{"id":18436,"date":"2026-02-10T20:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18436"},"modified":"2026-02-10T20:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:24:09","slug":"reflections-on-the-latest-wels-national-conference-on-lutheran-leadership-wels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18436","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on the latest WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership \u2013 WELS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p><em>The WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership, one of the largest gatherings of WELS and Evangelical Lutheran Synod members, was held Jan. 19\u201321 in Chicago. The event was a huge success, with attendees offering many positive comments. Jonathan Hein, coordinator of WELS Congregational Services, provides the following reflections on the conference:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2014<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 leadership conference centered on the theme of WELS\u2019 recently adopted long-range plan, \u201cChrist through us.\u201d The aim was to draw people back to the heart of Christian leadership: not what we accomplish through Christ, but what Christ continues to do through his people. Some highlights included the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Four keynotes touched on major cultural needs for ministry efforts: courage, character, critical thinking, curiosity, and better collaboration between all God\u2019s people\u2014men and women. (About a third of attendees were women.) One congregation president said, \u201cThe final day\u2019s emphasis on critical thinking\u2014paired with a serious call to better recognize the ideas and gifts of women\u2014will force us to ask different questions about whether our structure really encourages the full body of Christ to serve together.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Sixty-nine breakouts allowed participants to examine \u201cbest practices\u201d\u2014tactical approaches to ministry around WELS that the Lord seems to be blessing. Breakouts on leadership development were especially popular. One lay leader shared, \u201cWhat struck me was how many breakouts focused on growing as leaders, not growing numbers. The emphasis on character and collaboration was refreshing and deeply needed.\u201d Also popular were breakouts on revitalizing congregations and schools. A pastor noted, \u201cAfter a tough few years in ministry, this was encouraging in the best sense. Seeing what the Lord is blessing elsewhere didn\u2019t make me feel behind. It reminded me that he\u2019s still building his church, and that faithful work\u2014even in small places\u2014matters.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>One in ten attendees was under the age of 24. This was an intentional effort, not just to equip the next generation of leaders but also to hear their insights on how to better reach and disciple people their age. One high school\u2013aged attendee wrote, \u201cIt was encouraging to know that our perspectives mattered. It felt like my church was inviting us to help shape ministry now.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Worship was inspiring and encouraging, grounding everything else in the forgiveness and peace Christ provides. Music was led by 20 students from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, Wis. The three preachers represented different aspects of leadership: in the parish, in the synod, and in training future workers. Twenty area pastors helped with distribution of the Lord\u2019s Supper to the 1,600 WELS attendees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rather than minimizing current challenges in congregational life, the conference addressed them openly. Declining participation in some contexts, leadership fatigue, and cultural change were named honestly\u2014yet always in light of Christ\u2019s ongoing faithfulness to his church. One leader shared, \u201cI appreciated the honesty. No one pretended ministry is easy right now. But the focus kept coming back to Christ\u2019s promises instead of our anxiety. That kind of clarity gives you courage to keep serving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With that confidence, leaders returned to their congregations, schools, and ministries reminded that the future of the church does not rest on perfect plans or flawless leadership but on a faithful Savior who continues to work through his people.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<\/p>\n<p><em>Thanks to Rev. Hein for his summary and to all who planned, presented, and attended this conference.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Serving with you in Christ,<\/p>\n<p>WELS President Mark Schroeder<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Video recordings of two keynote presentations as well as materials from many breakout presentations are available on the conference website. The remaining keynote video recordings will be released in coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>                    <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership, one of the largest gatherings of WELS and Evangelical Lutheran Synod members, was held Jan. 19\u201321 in Chicago. The event was a huge success, with attendees offering many positive comments. Jonathan Hein, coordinator of WELS Congregational Services, provides the following reflections on the conference: \u2014 The 2026 leadership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[334,795,455,5970,148,4504,290],"class_list":["post-18436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-prayer","tag-conference","tag-latest","tag-leadership","tag-lutheran","tag-national","tag-reflections","tag-wels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}