The 2022 WELS International Youth Rally brought together more than 2,200 WELS teens and youth leaders from across North America. The rally, held June 28-July 1, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., included time for worship, educational workshops, fellowship, recreation, and service projects.  The Youth Rally committee produced this recap video of the rally experience. The song featured in the video was written for the rally by  Koiné, a Christian band made up of WELS members.

We hope to see you at the next Youth Rally in 2024 at Colorado State University where we’ll be celebrating 50 years of equipping and encouraging our youth through this event. In the meantime, resources for connecting with this age group at your own church can be found at welscongregationalservices.net.

All 12 districts held their conventions during the last two weeks. The conventions reviewed the reports submitted by all areas of ministry and provided reaction and input to those reports and to future plans that have been made.

Districts also held elections for district officers and for other board and committee positions. Two of those elections resulted in new district presidents.

Rev. Don Tollefson, president of the North Atlantic District, retired as of the end of June. Rev. Michael Seifert, serving at Living Hope, Midlothian, Va., was elected as the new district president. Rev. David Kolander, president of the Southeastern Wisconsin District, chose not to run again. Rev. Daniel Leyrer, serving at St. Marcus, Milwaukee, Wis., was elected as the new district president. Because of the size of the district in terms of congregations and called workers, Kolander has accepted a call to serve as the assistant to the new district president in addition to his current call as pastor at Christ the Lord, Brookfield, Wis.

Both new district presidents will serve on the Conference of Presidents.

We thank God for the faithful service of Revs. Tollefson and Kolander and pray for God’s continued blessings as they serve him in the future.

Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder

Coverage of the district conventions will be included in the August issue of Forward in Christ magazine.

On May 2, Mr. Jeremy Angle began serving as the president of Northwestern Publishing House (NPH). As president, Angle will focus on supporting the mission of NPH—delivering biblically sound, Christ-centered resources within WELS and beyond. Angle will oversee all the functional areas of this ministry such as product development, production, distribution, customer service, human resources, accounting, technology, and sales.

“NPH is without a doubt a mission,” says Angle, “but also a business. I see my job as combining the two and being a steward to NPH—the mission, the business, and all its team members.”

His predecessor, Mr. Bill Ziche, retired at the end of 2021 after eight years in that role. Ziche helped NPH pivot from operating out of a physical storefront to a digital one. At its February meeting, WELS’ Synodical Council noted that Ziche displayed “outstanding leadership in strategically repositioning NPH to support the gospel ministry for years to come.”

Angle is focused on continuing that support for gospel ministry. “I look forward to building on the traditions and legacy of NPH while adapting to best deliver the resources and teachings,” he explains. “Having worked in the secular business world my entire career, I find myself asking the questions, ‘What can NPH do and build on to support the leaders of today and tomorrow in both the church and secular world? How do we more closely link the two?’ ”

Helping Angle navigate which resources NPH should produce going forward is Rev. Chris Cordes, who began his work as NPH’s editorial vice president in February after Rev. Curtis Jahn retired after serving NPH for 29 years. Cordes and Angle will work closely on developing future projects.

“I am really looking forward to working with the team at NPH and its board of directors, learning and getting to know them and their growth desires,” says Angle, “as well as working with the synod, our congregations, and our schools on how we can best serve all and help grow. I am also excited about looking beyond and how we can best serve the world keeping to God’s true Word and teachings.”

Visit Northwestern Publishing House online at nph.net.

WELS member and attorney Mr. David Nommensen and his wife, Bonnie, knew that setting up a donor advised fund was an ideal and tax-wise way to support ministry at their home congregation, First Lutheran in Elkhorn, Wis.

David likes the fact that their donor advised fund provides predictable, ongoing support to ministry at First, helping fund programs that spread the gospel both inside and outside the church and school. He also likes the tax benefits of the donor advised fund. “It was just part of good stewardship,” says David. “Bonnie and I could look at the taxes that we had saved and do a little soul-searching and perhaps give a little more.”

Donor advised funds are very popular since a donor can give a gift now and recommend the ministries that benefit later. The gift can be divided among the ministries the donor cares about, and a single receipt will be provided for income tax purposes.

In addition to ongoing support for their church and school, the Nommensens know that their family donor advised fund is a wonderful way to involve their kids and grandkids in the joy of giving since they can be included in the decision-making process for the grant recommendations. It’s another way to pass along Christian values to the next generation of believers.

“Our prayer is that the donor advised fund is around a lot longer than Bonnie and I are,” says David. “And it’s a nice opportunity for us to have these conversations with our children about the needs of our favorite church organization. I’m really hoping that someday my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be donating to this fund and having those same conversations.”

Learn more about donor advised funds by contacting your local WELS Christian giving counselor at 800-827-5482 or [email protected].

This article is reprinted from the April 2022 Grace of Giving newsletter. Read additional articles from Grace of Giving on the ministry newsletters page.

Religious freedom and the ability to proclaim the teachings of Scripture without fear of government persecution is something we in the United States have taken for granted. But there are increasing examples from around the world where even seemingly free and democratic countries are attempting to restrict the abilities of Christians to express their faith and their teachings openly.

In Finland, a member of Parliament and former Minister of the Interior, Paivi Rasanen, was charged with “hate speech” for sharing her faith-based views dealing with marriage and sexual ethics in her writings and in media interviews. A Lutheran bishop, Juhana Pohjola, was also charged because he published some of Rasanen’s writings.

When charges were brought, confessional Lutheran churches from around the world signed a letter to the prosecutors in Finland that strongly urged the court to uphold the principle of freedom of religion and free speech and to dismiss the charges against Rasanen and Pohjola. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and our sister churches in Europe signed the letter, along with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and its partner churches.

Last week, the Finnish court upheld the right to free speech by dismissing all charges against Paivi Rasanen and Bishop Pohjola.

We are happy that the courts of Finland made this decision. But this entire episode is a reminder that the freedom we enjoy to proclaim the truths of Scripture can never be taken for granted. We pray that God would preserve this freedom for us here in America and give us the courage to “speak about the things that we have seen and heard.”

Serving with you in Christ,
WELS President Mark Schroeder