WELS Home Missions is blessed to plant churches and assist mission-minded congregations in the United States, Canada, and English-speaking West Indies. Home Missions currently supports 144 congregations with financial subsidy or district mission board/mission counselor assistance, with 29 of those being cross-cultural mission congregations. Home Missions also provides over 45 campus ministries with financial support, while assisting hundreds of other congregations that serve college students around the United States and Canada.

WELS has fourteen Home Missions districts, each with their own district mission board (DMBs). These DMBs, comprised of pastor and lay volunteers, work to start new missions and support existing missions in their districts. Two representatives from each district serve on the Board for Home Missions. This Board for Home Missions votes on the new starts and enhancement ministries for the next year and sets overall direction for WELS Home Missions. Three home mission counselors work with the DMBs to find, evaluate, and develop new home mission locations and provide onsite assistance to home mission congregations and counseling and training to the new missionaries who are called to serve them. WELS Home Missions also works with three specialized mission counselors that assist congregations with Hispanic, Asian, and Campus Ministry outreach.

Fast Facts

• 144 home mission congregations
• 14 new mission starts/enhancements approved in 2024 (Learn more)
• 152 new mission starts/enhancements since 2011
• Home Missions in 37 states, Canada, and English-speaking West Indies
• 29 cross-cultural missions
• Financially supports 45+ campus ministries