ARE YOU READY TO PUT THE REFORMATION INTO PRACTICE?
July 28 - 30, 2025
St. John's Lutheran Church
510 Kewaunee St.
Racine, WI 53402
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.
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
2025 Keynote Addresses
Monday, July 28: Be Faithful in the Midst of a Flawed Polity — Pastor Paul Preus
Tuesday, July 29: Pastoring under the American Interim — Pastor Karl Hess
Wednesday, July 30: Telling People What to Do: The Wisdom of God's Curb — Pastor Aaron Uphoff
SPONSORS
St. John's Lutheran Church
Racine, WI
St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Union Grove, WI
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, WI
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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