Joint leadership conference

Wisconsin Lutheran College’s (WLC) Center for Christian Leadership, in partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and the WELS Commission on Congregational Counseling, will be hosting the 2012 Leadership Conference, June 8-9, 2012. The focus of the conference is the cooperative and complementary relationship of pastoral and congregational leadership as it applies to WELS congregations and schools.

The partnership is a natural extension of work that the seminary has been doing for some time. Rev. Paul Kelm, director of the center, explains, “The seminary has initiated training for both undergraduate and graduate (and now continuing education) students in pastoral leadership. This work has stimulated thought elsewhere in the church about the development of lay leadership.” Seminary President Paul Wendland agrees, “The collaboration between pastoral and congregational leadership is exactly what this conference is intended to foster. It is difficult to think of something more important for the well-being of a congregation.”

The work of WLC’s leadership center and the intent of the conference builds squarely on the mission statement of the college, “to provide quality teaching, scholarship, and service that are rooted in Holy Scripture…preparing students for lives of Christian leadership.” It is hoped that collaboration on this conference will only be the beginning of a heightened awareness of and attention to leadership issues.

Organized under the theme “Leading Together to Advance Christ’s Kingdom,” sessions and workshops include such topics as “Leadership Roles and Relationships in the Church,” “Leadership Skills for a 21st Century Church,” and “Processing Principles—How Leaders Address Areas of Ministry.”

Seminary Prof. E. Allen Sorum will deliver the keynote essay on Friday, June 8th. For more information or to register, visit www.wlc.edu/leadership, call (414) 443-8723, or e-mail paul.kelm@wlc.edu.