See a compilation of highlights from the WELS International Youth Rally, held June 25-28 in Fort Collins, Colo.

Students and their wives at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS), Mequon, Wis., learned where they will be serving as vicars, teachers, and pastors in two special services held May 22 and May 23 in the auditorium on campus. The Conference of Presidents announced a total of 79 assignments in all 12 districts of WELS.

On the evening of May 22, 40 second-year pastoral ministry students received vicarage assignments, and seven of their wives received teaching assignments in WELS schools either connected to the congregations where their husbands were assigned or in the area. While most of these assignments are to WELS congregations, one man will vicar in Medellin, Colombia, through the WELS World Mission office. Through careful planning with the WELS Home Mission office, 29 of the men were assigned to serve as Vicars in a Mission Setting.

Pastoral formation, including the year of vicarship, is the heart of what WLS does. This formation happens because of self-supporting congregations and missions around the country that partner with WLS in this work. We thank God for the supervising pastors in the field who are willing to give so much time to each vicar, for the supportive people of WELS, and for these men who have offered themselves for service in Christ’s church.

On the morning of May 23, 26 men received their first calls into pastoral ministry, one man returned to the Assignment Committee to receive his first parish call, and five recent WLS graduates were reassigned to their present fields of labor. Six of the graduates were assigned to serve Home Mission congregations. Four of the candidates were assigned to congregations that had been vacant for more than two years.

There had been 97 requests for candidates. With the 27 candidates available, 70 of those requests went unfilled. After the Assignment Committee did its work, there are still 146 vacancies for pastor-trained parish men synodwide, an 11 percent vacancy rate. Although 45 men graduated in the preseminary program at Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn., this year with plans to enroll at WLS next year, they will not be available to serve as pastors for four more years.

Because of the high vacancy rate, two floor committees at the 2023 synod convention asked Pres. Schroeder to appoint a Ministry Recruitment Task Force. This task force is presenting its first report to the districts in convention this summer. That report predicts that the pastoral vacancy rate will return to five percent in ten years as larger WLS classes matriculate, WELS congregations close and merge, and current pastors retire at age 70.

The task force is also suggesting 20 more immediate remedies for the synod’s current pastor and teacher shortages. We ask the Lord’s blessing on the district conventions discussing the remedies. We pray that the Lord of the harvest will send more workers into his harvest field.

Read the Ministry Recruitment Task Force’s report in the Report to the Twelve Districts.

Rev. Paul Prange, administrator of WELS Board for Ministerial Education

WELS Congregational Services has recently revised Everyone Outreach, a popular program designed to help congregations discover their thought habits and develop new thinking and behaviors that build a culture of outreach. While maintaining its original elements, the revised program will now be a five-hour event instead of the original eight hours.

Rev. Eric Roecker, director of WELS Evangelism and co-developer of the program, says the goal of this revision is to encourage more participation. “Not only might this allow more congregations to participate, but we also hope a larger percentage of each congregation’s members will get involved,” he says. “This is important because the more people who participate, the better chance an outreach culture will be built in each congregation.”

More than 125 congregations have already hosted Everyone Outreach workshops since the program debuted in 2021.

Saving Grace, Mobile, Ala., was one of those congregations. “[Everyone Outreach] challenged deep-seated ideas about how we go about reaching those in our neighborhoods and looked at principles that held us back in our outreach and attacked those thoughts and changed those ideas,” says Rev. Thomas Spiegelberg, pastor at Saving Grace. “I do think it changed a lot of people and how they think about their church and their connection with how they share the gospel.”

Since the workshop, the congregation is focusing more on its children’s ministry and being more intentional with its community outreach events. It also is working on creating a welcoming environment at church for visitors and nonmembers, including extending its Sunday morning experience and encouraging its members to be friendly and open. “We have heavy food and snacks after church,” explains Don Baldwin, a member at Saving Grace and participant in the Everyone Outreach workshop. “When we have food, people stay and visit. And for the new folks, they really enjoy visiting and having conversations and fellowship. That fellowship is important for evangelism.”

He continues, “Everyone Outreach made us talk more about these and get organized.”

Saving Grace has had between 15–20 adult confirmations in the last year, and its new members are also sharing the message they discovered.

“You just want others to have what you have,” says Baldwin.

Learn more about Everyone Outreach and how your congregation can participate at everyoneoutreach.com. Read a story about how Don and Ammie Baldwin plant gospel seeds in their neighborhood in this month’s Forward in Christ magazine.

Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis., held its Call Day on Thurs., May 23. All 27 men available to receive an assignment were assigned. There were 97 requests for candidates, leaving 70 requests unfilled. Living Hope, Peoria, Ill., knows the struggle of a vacancy all too well. After more than two and half years without a shepherd leading the flock, new graduate Rev. Duane Backhaus was assigned to Living Hope.

View the graduate and vicar assignment list from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

The Synodical Council (SC) held its spring meeting on April 26-27.

In my president’s report, I noted that:

• Synod finances remain strong, with another year of record Congregation Mission Offerings and special fund balances all at a healthy status.
• The newly established Capital Projects Fund will provide planning support for needed building projects at the synodical schools and will potentially provide support for servicing capital debt if needed.
• Two missionaries have been redeployed from Thailand to Australia. WELS World Missions will also be working with a new Chinese congregation in New Zealand.
• A special committee is working on plans to celebrate the synod’s 175th anniversary in 2025.

Rev. Paul Prange provided an update on the work being done by the Ministry Recruitment Task Force. The task force will provide detailed information to the district conventions this summer.

Rev. Jonathan Hein presented an overview of the draft of the synod’s new long-range plan, which is entitled “Christ through us.”

Several new office spaces will be created in the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry, providing offices to administrators who need them.

The Administration Committee received reports from the synod’s subsidiaries (WELS Foundation, WELS Church Extension Fund, WELS Investment Funds, Northwestern Publishing House) and from various synodical departments (Human Resources, Technology, Communications, Ministry of Christian Giving, WELS Benefit Plans). Appointments to various board positions were approved by the SC.

The committee also received a report from the Compensation Review Committee, which reminds congregations that paying “synod code” includes full health insurance premiums, cash housing allowance, cost of living increases, and reimbursement for the self-employment aspect of social security. Before making any major changes to the compensation code, the committee will survey congregations and other calling bodies to determine how actual compensation compares to the synod code.

The SC reviewed the summary of FY24 financial results, noting that total unrestricted support is trending better than planned, while overall expenses are trending lower than planned through the first nine months of FY24. FY24 special funds reserves through March 2024 increased to $92.7 million, a $10 million increase from FY23, and a $50.0 million increase in the last five years, more than doubling special funds reserve balances.

The SC approved the support forecast for the next biennium (an estimate of the financial support that will be available to fund the synod’s ministry). It’s estimated that synod support levels will be $35.3 million in FY26 and $36.4 million in FY27. The SC also approved the initial planning assumptions, including:

• Congregation Mission Offerings projected to increase 0.5% each year,
• called and non-called worker wages to increase on average 3.5% in FY26 and 2.0% in FY27,
• healthcare expenses to increase 10% each year,
• no increase in retirement plan expenses in either year, and
• operational/program expenses and school subsidy to increase 3.0% each year.

The SC discussed the continued progress that the WELS CFO, Mr. Kyle Egan, has been making in helping to improve the process for planning, organizing, and prioritizing capital projects for the synod. His office has started to have conversations with firms that could assist with comprehensive site-planning across all synod locations and will work with the SC Executive Committee with the goal of getting that process started in the next few months.

The SC received reports from Home Missions, World Missions, Ministerial Education, WELS Christian Aid and Relief, and Congregational Services.

Mr. Steve Hansen, Mr. Kennith Gosch, and Mr. Thomas Schermerhorn all completed 12 years of faithful service on the SC. We thank them for all that they have done.

Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder

The WELS Conference of Presidents (COP) met in April for its spring meeting. Among the items discussed or decided were:

• The COP reviewed the vacancy situation for pastors and teachers. The number of vacancies continues to rise gradually. Assignment days in May will help relieve the situation somewhat, but the problem will continue for the foreseeable future. The COP received a progress report from the Ministerial Recruitment Task Force, which will be making proposals to address the need for more workers.
• The New Teacher Induction Program and the Pastor Partners Program provide mentoring to newly assigned teachers and pastors for the first three years of their service. The cost to congregations has been $1,000 per year and has not been increased for some time. To more adequately cover the cost of the program, the COP determined that, starting in 2025, the cost will be $1,500 per worker.
• The COP was informed that a more thorough process for vetting non-MLC-trained teachers has been developed. The process will include evaluations of professional competency, background checks, pastoral recommendations, and district president interviews. Final details are still being determined.
• The COP reviewed the current calling process and made no changes to the current guidelines. The COP will continue discussing this issue at future meetings.
• The COP received a report from the committee planning the synod’s 175th anniversary celebration in 2025. The committee has produced a pictorial history of the synod and updated the existing book on the synod’s history. It is working on developing special video presentations and providing worship and Bible study resources for a synodwide celebration of the anniversary in the fall of 2025.
• The COP was pleased to learn that 96.7 percent of WELS congregations submitted their statistics for 2023 and 99.1 percent submitted Congregation Mission Offering subscriptions for 2024. The COP is grateful for this high level of participation.
• The COP issued the following divine calls:
  • Melanie Giddings was called to serve full time as the coordinator of the new synod K-12 religion curriculum.
  • Mr. Ryan Busman was called to serve as a Christian giving counselor for the Western Wisconsin District.
  • Rev. Nathan Cordes was called to serve as a Christian giving counselor for the south Minnesota District, the Nebraska District, and the Dakota-Montana District
• The COP will continue to monitor the issue of congregations that are discussing merging or closing. As a part of the COP’s desire that these decisions are made in an orderly and legal way, the COP is updating the comprehensive guidelines that can help congregations in this process.
• The COP continued its work on the pastoral brief on the doctrine of the roles and men and women. The brief will be released and distributed as soon as it is completed. Similarly, the COP received an update from the committee addressing justice and critical theories.
• The COP discussed a proposal to make some changes to the procedure for nominating and electing synod officers. A final proposal is expected to be discussed at district conventions this summer.

Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder

A number of groups have been carrying out their assignments to address various issues that are important to our called workers, congregations, and members. Here is an update on those groups and their assignments.

The Ministry Recruitment task force (already described more fully in a previous issue of Together)
Chaired by Rev. Paul Prange, this task force was formed as a result of a resolution passed by the 2023 synod convention due to the significant shortage of pastors, teachers, and staff ministers. Its assignment is to look at all factors that impact the recruitment of called workers and bring recommendations for a synodwide effort to recruit and train more called workers. It will bring its recommendations to the 2025 synod convention.

Task force on critical theories
Chaired by Rev. Snowden Sims, this task force was assigned to evaluate the topic of critical theories and provide guidance to WELS called workers and members on how to understand and address these philosophies in light of Scripture. The task force will submit its recommendations to the Conference of Presidents, which will then produce and distribute a pastoral brief on the subject.

Theology curriculum task force
The theology curriculum task force is currently in an 18-month development of the components necessary for future content writers to create new instructional materials for WELS schools to use for the instruction of God’s Word. The task force wants the new curriculum to hold fast to our purposes of sharing God’s Word in its truth and purity with the next generation and meet the needs of increasingly diverse classrooms. One of its goals is to provide a curriculum that is primarily digital in format, which will make it possible to update the curriculum on an ongoing basis. The task force chairman is Mr. Jim Rademan. Mrs. Melanie Giddings is the curriculum coordinator.

Long-range strategic planning task force
Chaired by Rev. Jonathan Hein, this task force is developing a new synod long-range strategic plan that will guide all areas of synodical mission and ministry. The six-year plan, entitled “Christ through us” (the theme of the 2025 synod convention), will be presented to the synod convention in 2025.

175th anniversary planning committee
Chaired by Prof. Joel Otto, the committee has already begun to make plans for the celebration of the synod’s 175th anniversary in 2025. The theme for that celebration will be the same as the theme for the 2025 convention (“Christ through us”). Plans include a book that provides a pictorial history of the synod, video vignettes, an interactive online history of WELS, and a synodwide celebration Sunday in the fall of 2025.

Gender, sexuality, identity
A standing committee (not a temporary task force), chaired by Rev. Greg Lyon, is developing resources for pastors, congregations, parents, and young people to help them deal with transgender and same-sex attraction issues that are becoming more common in our society and culture.

Man/woman roles
The Conference of Presidents is continuing its work to develop a pastoral brief on man/woman roles. The brief will be distributed as soon as it is completed.

Please remember these groups as they work to address important issues biblically and evangelically.

Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder