understand why we are to be ‘convicted of our sins,’ not as reason to get me to do something like come to the altar call, where I’d find no relief.”
  • “I was afraid of hell. I was afraid of God, so I would do what they told me to do. Even communion was used as a weapon, ‘You’d better be good so you don’t eat and drink damnation.’”
  • “I have never felt pressured to perform here, but most of my life I had felt pressured. Looking back, it felt a little like a time-share presentation, like they were trying to pressure me into doing something. I remember one sermon on the cost benefit analysis of tithing. And I listened to that and thanked the preacher for it! But here the emphasis isn’t on what you need to do today as much as just teaching how to apply the Word and live it daily.”
  • “I don’t look at the law anymore and wait for God to pat me on the back or the preacher to point out what good I did, or someone else did. That’s not what it is for.”

The job we have is not to brush over the law with soft broad strokes but to pierce the heart.

No, the law is preparatory. And that doesn’t soften it. You know that. By God’s grace you’ve experienced that. The gospel is the sweetest and predominates when I’ve first been stung by the law, stung deeply and specifically. The job we have is not to brush over the law with soft broad strokes but to pierce the heart. Sometimes I find that hard to do. It’s not that there’s a text that doesn’t point out my failures or my inherent weakness and ineptitude. I haven’t found that yet. It’s hard to do when I start to fear that my hearers may take it too personally, when I fear some of the reactions I mentioned in the first paragraph.

I remember early on in my ministry writing and re-writing a specific law paragraph in a sermon because it hit too close to home. It was one of those texts that so directly addressed something going on in the congregation. And I didn’t want to make people mad. I didn’t want them to think I had gone and found that text just because I wanted to yell at them about this. But then I realized: this is God’s Word, and his law is specific. I just had to realize that God’s Word would work like he promised. That kind of specific law either produces anger or tears or both.

Permit a few more insights from my panel of seekers discussing the joy of hearing law and gospel properly divided (or at least hearing someone trying for it). You’ll notice they started talking about the liturgy as well as the preaching, another place they had come to appreciate the clear proclamation of law and its gospel answer so consistently:

  • “I’m so grateful that I can sit in church and admit that I am a sinner. It’s so different from what I used to do, pretending holiness—constantly afraid that someone would see through the front I was putting on.”
  • “A good service is not works, but worship.”
  • “Even without raising hands (this is from a former Pentecostal) God is there, in the emphasis of the service, in his Word. God is there.”
  • And then my favorite: “Like you always say, it’s ‘because he loves us’. God’s not waiting to smack you upside the head. He stings us with his law because he loves us.”

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But how do we get there? I can’t pretend that I’ve got all the answers for that. The comments my panel made about the preaching here probably make it sound better than it is. Please understand, it just makes clear how bad their previous experiences were that my attempts at properly dividing law and gospel were so astounding in comparison. But in an effort to help us all together strive for clear law preaching to prepare hearts for the gospel, consider a checklist. This is based on one that Pastor Daron Lindemann shared with me that he uses as he prepares his sermons.10 The goal is to ensure that our sermons preach law messages that are specific, not generic, explicit, not vague. This was developed due to the realization that it is too easy to slip to the latter, even for us WELS preachers.

  • Explicit law and gospel are first and foremost textual. They are not clichés and platitudes. They seek to proclaim the beautiful, scriptural, true commands or promises that are first and foremost found in the text and supported grammatically.
  • Explicit law and gospel reflect not just the grammar, but the color, flavor, and tone of the text. Inspirational? Hard-hitting? Narrative? Meditational? Go there.
  • Explicit law doesn’t make generalizations (“we all do this”) or ask questions like “Have you cheated on your taxes?” which statistically allow some people to say that they have not sinned in this way and thus promotes Pharisaism. Explicit law is not afraid to use the second person instead of the first person when preaching the law.
  • Explicit law does not let anyone escape because it funnels to the first commandment and the heart.
  • Explicit law uses the third use of the law in its applications and is careful, again, to remain faithful to the text.
  • Explicit law doesn’t feel the need to preach the entire story of the fall and all its consequences in every sermon. It dives deep and enters the narrow rather than wading in the familiar, safe shallows. We have an entire church year and lectionary. Let’s use each Sunday for what it’s worth.
  • Explicit law is not merely saying “you’re going to hell for doing that.” Hell is not the primary punishment for sin. The punishment for sin is a broken relationship with God, which is manifested eternally in hell.
  • Explicit law and gospel often, but not always, cause a listener to say, “I felt like you were talking to me.”
  • Explicit law and gospel often, but not always, develop a sermon theme or at least main points where a listener can look at the theme or main points and say, “Based on that, I think _______ is the sermon text.” And they’d be right.
  • Explicit law and gospel are specific and focused, rather than general and broad. They would find it difficult to be used in another sermon.
  • Explicit law is not afraid to use the third use of the law and doesn’t overreact to the Evangelicals. It gives the Christian a hook from the text for living the gospel.

Using this checklist may not guarantee you that you never see the yawn. But it is my prayer that they encourage you to preach the stinging law that God’s Word presents, that you might see yourselves as “wretched, poor, blind and naked,” so that you may buy from him “gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Then, to him who overcomes he gives the right to sit with him on his throne just as he overcame and sat down with the Father on his throne.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”11

Written by Jonathan Scharf

Walther’s Law & Gospel

“However, let the Law once force its way into a person’s heart, and that heart will strain with all its force against God. The person will become furious at God for asking such impossible things of him” (14).

Four Branches

As you constantly hone your preaching craft, take advantage of the new resource put out by the Seminary’s “Grow in Grace.” Beginning September, 2016, the “Four Branches” monthly newsletter has been emailed to all pastors in our ministerium. Each issue features articles on Biblical, Historical, Systematic, and Practical Theology. You can access the previous issues and articles at wls.wels.net/grow-in-grace/the-four-branches-review.

Law as law—an example:

With each issue I’ll try to include a snippet of a sermon on an upcoming text that clearly, simply, and textually declares law and gospel. In this issue let’s look ahead to Ash Wednesday, a day when specific and explicit law should not be hard to preach. This is a sermon on Genesis 3:1912 with the theme: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. In this section of the sermon, the law focuses more on the condition and result of sin than the activity of it.

God had said to the serpent, “You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life,” and then he tells Adam— “You, man, are dust” and humanity has been running from him who holds the power of death ever since, as he slithers along ready to consume us. And we just are not fast enough.

Adam knew this death, the death of his perfect trust in God, comfort with God, the death of his perfect relationship with his wife. He would hold death in his arms as his son died at the hand of his brother. Driven from the garden, he would no longer be able to eat from the tree of life and live forever.

And we are right there too, aren’t we? We recall what sin has done to our lives, where the thorns and thistles bring sweat to our brows, where chaos and confusion reign in our world, where our bodies slowly die through sickness and disease, aging and pain. Sin has driven us from relationships and good habits, driven us to drink or to lie or to look for value or pleasure in the wrong places. Sin has driven us from loving, trusting connections, and not just with others, but with our eternal God. Sin has driven us from the tree of life in the middle of that Garden. Driven from the Garden, but like Adam, not driven to despair.

How do I know? Look at the very next verse of Genesis 3. Right after God told Adam, “You are dust, and to dust you will return,” Moses records what happened next. Verse 20: “Adam named his wife Eve.” Life. That’s what her name means. Life. God had just told Adam—Remember death. And he names her “Life.”

The full sermon is at worship.welsrc.net/download-worship/preach-the-word-volume-20.

1 Revelation 3:14-16
2 “This is My Word,” Pepper Choplin
3 1 Corinthians 1:23
4 I think that’s how you spell frustration, right?
5 Thesis XXV, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel. “In the twenty-first place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the person teaching it does not allow the Gospel to have a general predominance in his teaching.”
6 Luke 5:4
7 Matthew 9:12
8 Luke 1:52
9 The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel.
10 Give Pastor Lindemann credit for anything useful here. I’ll take the blame for the rest as I modified it a bit.
11 From Jesus’ letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea, Revelation 3:14-22.
12 Many thanks to Pastor Michael Kober for his conference sermon on this text that gave food for thought as I prepared this sermon.

June 2017 Worship Conferences

Here’s a sampling of the 60 presentations available in Kenosha, WI and Irvine, CA. The first two are directly related to preaching.

  • 21st Century Preaching to Millennials and Other Generations Too
    James Hein
  • Communicating Christ in the 21st Century
    Mark Paustian
  • Different Styles of Psalmody for the New Hymnal
    Dan Witte and Grace Hennig
  • Strategic Planning and Worship Enrichment
    Joel Gawrisch
  • Striving for Balance in Worship
    Jon Micheel
  • Worship and Outreach at Mount Horeb, WI
    Jonathan Bauer
  • Worship and Outreach at Sharpsburg, GA
    Jonathan Schroeder

Details are at wels.net/national-worship-conference.

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WELS benefits

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The WELS Benefit Plans Office (BPO) serves WELS and Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) workers and organizations through administration of the WELS Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA) Health Plan, the WELS Pension Plan, and the WELS Shepherd Plan.

One of the important advantages of participating in WELS Benefit Plans is that the coverage and benefits provided are uniform throughout all 50 states. This supports the WELS ministry and call process because worker call decisions are not influenced by health insurance and retirement benefit decisions.

Visit welsbpo.net for more information.

Did you know? The WELS Pension Plan pays more than $1 million in total retirement benefits every month to nearly 2,200 retired workers and surviving spouses.

Financing for mission congregations

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Beautiful Savior, Moncks Corner, S.C., dedicated its first church in May 2016 with the help of Home Missions and WELS Church Extension Fund.

WELS Church Extension Fund, Inc., (WELS CEF) provides financing through loans and grants to mission congregations so they can acquire land and ministry facilities to be used for gospel outreach in coordination with WELS Home Missions. WELS CEF also provides loans to self-supporting WELS congregations and schools for land and facility projects. The money to carry out CEF’s mission comes from investments and gifts from WELS members, congregations, and affiliated organizations.

In fiscal year 2015–16, $32.8 million of new loans and $4 million of new grant requests were approved. WELS CEF’s loan portfolio ended the year at $139.7 million with 208 loans to WELS congregations and affiliates.

For more information, visit wels.net/cef.

Professionally managed investment portfolios

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WELS Investment Funds is a self-supporting subsidiary of WELS. Its mission is to provide cost-effective, professionally managed investment portfolios exclusively for WELS affiliated ministries. By pooling investment resources through WELS Investment Funds, congregations can take advantage of lower cost, institutional priced investment alternatives that would not otherwise be available.

WELS Investment Funds currently manages $180 million in assets, which includes $36 million for 171 congregations and 35 affiliated ministries.

Visit wels.net/welsfunds for more information.

Helping people support ministry

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WELS Foundation exists to help God’s people support gospel ministry through WELS. Planned gifts provide funding for WELS congregations, schools, missions, and other affiliated ministries. In 2016, WELS Foundation administered and distributed $6.6 million in donor directed gifts to various WELS ministries. Visit wels.net/foundation for more information.

NPH celebrates 125 years in 2016

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Northwestern Publishing House (NPH) exists to deliver Christ-centered, biblically sound resources within WELS and beyond. NPH publishes Forward in Christ and Meditations, Bible studies, books, music, elementary and Sunday school curriculum, and worship materials. In 2016, NPH released more than 50 Christian resources in print and digital formats, including:

  • two titles in the Bible Discovery series—A Chosen Land for a Chosen People and Time Between the Testaments;
  • seven devotional/inspirational books;
  • fourteen books and other resources in anticipation of Reformation 500;
  • two resources for pastoral growth;
  • Christ-Light homeschool curriculum;
  • summer vacation Bible school program, Christmas for Kids, and Easter for Kids;
  • twelve music offerings for children and adults; and
  • six new Bible studies for large and small groups.

In 2016, NPH also reached WELS members through 95 book fairs in churches and schools along with displays at 29 WELS conferences.

Visit nph.net or stop by the NPH Christian Books and Gifts store in Milwaukee, Wis., to learn more.

WELS visitor center

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In fall 2016, a WELS visitor center opened at the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry in Waukesha, Wis. The visitor center includes a visual timeline of WELS’ history as well as informational kiosks on areas of ministry. Materials from the archives are also on display. Guests are shown a video highlighting WELS’ ministry and receive a tour of the synod’s headquarters. To schedule your visit to the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry, e-mail [email protected] or call 414-256-3200.

CAR in Baton Rouge, La.

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In August 2016, Baton Rouge, La., received torrential downpours that resulted in flooding that left almost 150,000 homes damaged and thousands of families displaced. After initial assessments and meetings with pastors and members at Crown of Life, New Orleans, and Cross of Glory, Baton Rouge, WELS Christian Aid and Relief put together a plan to rebuild eight homes, only one of which was a home of a WELS member. The other homes are owned by friends of members, like Gloria Ray (pictured here with volunteer Dennis Tennier). In October and November, 26 volunteers helped by hanging drywall, taping, and finishing the spaces. To learn more, visit wels.net/relief.

WELS Mobile

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WELS Mobile, available for Apple, Android, and Amazon users, lets users listen to or read daily devotions and Bible readings as well as access WELS news, videos, and radio stations.

MCG coordinates One in Christ effort

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  • WELS Ministry of Christian Giving coordinated the “One in Christ” effort that, by God’s blessing, successfully eliminated the synod’s $4.7 million debt 18 months ahead of schedule.
  • The Ministry of Christian Giving mailed a series of postcards informing eligible WELS members about a new law that allows them to make qualified charitable distributions from an individual retirement account to their church, synod, and other WELS organizations without counting the distributions as income for federal tax purposes.

CLS better equips WELS teachers for their important work

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Lutheran Schools is seeking to address the need for principals and early childhood directors. In 2016, 15 men and women completed a one-year Leadership Candidate Training cohort, which identifies teachers with leadership characteristics and begins to train them for a school leadership role. Three men from the cohort have already transitioned to principal positions in WELS schools. The Principal Training Program and Principal and Director Apprentice Mentoring are two other programs led by Lutheran Schools that focus on the training of new school leaders.

Did you know? In 2016, more than 41,000 students throughout more than 500 congregations were daily fed with the gospel message by attending a Lutheran high school, elementary school, or early childhood center.

Women’s Ministry focuses on mentoring

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On July 21–23, 2016, the WELS Women’s Ministry Conference was held at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis. With a focus on mentoring, women left the conference driven by the gospel to share the love of Jesus with others through the relationships and opportunities that God has given them.

Telling the Next Generation

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  • WhatAboutJesus.com, WELS’ outreach website, was redesigned and updated. New articles are posted regularly as well the Commission on Evangelism’s popular daily devotions.
  • Telling the Next Generation: Utilizing Our Schools for Outreach is a new workshop developed by the Commissions on Evangelism and Lutheran Schools. The program serves congregations with planning, assistance, and resources for implementation of outreach strategies in Lutheran elementary schools and early childhood ministries. Learn more at welscongregationalservices.net/telling-the-next-generation.

Commission launches its School of Strategic Planning

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In the past two years, the Commission on Congregational Counseling has helped 40 congregations assess and adjust their ministry to achieve more zealous gospel proclamation.

In 2016, the commission launched its School of Strategic Planning.

CYFM debuts new downloadable resource

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WELS Youth and Family Ministry debuted a new downloadable resource for church leaders to help them develop youth ministry programs. Titled Transformed: Equipping Youth Leaders, the resource includes videos, which focus on the importance of the different aspects of youth ministry as well as a collection of Bible studies, recommended readings, and “how-to” resources for youth ministries. Visit nph.net to purchase.

Two series of studies held in 2016

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Two series of Interactive Faith Bible studies were held in 2016. Rev. Gary Pufahl led a study in January entitled Who is your God? Rev. John Braun led a study in October on the continuing importance of Luther’s Small Catechism.

A new referral link

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  • A new referral link, wels.net/refer, has made it easier to submit names of people who often have a hard time receiving personal gospel ministry. This includes WELS members in the military, those incarcerated, or people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
  • A new civilian chaplain, Rev. Don Stuppy, has arrived in Germany to serve WELS military personnel and civilians living in western Europe.

Mike Novotny

Rev. Mike Novotny presented at the Men of His Word Conference in Oshkosh, Wis., about the work of Conquerors through Christ, a Special Ministries team that provides resources to help people avoid or stop using pornography. In 2016, Conquerors through Christ developed resources for parents who want to protect their children from the corrupting impact of pornography.
Visit conquerorsthroughchrist.net for more information.

Worship resources for Reformation 500

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  • The Commission on Worship has developed resources to assist congregations with plans to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. These resources will premiere at the June 13–16, 2017, national worship conference and include five Reformation-themed services and several newly commissioned hymns and musical resources.
  • More than 60 people are immersed in the many details of researching and planning for the next WELS hymnal. Field testing of some materials began in select congregations in 2016. More information is available at welshymnal.com.

2016 WELS International Youth Rally

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More than 2,500 WELS teens and their adult leaders gathered for the 2016 WELS International Youth Rally held June 28–July 1 at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Organized by WELS Commission on Youth and Family Ministry, the rally included Bible-focused worship, education, and fellowship opportunities. Attendees raved about their experiences:

Duke Backhaus, 18, from St. Paul’s, Tomah, Wis.: “The workshops were amazing; I really loved them. They all pointed me towards Christ and taught me a lot. I know now I’m going to be a pastor.”

Grant Kloosterman, 16, from Living Word, Gray, Tenn.: “WELS really is like a big family. It seems everyone knows someone, and nobody here at the rally feels like a stranger.”

Emily Gage, 18, from Good Shepherd, Woodlands, Tex.: “It was awesome to praise God with so many fellow Christians my age.”

Rev. John Boggs, chairman of the Commission on Youth and Family Ministry, says, “The young people of our synod are not just the future of our synod; they are the here and now of our synod. They need to be in worship and Bible study, and they need our prayers, support, and attention now. The focus of the WELS International Youth Rally is to share God’s precious Word that speaks as much to them now at the ages of 14-18 as it will as they grow older.”

Partnering with Christians worldwide

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The Pastoral Studies Institute team of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary gained one more member in 2016. Rev. Jon Bare accepted the call to serve as the international recruitment director. Bare joins Rev. Brad Wordell, world seminary professor, and Rev. E. Allen Sorum, director of the Pastoral Studies Institute. The team’s assignment is to find ways to follow up on requests from groups around the world who want to align with confessional church bodies like the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference through the training of their current church leadership.

As a joint project with WELS Missions, the PSI team collaborates with our WELS mission teams already in place and also collaborate with WELS immigrants in North America. In 2016, members of the PSI team visited groups in six states and seven countries. For more information, visit wls.wels.net.

Did you know? During the 2016-17 school year, 116 students were enrolled at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

“Of all the fancy technology that I have at my fingertips, my favorite is the kitchen table. There, teaching takes place. Relationships are formed. Dreams are inspired. Dreams that God blesses so they become travel plans and mission trips.” Rev. E. Allen Sorum, director of the Pastoral Studies Institute at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

Vicar Year

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While serving as a vicar at Water of Life, Las Vegas, Nev., Jason Free gained important insights into the ministry: “So often we picture full-time ministry as something that happens inside a church. Then we step outside of that building and there is this massive world full of people, all kinds of people, who are just waiting to hear there is a Savior in this world who died for them, for their sins! That was the awesome message I had the privilege of sharing both to an African ministry that was just beginning to get its feet on the ground and a well-established Korean ministry.”

Academic success at MLC

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“I love what I do,” says Jessica Zahrt, who teaches kindergarten and first grade at Our Savior’s, Wausau, Wis. “There’s nothing better than seeing progress in young students’ academic and social skills and watching their knowledge of God and faith in him grow.“

When Jessica’s three children were in school, she began looking into master’s programs. “Martin Luther College (MLC) was the best fit for me,” explains Zahrt. “I loved the undergrad education I received there, which was focused on God’s Word and ministering to children and their families. . . . MLC’s completely online format was also convenient for me as a busy mom and teacher, and from what I found, also the most economical choice for our budget.”

Zahrt enrolled in MLC’s program in 2012 and graduated in 2016.

Reflecting on her time in graduate school, she says, “I most enjoyed the camaraderie of learning with fellow Christian teachers who are in classrooms so similar to mine. . . . These classmates, along with caring professors, encouraged me in my ministry to grow, improve, and faithfully continue to ‘run the race’ (Hebrews 12:1).”

Nate Wordell

In August 2016, Nate Wordell was ordained and installed as a tutor at Martin Luther College (also pictured is MLC President Mark Zarling). Wordell is a 2016 Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary graduate and a 2012 Martin Luther College graduate. Shortly before Wordell received his assignment to MLC, he reflected on his time there: “MLC taught me about God’s Word. Whether I become a pastor or not, the most important thing I can do is read my Bible. That is hands-down my biggest takeaway from MLC. MLC also helped me better understand people. . . . MLC taught me how much people need Jesus—myself included.”

Move-in Day

On move-in day, Martin Luther College students were greeted with tables around campus advertising organizations to join and opportunities to build relationships and gain ministry experience. MLC freshman Jonah Backus says, “MLC is an amazing environment for learning and being encouraged in the faith.” MLC’s first semester on-campus enrollment in fall 2016 totaled 742. For more information, visit mlc-wels.edu.

Taste of Ministry

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Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS), Saginaw, Mich., and Luther Preparatory School (LPS), Watertown, Wis., prepare high school students to attend Martin Luther College and serve as called workers. For the 2016–17 school year, Luther Preparatory School has 423 students and Michigan Lutheran Seminary has 218.

Both schools offer “Taste of Ministry” opportunities for students, which include shadowing called workers to learn more about their work. Students also are given firsthand gospel ministry experiences on campus and during mission trips.

For more information, visit mlsem.org or lps.wels.net.

Forty-eight Luther Preparatory School students participated in mission trips in 2016. Pictured is Hannah Oelhafen at Cross of Life, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

 

Senior Caitlynn McGill is participating in a Taste of Ministry event at St. Paul, Saginaw, Mich., so that she can experience working with students firsthand.

Christ-centered resources

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Christ-centered resources from Academia Cristo (Christ Academy) are reaching Spanish speakers around the world. Academiacristo.com offers free Spanish video and audio resources. Visitors can ask questions and chat online with national pastors and missionaries. In 2016. Academia Cristo Facebook videos were viewed 8.6 million times.

Lutheran Church of Cameroon

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In 2016, the Lutheran Church of Cameroon took a big step toward becoming an independent church body by calling its first full-time Cameroonian teacher and dean of students for its worker-training program. Mesue Israel (pictured) has served as a pastor since 1999. He is responsible for teaching several worker-training courses as well as enforcing rules for campus life. The first group of students for the worker-training program began their studies in the fall of 2016. They will attend Bible institute courses for two years and then complete three years of seminary studies before being eligible for a pastoral call. Currently 10 national pastors serve 32 congregations in Cameroon.

Nigerian church bodies

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WELS began its mission efforts in Nigeria in 1936. Currently 26 Nigerian pastors and more than 50 lay leaders serve about 5,300 baptized members in the two Nigerian sister synods. WELS supports one non-resident missionary to mentor Nigerian church leaders with the goal of helping the Nigerian church bodies become led solely by nationals.

Living Savior, Blair, Neb.

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On Sept. 11, 2016, Living Savior, Blair, Neb., held its launch service. One adult confirmand was welcomed into membership at the service. The congregation has rented space in a pair of office suites located in downtown Blair. This is where the congregation holds its worship services and Bible studies.

Peace, Liberty Hill, Tex.

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When Rev. Stephen Apt arrived to open a new home mission in Liberty Hill, Tex., in July 2015, he noticed that the community was growing so rapidly that it was beginning to lose its small-town feel. He saw this as an opportunity for his new congregation, Peace, to coordinate community events for families so that as Liberty Hill grows, Peace is considered a backbone of the community. 

Since then, Peace has launched many family-friendly events, including a Mornings with Mommy program, Trunk or Treat, Family Bible Night, and Christmas and Easter for Kids. 

In July 2016, Peace hosted its largest community event yet—an elaborate Independence Day celebration that included a live band, different booths, food trucks, and a professional fireworks show. A mission team from St. Andrew, Middleton, Wis. (pictured) helped the mission congregation run this event, which attracted more than 1,200 community members. 

Before the fireworks show, Apt led a prayer for the country that included thanking God for our freedom but most importantly thanking him for our Savior who freed us from our sins.

Saviour of the Nations, Vancouver

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In March 2009, 13 people met with Rev. Geoff Cortright to worship and consider starting a WELS congregation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They chose the name Saviour of the Nations, because they wanted people of every culture, tribe, race, and language to know they have something that unites them above all else—or rather, someone: Jesus. Saviour of the Nations has been building cultural bridges and helping others find peace and forgiveness in Jesus ever since. 

In fall 2014, the congregation was granted funding from Home Missions to start full-time ministry. One important component of the mission’s ministry is its free English-as-a-second-language classes and Bible studies. The congregation has a large Asian immigrant population, and Qiang Wang, a Mandarin-Chinese-speaking member, was installed as a part-time lay evangelist in 2016. He is studying with Cortright with the intent of preparing for the ministry through the Pastoral Studies Institute at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. 

To learn more, visit wels.net/missions and view the Moments with Missionaries: Vancouver, Canada.