Online Bible study connecting teens to Christ and one another
Just two months after WELS teens joined together for the biennial WELS International Youth Rally in Colorado, more than 100 WELS teens found a way to connect with one another again—this time online. Rev. Dr. Phil Huebner, campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran High School (WLHS), Milwaukee, Wis., led the first National Online Teen Bible Study in September.
Huebner worked with Oliva Hermanson, a 2024 WLHS graduate with a heart for bringing teens together for faith and fellowship. “I recognized that there are teens across the country who do not have the opportunity to go to a school with almost a thousand people who share their faith,” Hermanson explains. “I was looking for a way to bring Christian teens together on a regular basis, create a space where we can discuss our faith, and make connections that are meaningful.”
Hermanson brought her idea for a national online teen Bible study to Huebner, who connected her with Rev. Donn Dobberstein, director of WELS Discipleship. WELS Discipleship has been actively working to support churches in engaging their teen populations.
Dobberstein explains, “God has blessed WELS with about 16,000 souls in the 14- to 17-year-old age group. At the same time, the size of congregations has trended down, meaning fewer teens are in churches today than in past decades. Many churches don’t have the critical mass of youth as they did in the past.”
After the 2022 youth rally, WELS Discipleship began considering how it might help churches enhance their youth ministry efforts between biennial youth rallies. “First, we developed resources for ‘Youth Night,’” explains Dobberstein. “It’s a series of three youth-focused events during the school year to bring high school youth from area churches together . . . to encourage faith, fun, and fellowship.”
The WELS National Online Teen Bible Study accomplishes similar goals as teens from across the world gather digitally to study the Word. “Geography is no longer a barrier,” says Dobberstein. “It’s about connecting them at a critical time in their life to Christ and with each other.”
Hermanson played an active role in planning and executing the event, and Huebner selected the first topic: the parable of the prodigal son. “I chose a topic that I thought teens would relate to well and that would touch their hearts with God’s compassionate love,” says Huebner. In addition to hearing this relevant message, attendees dug deeper into the topic in small discussion groups.
For Hermanson and so many other Christian teens, staying plugged in to their faith community can be hard. “If [the study] showed just one struggling teen that they are not alone and built them up in their faith, then it served its purpose,” she says. “I praise God that he worked through me to help do that.”
She continues, “We are all learning so much about ourselves and what God has planned for us in our teenage years, and it is so important to have faith-based discussions about what we are struggling with.”
Going forward, the National Online Teen Bible Study will take place on a quarterly basis and feature messages from a variety of WELS pastors. The next study is scheduled for Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. (Central).
Learn more and register for the next online teen Bible study at wels.net/events.
Learn more about Youth Night events
Read more about churches implementing Youth Night events
