WELS Commission on Evangelism

Eric Roecker, director

Update – Spring/Summer 2019

OUTREACH NEWSLETTERS

Outreach Newsletters are designed to assist congregations with their efforts to nurture souls on their prospect

lists. Some congregations also print the articles for their members with encouragement to use them in their

friendship witnessing. Additionally, we suggest that congregations post the newsletters on their web sites and

utilize them as much as possible in their various outreach efforts.

The Outreach Newsletter is now provided free of charge. You can access them at

www.welscongregationalservices.net

WHATABOUTJESUS.COM

This website, produced by the Commission on Evangelism, continues to reach many people with God’s word. New

articles are posted on a regular basis. WELS Daily Devotions also appear each day on the site.

DAILY DEVOTIONS

The texts and podcasts of Daily Devotions appear every day on the WhatAboutJesus.com and WELS.net

websites. The WELS Mobile App is another option for accessing the devotions on mobile devices. They are also

sent to nearly 10,000 email subscribers. Predominantly, email subscribers are based in the United States and

Canada. However, there are people all over the world who access the devotions.

For many years, Mike Hintz served as the editor for Daily Devotions. His was also the voice heard by thousands on

the daily podcast. Zach Steinke, a 2019 WLS graduate, has replaced Mike as the voice of the podcast. Editing is

being done by Eric Roecker.

SCHOOL OF OUTREACH

The School of Outreach is presented by the WELS Commission on Evangelism and your District Evangelism

Commission. The program serves WELS congregations with planning, assistance, and resources for congregational

evangelism programming and implementation of outreach strategies. There are two one-day workshops that are

scheduled several months apart. At each of the workshops, there are breakout sessions at which the presenters

work with individual congregations to advise them regarding outreach plans and strategies.

Goals of workshop 1 – Work to develop a …

o Workable organization for evangelism

o Written plan of outreach strategies

o Managed prospect list for faithful follow-up

Goals of workshop 2 – Determine plans for…

o Training members for witnessing to people they know

o Raising awareness of the church in the surrounding community

o Improving the way guests are welcomed at worship services

The registration fee is $225 per congregation. The fee includes workbooks for each participant, lunch and

refreshments for both sessions and the follow-up contacts by the advisors done by phone and email.

ONLINE EVANGELISM COURSES

The WELS Commission on Evangelism offers evangelism courses through the Martin Luther College online

continuing education program. These courses make up the Evangelism Certificate Program at Martin Luther

College. There are three one-credit courses: 1)The Mission of the Church, 2) Practical Evangelism for

Congregations, and 3) Friendship Evangelism. Information at: www.wels.net/evangelism

C19

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to the C18 effort, the commission on Evangelism will be producing

C19. Although not as comprehensive an effort as C18, C19 will provide outreach encouragements as well as

materials to assist congregations in inviting their neighbors to worship with them on Christmas Eve. Rather than

provide the materials piecemeal throughout the Fall as was done with C18, all materials for C19 will be available at

www.welscongregationalservices.net in July. Pastors and laypeople can subscribe to receive email updates on C19

and Congregational Services other initiatives there as well.

NEW INITIATIVES

Our commission is currently working on two main initiatives:

1. Producing materials to help congregations create an outreach culture

2. Producing materials to help congregations train their members in personal witnessing

Our goal is to have these materials available by June of 2020. The materials will be available for free on the

Congregational Services website. More information will be forthcoming as the materials are developed.

Serving alongside you,

Eric

Rev. Eric Roecker Director – WELS Commission on Evangelism eric.roecker@wels.net 414-256-3287