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The Bugenhagen
 CONFERENCE 

July 28 - July 30, 2025 : Racine, Wisconsin
ARE YOU READY TO PUT THE REFORMATION INTO PRACTICE?
July 29 - 31, 2024
 

St. John's Lutheran Church

510 Kewaunee St.

Racine, WI 53402

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The Bugenhagen Conference is a three day conference for pastors on practical theology. Attendance and meals at the conference are free to registrants. The conference features three keynote speakers and forty workshops presented by over twenty pastors.
The Reformation held up the great truth of salvation by grace through faith. Faithful Lutheran pastors know that the gospel is to permeate the teaching and the life of the congregation. Our preaching, teaching, and all of our practices should be fully shaped by the Word of God. The Pastor ought to excel in his ministry whether it be in teaching, caring for the sick and dying, providing biblical counsel, or being an example in holy living.
 
The Bugenhagen Conference was created to help pastors hone their craft and excel in all facets of ministry. Pastors know that there is always room for improvement, whether it be in the routine tasks of administration, or in more particular matters of pastoral leadership in the parish. The pastor is to be competent, confident, and skilled in his ministry.
 
The Bugenhagen Conference is a gathering particularly designed for the parish pastor, providing a place for him to honestly evaluate himself against the biblical model of who a pastor is to be. Here he can critically assess among brothers what qualities, skills, and characteristics he has developed and, also, where he needs to develop. The workshops allow pastors to hear from brothers in the ministerium who can provide practical guidance in approaching specific tasks and challenging situations that one may face in the parish.

OUR SPEAKERS

Participants at the Bugenhagen Conference will hear three Keynote Addresses. Out of the forty Workshops offered, they will be able to attend eight. It has been said pastors of different ages and experience naturally bring particular gifts to the church: the young, zeal; the middle-aged, stability; and, the elders, wisdom. A healthy mix and balance of these qualities will be brought together at the conference in order to strengthen and build up our ministerium in the Missouri Synod.

SPEAKERS

Keynote Speakers

2024 Workshop Presentations

 (This will be updated for 2025 in in the time leading up to the conference)

 

I. Preaching and Teaching

 

  Ears that See: Luther’s Understanding of the Eyes of Faith and Its Usefulness in Teaching the Scriptures—Pastor Sean Kilgo

 

Getting Better at Bible Study: Handling Tough Questions in Class—Pastor Greg Truwe

 

Getting Better at Bible Study When Dealing with Hard Topics: Polygamy

—Pastor David Ramirez

 

Putting Off The Flesh & Putting On Christ: Preaching Sanctification

—Pastor Joshua Willadsen

 

Getting Better at Teaching/Preaching the Book of Zechariah—Pastor Jacob Hercamp

 

Good News Magazine—Pastor Wallace Schulz

 

Joy in Preaching—Pastor David Petersen:

 

Meditating on the Proverbs—Pastor Ryan Loeslie

 

Missions in Old Missouri—Pastor Tyson Mastin

Preaching to the (Re)Imagination—Pastor J. J. Stefanic

 

The Septuagint—Pastor Tyson Mastin

 

Telling People What to Think—Pastor Heath Curtis

 

Thinking Canonically about Preaching: The Mental Process Involved in Sermon Preparation—Pastor Burnell Eckardt

 

The Word Which Is at Work—Pastor Wallace Schulz

 

Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 10—Pastor Joshua Conradt

 

Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 11—Pastor David Ramirez

 

Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 12—Pastor Joshua Willadsen

II. Liturgical Matters

 

Slow Down: Principles for Reverence in the Chancel—Pastor Joshua DeYoung

III. Care of Souls

Bearing Your Parishioners' Crosses—Pastor Andrew Preus

 

Being Concerned About the Right Things—Pastor Mike Grieve

 

Confirmation and Early Communion—Pastor David Petersen

 

The Final Project: Find a Church—Pastor Matthew Moss

 

From the Moment of Conception: A Christological Foundation for Being Pro-Life

—Pastor Brandon Koble

 

Recovering the Beichtmeldung (Announcement for Communion)—Pastor Karl Hess 

 

Reforming Confirmation: Salvage or Scrap?—Pastor David Buchs

 

IV. Congregational Life and Parish Administration

All Things Should Be Done Decently and in Good Order: Revising Your Constitution & Bylaws—Pastor Matthew Moss

 

Camp Trinity Academy—Pastor Andrew Preus

 

From School to Church—Pastor Jack Gilbert

 

In the Limelight—Pastor James Roemke

 

Merging Churches: What Worked in Greenwich, CT (Might not Work for You)

—Pastor Evan Scamman

 

Plundering the Egyptians: Business Tools for a Pastor’s Work—Pastor Jason Braaten

 

Resolutions Matter—Panel 

 

Things You Wish You Learned at Seminary: The Funeral Checklist—Pastor Kyle Verage

 

Two Weird Tricks to Make Youth Group Work in Smaller Congregations

—Pastor Heath Curtis

 

Weaker Vessels and Lords: Submission and Honor in the Christian Marriage According to 1 Peter 3—Pastor Sean Willman:

 

The Wrong and Right Way to Support Mission Work—Pastor James May

 

V. Pastoral Leadership

Getting Your Stuff in a Pile: Organizing Advice for Seminarians and New Pastors

—Pastor Aaron Uphoff

 

Looking Back as You Go Forward—Pastor Dan Gilbert

 

New Pastor Forum—Panel

 

Retreat! Not just for Cowards!—Pastor Todd Jerabek

 

 

2024 Keynote Addresses

Monday, July 29: The Pastor as Father at Home and in the CongregationPastor Jack Gilbert

Tuesday, July 30: Biblical Sermonizing—Pastor Karl Fabrizius

Wednesday, July 31: Boldness and Courage in the OfficePastor Travis Kleinschmidt

SPONSERS

SPONSORS

St. John's Lutheran Church
Racine, WI
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St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Union Grove, WI
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, WI
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Planning Committee

Rev. Jack Gilbert 

St. John's Lutheran Church 

Racine, WI

Rev. David P. Ramirez

St. Paul's Lutheran Church

Union Grove, WI

Rev. Aaron Uphoff

Calvary Lutheran Church

Watseka, IL

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CONTACT

CONTACT US

For other questions and comments email bugenhagenconference@gmail.com

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