Director needed for Youth, Adult Discipleship
Filed Under: adult discipleship, Conference of Presidents, Congregation and Ministry Support Group, Youth Discipleship
Rev. Dave Kehl, administrator of WELS Commission on Adult Discipleship, has accepted a call to serve as the executive director of ministry advancement for Atonement, Milwaukee, Wis. As of Jan. 1, 2010, Kehl will lead the design, development, and implementation of Atonement's overall gospel ministry so that Atonement can seize its opportunities as a multicultural congregation in an urban setting.
Kehl says, "This position gives me a unique opportunity to return full time to grassroots ministry in a local congregation and to freshly apply the resources and insights I have gained by serving in WELS Parish Services through my work with WELS Adult Discipleship."
Kehl declined a call from the Conference of Presidents (COP) to serve as director of Youth and Adult Discipleship in the new Congregation and Ministry Support Group, formerly the Board for Parish Services. During its October meeting, the COP acted on a synod convention resolution calling for responsibility for Parish Services to move from its board to the COP.
As a result, the COP reconfigured Parish Services, including changing its name to the Congregation and Ministry Support Group and issuing new calls to some staff, but eliminating the positions of the two pastor-trained men within Parish Assistance.
As of Monday, Nov. 2, Rev. Mike Hintz (director of Evangelism), Rev. Bryan Gerlach (director of Worship), and Rev. Carl Ziemer (director of Special Ministries), accepted their calls. Each had been serving as administrators of the corresponding area of ministry under the former Parish Services. Teacher Greg Schmill (interim director of Lutheran Schools) and Teacher Jeff Inniger (associate director of Lutheran Schools) are still deliberating their calls.
The Conference of Presidents will meet soon to call a new director of Youth and Adult Discipleship. President Mark Schroeder explains that although these two commissions will now share a director—at least for the time being due to budgetary restrictions—the work should continue much as before.
"Adult Discipleship will continue to address issues of stewardship, Bible study, and congregational health," says Schroeder. "Youth Discipleship will continue to encourage congregations to serve young people 18 years and under and to provide young people with the opportunities to serve and to grow in their faith."
