About the WELS
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)
MISSION
As men, women, and children united in faith and worship by the Word of God, the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod exists to make disciples throughout the world for time and for eternity, using the Gospel in Word and Sacrament to win the lost for Christ and to nurture believers for lives of Christian service, all to the glory of God.
OBJECTIVES
- To uphold and testify to the truth of God as fully revealed in the inspired, inerrant, infallible Holy Scriptures and articulated in the Lutheran Confessions, and to use Scripture as the sole authority.
- To foster a sense of urgency for the lost and to seize every opportunity the Lord provides to evangelize lost souls;
- To establish churches where Christians help each other grow and mature in the faith through public worship and a life-long study of the Word of God;
- To encourage and equip each other for the application of our faith, reflecting Christ's love in lives of Christian service to the Lord, his Church, and his world;
- To mobilize our people, as members of the universal priesthood, in ministry using the Word;
- To recruit and train candidates qualified for public ministry and provide for their continuing education so that the Word of God is proclaimed faithfully and effectively in accord with the Lutheran Confessions.
CHALLENGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WELS
- Lead people to a passion for ALL the lost and equip them to reach these people.
- Focus Ministerial Education on outreach
- Individualize spiritual growth and personal witnessing
OUR WELS VISION
The Word is Everything!
GO WITH IT!
- Reach new people by planting new churches.
- Reach people of other cultures in North America by establishing new cross-cultural missions
- Expand our world outreach by increasing our overseas mission corps
- Involve every member in evangelizing the lost both inside and outside the church.
STUDY IT!
- Equip all of our members for personal and family devotional life.
- Focus parents' efforts on spiritual nurturing of preschoolers.
- Concentrate efforts to enroll all of our children and teens in formal programs of Christian education.
- Emphasize every communicant's need for organized Bible study.
- Emphasize every believer's need for regular public worship.
- Carry on a Scriptural study of doctrine in every congregation and conference; Cultivate a clear biblical understanding of worship principles.
- Cultivate a clear biblical understanding of the gospel ministry that may take on many forms.
- Publish and distribute thorough theological studies on contemporary issues challenging Christianity; Make effective use of up-to-date technology and methods of communication to proclaim the truth of God's Word; Foster confessional unity of faith among ourselves and among Christians throughout the world.
APPLY IT!
- Reflect the Scriptural injunction to give as God has prospered us
- Assist each other to love one another and to utilize our spiritual gifts.
- Assist families in our congregations and reach out with such assistance to those in our communities.
- Respond to special needs and a changing society with Christ-centered ministry for people whose physical, emotional, or social situation may require assistance; Involve God's people in the ministry with God's Word.
- Optimize the enthusiasm of emerging adults (18 and up) for ministry.
- Make the most of the wisdom of maturing generations (55 and up) in the ministry of the Word.
TEACH IT!
- Continue recruitment from elementary, high school, and non- traditional sources with recruitment and scholarship emphasis in every congregation.
- Implement and enhance recruiting, training, certifying, and calling of staff workers other than pastors and teachers; Encourage use of a comprehensive program for professional growth in ministry for all called workers.
- Develop and implement ways and means to train workers for cross-cultural ministry.
- Develop and implement comprehensive support programs for the called workers Christ gives to the church.
- Provide ministry-related field experiences for the faculties of our ministerial education schools.
- Involve the majority of our ministerial education students in appropriate ministry-related field experiences while in school.
You can find more information about the WELS by visiting www.wels.net