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Virtual Worship | Brett Naumann

Brett Naumann

Virtual Worship Is Like a Virtual Honeymoon—In Person Is Better

Knowing how to do worship well is one thing; having people return to worship after they have grown comfortable streaming church from their couch while clutching a cup of coffee is a whole separate matter. Churches across Christendom have struggled to return to pre-pandemic in-person worship attendance levels. This presentation will share the experiences and lessons learned at one church that is averaging 66% of members attending in-person worship each week. It will review the blessings of in-person worship and will provide a number of strategies for encouraging people to return to live worship.

 

Bio | Brett Naumann

Pastor Naumann served for 14 years at Good Shepherd in Fond du Lac before taking a call to Trinity in Kiel, Wis., where he has served since 2019. He also serves on the Northern Wisconsin District Worship Committee.

Children and Teens | Phil Huebner

Phil Huebner

Children and Teens in Worship

What to do with children and teens in worship? Just let them learn through experience? Offer a separate teen service or children’s church down the hallway? Include them in worship? Feature them? Leave it to the parents to figure it out? This workshop, not only for parents but for all who care about children and teens, will address generational and statistical changes in worship along with how real parents, teens, and children actually view worship today. The workshop will seek to use a biblical foundation that applies historical precedent and wisdom to modern situations and contexts. It will also give suggestions for incorporating children and teens in worship, addressing them in sermons, and connecting worship with the homes. The goal will be to build up children and teens into the body of Christ as lifelong Christian worshipers.

 

 

Bio | Phil Huebner

Rev. Dr. Huebner was assigned from the seminary to start a new mission church in Palm Coast, Fla., where he served for nine years. Since 2016 he has served as the campus pastor at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. He received a second master’s degree from our seminary in 2016 and a doctorate in ministry in missions and culture in 2019 from Concordia Theological Seminary. His entire ministry to date has seen emphases in outreach, children, teens, and families.

Adiaphora: Freedom and Consensus | Paul Prange

Paul Prange

Adiaphora: Freedom and Consensus in Worship

How much are forms of worship commanded, and how much are they personal preference of the worship planners? This presentation provides insights from the past—A.D. 55, 1571, 1941, 1983, 2008—before making applications for the present. Participants will grow in their understanding of the value of both freedom and consensus in worship while also sharpening their ability to assess questionable cultural assumptions.

Bio | Paul Prange

Rev. Prange serves as the interim director of the WELS Commission on Worship. He is also administrator for Ministerial Education and chairman of the Joint Mission Council. His broad ministry experience includes time as a home missionary, a world missionary, and a parish pastor, but most people remember him as president of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, 1994–2009. He was chairman of the committee that prepared the Psalter as part of the new WELS hymnal suite.

A Congregation’s Worship Ed Story | John Bortulin

John Bortulin

A Congregation’s Story About Worship and Education—Could It Be Yours?

Every congregation is going to “do something” when it gathers. An age-old axiom is “How you worship affects how you believe, and how you believe affects how you worship.” This presentation will tell the story of how one church family has navigated Sunday mornings in a way that seeks to serve the lifelong Lutheran as well as the first-time attendee. Emphasis will be given to intentional and subtle ways to teach “why we do what we do.” Pastors, worship planners, musicians, teachers, and laity alike will hopefully benefit and leave our time together with something to think about and something to implement in their unique ministry settings.

Bio | John Bortulin

Pastor Bortulin serves at St. John’s, Mukwonago, Wis. In the past ten years, nearly 350 adults have joined the church through its adult instruction class. This has created the dynamic of a large, established congregation with many weekly attendees who were not previously familiar with liturgical worship. John also serves on the Board for Ministerial Education and as second vice president of the Southeastern Wisconsin District. He was a member of the rites committee for Christian Worship.

Strategic Planning | Joel Gawrisch

Joel Gawrisch

Strategic Planning and Worship Enrichment

Almost without fail corporate worship is evaluated as a congregation’s most important aspect of ministry. And yet when it comes to congregational planning for enriching corporate worship and dedicating the necessary resources, worship plans and needs are often marginalized. This session will discuss how to avoid this pitfall, explore specific blessings that come with a strategic approach to worship planning, and provide resources to do so.

This session is a version of a session offered in 2017. It is available only once.

Bio | Joel Gawrisch

Pastor Gawrisch has served at New Life in Shoreview, Minn., for the past nine years. He is the Minnesota District Worship Coordinator and has also been involved with the Schools of Worship Enrichment and the rites committee for the WELS Hymnal Project.