Staff Ministry

Staff ministry gives men and women an opportunity to pursue full-time ministry in an area where their gifts can be best used to further God’s kingdom in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). While pastors are trained for the broadest scope of ministry and for theological leadership, and teachers are trained in Christian classroom education, staff ministers receive basic theological training and practical skills to equip them to serve in other specific areas of parish and institutional ministry.

The specific responsibilities of a staff minister are defined by their call at the local congregation, but frequently they assist with evangelism programs, youth and family ministry, member care, music ministries, congregational administration, and/or multicultural ministries. Staff ministers have also been called to work in non-parish organizations such as pregnancy counseling centers, institutional ministry, synod and school administration, and The Lutheran Home.

2026 Staff Ministry Conference – September 17-19

Theme: All Things to All People

Location: 922 Ministries Appleton, Wis.

Travel details:

  • Appleton International Airport (ATW)
  • Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) – about 40 min.

Hampton Inn Appleton-Fox River Mall Area

  • Special rate of $114 for Thursday and Friday nights
  • Book a room online
  • Use code “Staff Ministry Conference”
  • Deadline to book at special rate is August 18
Register for the conference

Presentations

Keynote presentation: “All Things to All People”

In 1 Corinthians 9:19–27, Paul throws down a challenge: you are free in Christ, so stop playing it safe and start playing to win. Lay down your preferences, adapt boldly, and meet people where they are—not to fit in, but to reach them with the gospel. This is not coasting ministry; it is focused, disciplined, all-in living, like an athlete running for the prize. Love people enough to meet them where they are, even when it costs you something. Take risks for the sake of the mission, and remember—you answer to God, not to everyone else’s reactions.

Bio:

Pastor Jared Oldenburg serves as the Lead Pastor at 922 Ministries in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he leads a team of six pastors and serves as the primary preacher at the St. Peter campus. He is the founding pastor of Eternal Rock Lutheran Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, where he served for fifteen years.

Jared established and serves as the director of the Divine Savior Ministries Leadership Institute. He also founded the WELS Church Planting Intensive and coaching program, where he continues to mentor and support new church planters. He holds a Master of Divinity degree and has been published in multiple Christian publications.

Jared and his wife, Aimee, live in Appleton, Wisconsin, and have three adult children. They are also the proud owners of Jens — the manliest poodle on the planet.

Keynote presentation: “Say, ‘Hey!’: Acting On Your Inner Barnabus”

In the Book of Acts, Barnabas wasn’t just a bystander; he was the ultimate “Son of Encouragement.” Whether he was dropping his resources at the Apostles’ feet, sticking his neck out for a former persecutor named Saul, or offering a tough-love rebuke to keep the mission on track, by the Spirit of God, Barnabas knew the power of encouragement. He lived a life of “Hey!” – a constant, intentional outreach of time, service, and humility that changed the trajectory of the early Church. Join us as we dive into the life of Barnabas and learn how to activate your own “Barnabas”; Discover how God can use your unique resources and heart to make a monumental difference in someone’s life – one “Hey!” at a time. Don’t just read about the early church – play an encouraging role of building the modern one.

Bio:

With a ministry journey that began as a missionary in Malawi, Africa, and wound through Texas and Milwaukee, Pastor Timothy Soukup now serves as a Campus Pastor at The CORE/922 Ministries in Appleton, WI. A graduate of Northwestern College and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Timothy’s 35+ years of service is only by the grace of God and fueled by a love for Christ, people, laughter, going to the gym, and being the “wind in the sails” of those around him. He and his wife, Gretchen, are blessed with three children and seven grandchildren. They are very much aligned in their ministry, though completely at odds on NFL Sundays – he cheers for the Bears, she bleeds Packer green.

Breakout Workshop: Pointing the Next Generation to What Matters Most: JESUS

In this session, we’ll explore key insights from recent surveys and research on Generation Z and their relationship with Jesus. We’ll discuss practical ways to reach and engage this generation with biblical content, and we’ll share some of the recent experiments and pilot projects our Time of Grace ministry team has conducted to help point the next generation to what matters most: Jesus.

Bio:

Dave Burleton has been blessed to serve as the Chief Advancement Officer for Time of Grace Ministry since September 2024. For Dave, the opportunity to bring his 20+ years of business strategy, sales leadership, organizational development, and marketing experiences to a ministry that has been a significant part of his own faith journey is truly compelling. Dave and his wife, Sarah, live in Brookfield, Wisconsin, with their five children (including two sets of twins!).

Breakout workshop: “Training Concepts to Enhance Church Safety and Security”

The goal of providing a safe and secure worship environment has become increasingly challenging over the years for many churches. Church staff, as well as volunteers in various guest services, including ushers, greeters, and safety/security teams, need to have continuous and updated training. This session will address topics that church staff and volunteers should be trained on, as well as provide ideas on how to train on those topics. All while keeping the focus on the church’s primary mission of bringing others to Christ.

Bio:

Jeff Engelbrecht worked for over 29 years as a police officer with the Green Bay Police Department, retiring in July of 2024. He retired as a Lieutenant in the Operations Division and was the department’s Emergency Preparedness Supervisor, where he worked with local, state, and federal agencies to develop and conduct large-scale training exercises. His duties with the department included: Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, SWAT team member, Patrol Supervisor, Field Training Supervisor & Coordinator. Additionally, as a member of the department’s Professional Standards Division he was the Training Unit Supervisor, a Public Information Officer and an internal affairs Investigator.

Jeff has worked additionally as a consultant for businesses, schools, and churches, presenting on the topics of: civilian active threat response, situational awareness, de-escalation strategies, and house of worship safety & security. He has presented to organizations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, and Virginia. Jeff is currently the Training & Development Manager for a large manufacturing corporation in the Green Bay area and is a member of St. Mark Ministries in De Pere. He has been a presenter at the Men of His Word Conference in Oshkosh, WI, the Dare to Lead Conference in Green Bay and at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s House of Worship Safety & Security Symposium.

Breakout workshop: “AI in Ministry: What Staff Ministers Need to Know”

AI tools are now part of the ministry landscape, whether we’ve adopted them or not. This session is built specifically for staff ministers — for the realities of curriculum design, family ministry, discipleship resources, congregational communication, administration, and team leadership. We’ll cover what AI actually is and isn’t, a prompting framework you can use immediately (F.A.C.T.S.), a traffic-light approach to ministry use cases, the theological questions worth asking before adoption, and the privacy and stewardship risks specific to your work. The goal isn’t to make you a technologist. It’s to help you lead well in your sphere.

Bio:

Pastor Michael Ewart has served in pastoral ministry since 1995, beginning with twelve years as a missionary to Russia. Since 2016, he has served at 922 Ministries, where he is Campus Pastor at The CORE and Digital Ministry Pastor for the wider ministry. He also serves on the WELS Board for World Missions. Michael and his wife Jenny have been married 31 years and have six children (four married) and ten grandchildren — a phase of life he describes as truly wonderful. When he’s not pastoring or chasing grandkids, you’ll usually find him tinkering with computers and technology — a hobby that, as it turns out, prepared him surprisingly well for the current moment in ministry.

Breakout workshop: “Say The Thing: Protecting Unity Through Courageous Conversations”

Conflict is uncomfortable. Most of us would rather avoid it than address it — but left unaddressed, tension quietly erodes trust, teamwork, and the relationships that make ministry work. Knowing how to navigate difficult conversations well is one of the most important skills a leader can have, and one of the hardest to develop. In this session, Ali will help you approach conflict with clarity, courage, and grace — offering practical tools for having the hard conversations that need to happen, grounded in the truth that courageous conversations, when handled with care and rooted in Biblical principles, don’t divide teams. They strengthen them.

Bio:

Ali Novak is the Director of HR & Communications at 922 Ministries, St. Peter and the CORE in Appleton, Wisconsin. She holds a degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources and Communications. A lifelong WELS member, Ali spent nearly a decade in the corporate world, leading and supporting HR teams and the employee relations function for a local retail grocery chain — cultivating a deep foundation in navigating workplace dynamics, difficult conversations, and staff culture. For the past two years, she has brought that experience home to ministry, supporting the called workers and staff at 922 Ministries with the same care she developed in the business world. Ali and her husband Jake, her high school sweetheart, are coming up on ten years of marriage. They have two children — Amelia, age 7, and Aiden, age 5.

Breakout workshop: “It Takes a Village to Pass on the Faith”

Faith formation was never meant to rest on one program, one classroom, or one calling. Grounded in Deuteronomy 6 and the promises of Scripture, this session affirms staff ministers as essential partners in God’s work – while clarifying the biblical role of parents, the importance of mentoring relationships, meaningful service, and congregational belonging. Participants will be reminded that the Holy Spirit works through God’s Word, which never returns empty.

Bio:

Pastor Bill Monday is the Youth & Family Pastor at 922 Ministries, St. Peter and the CORE in Appleton, Wisconsin, with an early childhood ministry and grade school of over 400 students and a public school demographic of youth a little bit larger.

Bill is married to Lori (Waltz) Monday who serves as a first-grade teacher at St. Peter. Married for over 25 years, they are blessed with three adult children – WELS teacher, senior at WLC, and sophomore at MLC – and one teen that’s a sophomore at Luther Prep.

Thursday, September 17 (The CORE Campus)

TimeActivity
4:30 – 5:00 p.m.Registration and Check-in
5:00 – 6:20 p.m.Dinner
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.Thursday Evening Worship with The CORE and Q&A
8:00 – 9:30 p.m.Fellowship Time

Friday, September 18 (The CORE Campus)

TimeActivity
Breakfast on your own
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.Registration/Check-In
9:00 – 9:20 a.m.Devotion
9:20 – 9:30 a.m.Conference Opening
9:30 – 11:00 a.m.Keynote #1, “All Things to All People” Pastor Jared Oldenburg
11:00 – 11:15 a.m.Break (Group Picture)
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Breakout Presentations (session one)
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.Lunch
1:00 – 1:45 p.m.Breakout Presentations (session two)
1:45 – 2:00 p.m.Synod Update
2:00 -2:20 p.m.Staff Ministry Liaison Committee
2:20 – 2:45 p.m.Staff Ministry Program Update
2:45 -3:15 p.m.CORE Campus Tour
3:15 – 3:30 p.m.Break
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.Ministry Connection Time
4:35 – 4:50 p.m.Devotion
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Dinner and Fellowship

Saturday, September 19 (St. Peter Campus)

TimeActivity
Breakfast on your own
9:00 – 9:20 a.m.Devotion
9:20 – 10:15 a.m.Business Meeting
10:15 – 10:30 a.m.Break
10:30 – 11:40 a.m.Keynote #2, “Say, ‘Hey!’: Acting On Your Inner Barnabus” Pastor Timothy Soukup
11:45 – 11:50 a.m.Conference Thanks and Closing
11:50 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Devotion 4
Lunch on your own
Download schedule

Questions: Contact Sarah Enstad

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