• New home missions

    This spring, the Board for Home Missions approved five new home mission starts and six mission enhancements.

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  • Establishing the church in Australia

    WELS world missionaries in Brisbane are building relationships and guiding the start of many churches – groups all over Australia.

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  • Register today!

    Join us at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis., as we celebrate gospel outreach and commission new missionaries.

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REACHING EVERY NEIGHBOR, EVERY NATION

WELS Missions—made up of Home, World, and Joint Missions—seeks to share Christ’s love with the lost across the globe. Home Missions supports 144 congregations in the United States, Canada, and English-speaking West Indies, and assists hundreds of other congregations with their campus ministry programs. World Missions conducts and encourages gospel outreach in 49 countries and is exploring outreach opportunities in 16 prospective new mission fields. Joint Missions oversees any mission opportunity that is a combination of Home Missions, World Missions, and Ministerial Education. This includes diaspora (people-group) ministries, cross-cultural ministries, the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI), and WELS Mission Journeys.

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GET CONNECTED

Subscribe to Missions emails

Subscribe to weekly Missions Blogs and quarterly Missions Update E-Newsletters at wels.net/subscribe.

Follow us on social media

Follow us on social media for additional photos and updates from our mission fields.

Request a speaker

Request a mission speaker for your next church mission festival, LWMS rally, or other event at wels.net/speaker-request.

Volunteer with Mission Journeys

Visit wels.net/missionjourneys to learn how you can volunteer on a mission trip to a home or world mission field.

Join us at Taste of Missions

Join us for our annual Missions event or catch up on videos and other updates you might have missed at tasteofmissions.com.

Faces of Faith

Read stories of the gospel at work and request free copies of our annual Missions magazine at wels.net/facesoffaith.

Get promotional resources and materials from WELS Home, World, and Joint Missions

WORLD MISSIONS

WELS World Missions conducts and encourages gospel outreach in 49 countries and is exploring outreach opportunities in 16 prospective new mission fields. World Missions brings the light of God’s Word to the world through evangelism efforts, church planting, training national workers for ministry, and providing religious materials in foreign languages.

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Download World Missions map

47 world missionaries partner with over 500 national pastors to conduct outreach and train more than 400 students for service in Christ’s kingdom.

World Mission supports mission work:

  • in Africa, where missionaries partner with national church bodies in seven countries and are exploring outreach in eight additional countries throughout the continent;
  • in Asia–Oceania, where 17 missionaries have joined together to equip, encourage, and empower others to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to 1.8 billion unreached souls;
  • in Europe, where missionaries partner with national churches to train the next generation of church leaders and bring the true gospel to countries without a strong Lutheran presence;
  • in Latin America, where tens of thousands of people are being reached through Academia Cristo online courses and more than 30 individuals are actively leading a group in worship and study;
  • through Multi-Language Productions, which has produced materials in more than 56 languages and reaches tens of thousands of English-speakers in more than 30 different countries through the TELL online training platform;
  • and on Native American reservations, where the gospel is being shared on the Apache reservations in Arizona and the Native Christian Network has begun outreach to additional tribes.

Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR)

WELS World Missions works closely with the WELS Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR) to maintain relationships with church bodies all over the world. CICR serves under the Conference of Presidents by representing the synod in doctrinal discussions with other church bodies who are in fellowship with WELS or exploring potential fellowship. The CICR also meets regularly with representatives from various sister churches in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference for information sharing and mutual encouragement.

HOME MISSIONS

WELS Home Missions plants new churches and assists 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 30 of those being cross-cultural mission congregations. Home Missions also provides over 50 campus ministries with financial support, while assisting hundreds of other congregations that serve college students around the United States and Canada.

In 2021, synod convention delegates approved an ambitious new goal that allows WELS Home Missions to plant 100 new home mission churches and enhance 75 existing ministries from 2023-2033. Learn more about this initiative.

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2025 NEW HOME MISSIONS

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Arlington, Tenn.

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Erie, Colo.

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Jarrell, Texas

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Madison, Wis.

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San Tan Valley, Ariz.

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Christ, Clarksville, Md. (restart)

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Living Word, Petaluma, Calif. (restart)

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Living Word, Waukesha, Wis.

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Redeemer, Edna, Texas

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Risen Savior, Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

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Saint Mark Mankato, Minn.

Download Home Missions map
  • NEW STARTS
  • Arlington, Tenn.
  • Erie, Colo.
  • Jarrell, Texas
  • Madison, Wis.
  • San Tan Valley, Ariz.
  • Saint Mark Mankato, Minn.
  • ENHANCEMENTS
  • Christ, Clarksville, Md. (restart)
  • Living Word, Petaluma, Calif. (restart)
  • Living Word, Waukesha, Wis.
  • Redeemer, Edna, Texas
  • Risen Savior, Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
  • Saint Mark Mankato, Minn.
Learn more

JOINT MISSIONS

WELS Joint Missions supports mission opportunities that are the responsibility of Home Missions, World Missions, and Ministerial Education. Much of this work centers around diaspora (people-group) ministries, where immigrants who have joined our fellowship in the United States and Canada are able to take the gospel back to friends and family in their country of origin. Joint Missions administers the work of the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) and assists in other cross-cultural outreach efforts and new programs like WELS Mission Journeys.

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