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Stretching Your Worship | Aaron Christie

Aaron Christie

Stretching Your Worship Within Lutheran Parameters

Lutherans often take a different view on things. What, for instance, are the distinctive aims, actions, and aesthetics of Lutheran worship? We speak of the principles of Lutheran worship. Do we think of these principles as scriptural signposts that help us? Or as strictures that hinder a vibrant worship? A principled approach to worship comes with a possible pitfall: that our worship becomes stagnant. Is there sometimes a bit of truth to the critique of Lutheran worship, “It’s the same thing every week!”?

This workshop will encourage your congregation to spot that which is stagnant and then stretch your worship life. What are your next steps forward in enriching your orders of service; in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? Do you conduct worship in a way that welcomes the unchurched? The goal is to keep your congregation stretching toward a life of worship that exchanges parish ruts for Lutheran riches! God’s people and our communities will be blessed as a result. Attendees will bring home a list of deliverables to implement in their specific contexts.

This workshop was originally presented at the 2023 WELS leadership conference. It is offered only once.

Bio | Aaron Christie

Prof. Christie is dean of chapel and professor of worship and homiletics at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He previously served churches in Antioch, Ill., and Waukesha, Wis. He holds a Master of Church Music degree from Concordia University Wisconsin. He has served the church at large as a presenter for Schools of Worship Enrichment, a member of the Commission on Worship and the Institute for Worship and Outreach, and chairman of the hymns committee for Christian Worship.

What Now? —Further Conversation | Jon Bauer

John Bauer

Lutheran Worship: What Now? —Further Conversation

This conference’s plenary address, to be presented after the opening service on Wednesday, explores the following themes and questions. In 2024, Lutheran worship celebrates its 500th birthday. Within the next few years, Christian worship will enter its third millennium. These milestone anniversaries happen at a time when nearly everyone agrees that our world is experiencing unprecedented changes. Whether it’s advances in technology, shifts in spirituality, or instability in institutions, the dramatic ways in which our world is changing have given us a world we would not have recognized a decade ago (much less a world Lutherans in 1524 or the apostles in first-century Jerusalem would have recognized). So what now? How do Christian congregations meet the unique challenges presented by our late-modern world as they gather weekly in Jesus’ name? This presentation aims to demonstrate how, as confessional Lutherans, we are fully equipped to answer this crucial question about our worship: What now?

Those interested in further conversation about this plenary address may select this breakout session. The plenary address builds off of Jon Bauer’s 2023 keynote at the WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership with specific application to worship. After he expands on the thoughts of his address, participants will have an opportunity for further discussion.  View Pastor Bauer’s keynote address from the leadership conference.

Bio | Jon Bauer

Pastor Bauer graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2008. His first call was to Emmanuel in Tempe, Ariz. In 2014 he accepted the call to Good News in Mount Horeb, Wis., a mission church that dedicated its first building project in 2023. Jon serves on the WELS Commission on Congregational Counseling and the Institute for Worship and Outreach. He served on the executive committee of the WELS Hymnal Project.

Liturgy Myths and Truths | Michael Berg

Michael Berg

Myths and Truths About Liturgical Worship: Enriching Love of the Liturgy

This session will explore the benefits of liturgical worship. Leaving behind tired arguments that offer misleading dichotomies (e.g., liturgical vs. non-liturgical), we will discover that liturgically thoughtful worship addresses profound questions that all humans ask regardless of their background: Who are we? Who is God? Does the spiritual interact with the physical? How shall we live? Ultimately it asks and answers this question: How can we stand before the Almighty without being blown away? Liturgical worship is iconoclastic in this way. It shatters the images we have of God and ourselves and confronts us with a truly Christocentric message.

 

 

Bio | Michael Berg

Rev. Dr. Berg is associate professor of theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College where he teaches courses on worship, apologetics, Martin Luther, Christ in the Old Testament, and Christ and Culture. He is the author of Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing (1517), The Baptismal Life (NPH), On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service (1517), and a forthcoming book from NPH called Peter: Theologian of the Cross.

Signals Not to Send | Michael Berg

Michael Berg

Signals Not to Send

It seems that our culture is divided up between left and right in just about every aspect including Sunday mornings. What a tragedy! The things that unite us are so much more precious and important than the things that divide us. This is true in our country and exponentially truer in the church. Of all places, the church should be the place where the truth of the gospel matters and everything else fades into the background. And yet is this the feeling our members sense while sitting in the pews? How about the visitors in the narthex? Would a person who holds a minority political opinion walk away because of unintended signals we send? Whether we realize it or not, we send unintended signals (good and bad) in preaching, worship, conversations in the narthex, and in Bible class discussions. In this session we will discuss signals not to send but also ways to reinforce the matters that unite us. We will try to hone the skill of challenging our audiences with the grand topics that relate to our current culture without putting a barrier between them and the gospel.

Bio | Michael Berg

Rev. Dr. Berg is associate professor of theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College where he teaches courses on worship, apologetics, Martin Luther, Christ in the Old Testament, and Christ and Culture. He is the author of Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing (1517), The Baptismal Life (NPH), On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service (1517), and a forthcoming book from NPH called Peter: Theologian of the Cross.

Worship Lessons Learned | Jonathan Hein

John Hein

Worship Lessons Learned from Consulting

Imagine over the course of two years attending worship at a different WELS congregation every week. As you observed what went well and what didn’t, you would gain valuable insights: about what God’s people find most edifying, about what enables both members and guests to better participate in worship, about what makes a sermon well received, etc. In his decade of serving the WELS Commission on Congregational Counseling, Rev. Hein has attended worship in more churches than you could visit in two years. In this presentation, he will share some lessons learned from congregational consulting. He will provide hard data about worship in congregations that the Lord is blessing with growth. He will share insights about walking the Lutheran middle in our worship planning, trusting that only God’s Word can effect and strengthen faith while also understanding that God expects us to use his gift of reason to conduct worship so that the Word is well proclaimed and received.

Bio | Jonathan Hein

Upon graduation from the seminary in 1997, Rev. Hein was assigned to a home mission in the Charleston, S.C., area. In 20 years there, he helped start two congregations. He has served as chairman of the South Atlantic District Mission Board as well as a member of the executive committee of WELS Board for Home Missions. In 2014 he was called to be the director of WELS Commission on Congregational Counseling. In that capacity, he works with congregations and schools to assess and plan gospel ministry efforts. In 2017, his duties expanded to include serving as coordinator of the six commissions that make up WELS Congregational Services: Congregational Counseling, Discipleship, Evangelism, Lutheran Schools, Special Ministries, and Worship.

Meaningful Membership | Donn Dobberstein

Donn Dobberstein

More Than Just Good Worship: Meaningful Membership

A church can offer excellent preaching and inspiring music, yet still suffer the unwanted effect of back-door losses—people who quit and walk away.  Why is that? In a pulse survey, WELS members were asked, “Do you feel you ‘fit in’ and are part of a church family?” Half responded that they don’t feel they are usually part of their church family. What negative consequences for worship are implied? More importantly, what might a congregation do about it? And how would your members benefit from a church unafraid to communicate what it means to be a member? This session will share key non-negotiables that are often overlooked but strengthen meaningful membership for the young and old, the lifelong Lutheran or the brand-new member.

Bio | Donn Dobberstein

Rev. Dobberstein served mission parishes in Topeka, Kan., and Port Orange, Fla., for 22 years. Additionally, he served on the Nebraska District Mission Board and South Atlantic District Evangelism Commission as well as chairman for the WELS Commission on Evangelism. In 2017, he accepted the call to be director of WELS Discipleship. His responsibilities include women’s ministry, youth and family ministry, and discipleship. He has presented in the past for a variety of synod workshops (WELS Schools of Outreach, Telling the Next Generation) and conferences (WELS national leadership conferences, WELS National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts).

Marketing Worship | Caleb Bassett

Caleb Bassett

The Promise and Perils of Marketing Worship

Because of its public prominence and frequency, worship is often advertised, marketed, or otherwise promoted in much the same way that a local business might promote its own offerings. But making worship marketable can lead to unintended and unwanted consequences ranging from bad marketing to poor practice. Nevertheless, it is possible to make known what takes place on Sunday with taste and integrity—but to do so requires leaders to set aside conventional marketing wisdom. This presentation will equip participants with an updated understanding of contemporary cultural trends and will provide a practical toolkit to help congregations get the word out about worship while preserving clarity about the source of the power in what God does for his people in worship.

Bio | Caleb Bassett

Pastor Bassett serves at Our Redeemer, Madison, Wis. Previously he served north of San Diego, Calif. He was a member of the executive committee of the WELS Hymnal Project and chairman of the project’s technology subcommittee. He has been a frequent guest panelist on The White Horse Inn, a nationally syndicated radio program and podcast on theology and culture. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and a member of the WELS Institute for Lutheran Apologetics

The Modern Hymn Movement | Aaron Christie

Aaron Christie

The Modern Hymn Movement: Impact in America, Implications for Lutherans

Christian Worship 2021 includes about 70 modern hymns by names like Getty, Kauflin, Boswell, Papa, Townend. Many of these are as widely sung as some of an earlier generation’s “Christian contemporary” songs, but they are often superior in several respects: depth of content, breadth of themes, more singable by the assembly than soloistic songs. It’s also noteworthy that the huge conferences sponsored by Getty Music don’t use only modern repertoire but also traditional hymns, sometimes with a modern ensemble but also sung a cappella in harmony. This session will explore some of the modern hymns and how they found a place in CW21 (noting also the kinds of songs that did not make the cut—and why) and how both modern and traditional hymns can best serve our churches.

Bio | Aaron Christie

Prof. Christie is dean of chapel and professor of worship and homiletics at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He previously served churches in Antioch, Ill., and Waukesha, Wis. He holds a Master of Church Music degree from Concordia University Wisconsin. He has served the church at large as a presenter for Schools of Worship Enrichment, a member of the Commission on Worship and the Institute for Worship and Outreach, and chairman of the hymns committee for Christian Worship.

Congregational Health | Adam Mueller

Adam Mueller

More Than Just Good Worship: Congregational Health

The ultimate goal is to see people in worship—members regularly, visitors frequently. But this requires far more than good worship. This session explores several emphases that are increasingly important for congregational health and vitality: Bible class culture, meaningful service opportunities, building genuine relationships, reinforcing a truly Christian worldview, apologetics, discipleship in terms of mentoring and accountability.

Bio | Adam Mueller

After tutoring at Michigan Lutheran Seminary for two years, Pastor Mueller was assigned to a mission restart in Kokomo, Ind. During his 12 years there, he also helped start missions in Lafayette and Greenwood, Ind. In 2012 he accepted a call to serve Redeemer, Tucson, Ariz. Besides parish ministry, Adam has served in various roles on the district level including evangelism coordinator and circuit pastor. On the synodical level, he has served on translation review teams, on the Commission on Congregational Counseling, and as the WELS Hymnal Introduction Program director.

Christ, Culture, and Liturgy | Wade Johnston

Wade Johnston

Christ, Culture, and Liturgy

We live in an age where it’s hard to tell where culture ends and Christianity begins. Every Christian has lived in such an age. God came to people in time at a place by his incarnation. God still comes to people in time at places through Word and sacrament. How do Christ, culture, and liturgy therefore relate? This presentation will explore how the liturgy serves both contextually and transculturally, taking place within a cultural framework while at the same time calling us beyond it. What from our culture is adaptable or beneficial? What is harmful, though seeming innocent? How does worship transcend culture? How do we engage our culture without compromising our faith and practice?

Bio | Wade Johnston

Rev. Dr. Johnston is associate professor of history and theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wis. Raised Roman Catholic, he was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1995 and soon enrolled in Martin Luther College. After graduation from seminary, he served Christ in Saginaw, Mich., for ten years before coming to WLC. He earned his PhD from Central Michigan University and Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. His teaching focuses on European history, Luther, the Lutheran Confessions, the reformations of the sixteenth century, applied theology, and Paul’s epistles. He has given presentations to numerous WELS conferences and is published by CPH, 1517, Logia, and others.