A week of meetings, a lifetime of impressions
From the office of President Mark Schroeder
Last week I was privileged to attend two unique WELS gatherings—the World Missions Conference at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, held every four years, and the National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts in St. Peter, Minnesota, held every three years. Both left me with lasting impressions.
First, the missions conference. The missionaries gathered there personified the work that we are doing together as a synod to take the gospel to the world. As I looked at each of them, I thought of them as extensions of all of us. They are serving on behalf of each of us, going to places where we cannot go and reaching people that we will never meet.
I was also impressed with the commitment and dedication of these ambassadors for Christ. Serving across borders and oceans is never easy. Adjusting to a new culture is a challenge. Learning a new language is a task that takes commitment and time. Living away from extended families and friends is truly a sacrifice. But in spite of all of those difficulties and challenges, I heard no complaints. I saw no one feeling sorry for what he was missing or giving up. I saw a room full of men who had answered God's call, and who had responded joyfully and eagerly, "Here am I; send me!"
Another impression was the wide variety of places in which the gospel is being proclaimed on our behalf. Whether it was out in the bush in Malawi, the tropical forests of Indonesia, a high rise in crowded Hong Kong, or a dusty village in Mexico, the gospel is being proclaimed to people of all languages, tribes, and nations. The places and languages may vary, but the gospel of Jesus Christ works to bring people around the world into the family of God and joins them to the body of Christ.
Keep these missionaries and their families in your prayers. As they work on our behalf, remember that God's Word, no matter where it is preached and no matter what language conveys it, will not return to him empty.
Then it was on to the worship conference, where more than a thousand WELS worship leaders and musicians had gathered—more than any previous conference. This was the first worship conference I had attended, and I was not disappointed. I came away marveling at the many gifts and talents that God has given to people in our synod. Those gifts were on display in the inspiring worship services and in the many workshops that were held. Some of us are not very emotional people by nature, but there were times when the beauty of the gospel-centered music and messages left very few dry eyes. Particularly moving was the hymn festival featuring a select choir of WELS high school students from across the country.
This conference was significant because it stressed the importance and centrality of worship in our lives as God's people. And as the case was made for the importance of worship, the point was made again and again that confessional Lutheran worship can and should be done with a commitment to excellence and with an appreciation for the heritage of liturgical worship that has been passed down to us by Christians throughout the ages. What was most striking was the reminder that truly Lutheran worship is not centered on us, but on Christ and the proclamation of the timeless gospel.
These two conferences—centering on very different subjects—reminded me of how thankful we can be for the blessings that God continues to give us in WELS.
Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder
Filed Under: conference, national worship conference, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, WLS, World Missions, Worship
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