Speaker Requests

Request a mission speaker for your next event! Home, World, and Joint Missions representatives are available to talk about how Christ is working in the hearts of people here in the United States and around the world. Please fill out the form below to provide our office with the details of your request.

Frequently Asked Questions – Mission Speaker Requests

Mission speakers can be requested for mission festival services at church, LWMS rallies, school events and anything in between. Typically, missionaries and other ordained speakers lead mission-themed worship and give a presentation on WELS Missions in place of the Bible class on Sundays. Other non-ordained speakers often present in place of Bible class on Sundays and speak at school assemblies, LWMS rallies, and other gatherings.

Past speakers have come from the following groups:

  • Current home mission pastors or world missionaries
  • Former world missionaries
  • Home and World Missions administrators
  • Home Missions – District Mission Board members
  • Home Mission counselors
  • Campus Ministry pastors
  • Board for World Missions (BWM) members
  • World Missions – Administrative Committee members
  • Joint Mission Council (JMC) members
  • Pastoral Studies Institute professors
  • TELL Network teachers

Please allow a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks for your request to be processed and a speaker to be confirmed. Prior commitments and time zone differences while communicating with potential speakers can take a significant amount of time to work around. If you submit your speaker request less than 6 weeks out from your event date, we will try our best to find a mission speaker but we cannot guarantee one will be confirmed.

September through November is the busiest time for speaker events, while the spring and summer months have fewer requests. Last minute requests for summer events are easier to fill than in fall when many of our speakers have prior speaking engagements.

Once speakers are finalized, Mission Festivals will be publicized on the WELS Community Events calendar.

While we try our hardest to consider all requests, sometimes specific home or world missionaries are not available. Related speakers such as the World or Home Missions Administrator or members from the committee that oversees the mission field you requested could be assigned.

If you are looking for a world missionary, consider requesting a speaker during the summer months (April-August). World missionaries are often in the United States on furlough during that time and available for speaking engagements.

No. In fact we encourage you to leave the date flexible! Flexibility on your part could mean you have a better chance at getting a speaker from a specific mission field of your choice, and it also leaves us with additional options to ensure your request is fulfilled.

As a mission speaker organizer, you are responsible for coordinating logistics with the speaker once one has been assigned to your event as well as publicizing the event.

  • For church Mission Festivals: WELS Home or World Missions is willing to contribute a set amount towards every Mission Festival speaker’s travel expenses to help streamline the communication process and ensure every congregation is able to host a Missions speaker. Please see the Missions Festival Planning Information document for further details on mission speaker honorariums, travel expenses, and how to handle any freewill offerings collected for mission work.
  • For LWMS circuit rallies and all other events: Travel reimbursement and any honoraria are the responsibility of the LWMS circuit or organization requesting the speaker. Please coordinate with your presenter on how to best cover these costs. Information on how to submit a Mission offering will be emailed to you once your speaker is confirmed.

Print resources will be mailed to you or your congregation before your event. Faces of Faith magazine, Home and World Mission Update sheets, “What Can I Do To Help” postcards, and home and world mission maps, and more will be sent approximately 2-3 weeks before any Mission Festival. All of these resources can be found digitally for use at LWMS Circuit Rallies or school presentations on the WELS Resource Center.

Large Home and World Missions maps can be requested free of charge at gf.wels.net/missions-materials-request. The maps are 24×36 with a Home Missions map on one side and a World Missions map on the other. Editable bulletin covers, inserts, posters, and digital display slides are available for download to promote your event on the WELS Resource Center.

Artifact kits for various mission fields are available for use in promoting your event. To take advantage of this free resource, reserve your kit online at wels.net/missionkits. The mission kits are provided free of charge; however, the requester is responsible for the cost of return postage. There is also an option to give a gift to help cover the original shipping costs.

Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) circuits can now order rally items and mission promotional items on one easy form! WELS Foundation and WELS Church Extension Fund (CEF) continue to provide folders, a one-sheet insert for notes, pens, and name tags. WELS Missions will provide Faces of Faith magazines (limit 50), 100 Missions in 10 Years brochures (limit 50 – for Home Mission specific rallies only) and large (24”x36”) Home and World Missions maps (limit 6). Please make sure that only person from your circuit is ordering items, and note that items might arrive in separate shipments prior to your rally.

If you have any questions about the mission speaker request process or promotional resources that are available to you, please email our missions promotions team at [email protected].

Request a mission speaker for your event

Fill out the Form