Greetings in the name of our Risen Savior!

For the first time in four years, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary will be hosting on-campus, in-person Summer Quarter classes for the pastors of WELS, the ELS, and sister church bodies in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). 

Summer Quarter runs for two weeks, from June 24 – July 1. Some classes run for both weeks. Many one-week courses are also being offered. 

The schedule for Summer Quarter 2022 can be seen here. Registration information can be found here. Two online courses are also being offered.

Tuition assistance is available for participants from international CELC churches. The cost for one week in the dormitory and ten meals (weekday breakfasts and lunches) is US $215. Travel costs are the responsibility of the pastor or his sending church body. 

Inquiries should be sent to Grow in Grace Director Bradley Wordell (Bradley.Wordell@wisluthsem.org) or Grow in Grace Executive Assistant Barbara Rickaby (Barbara.Rickaby@wisluthsem.org).

Submitted by Prof. Bradley Wordell

Here is a touching picture from the first Sunday School in a new WELS world mission field in a Muslim nation in South Asia, submitted to the CELC president for use in a CELC news brief. For security reasons, the name of the country and the name of the person who shared the picture cannot be shared. The country is roughly 1% Christian, and the believers are experiencing great persecution. Still the believers are showing love to those who persecute them, and many adults and children are learning about the love of Jesus.

As we hold the 34 churches of the CELC in our thoughts and prayers—churches whose names we know and freely share—we can also remember our fellow believers in countries that we can’t openly speak about on the internet. How wonderful to know that the good news of Jesus is spreading also in places like that.

To our Brothers and Sisters in the CELC,

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

It is a pleasure for me to inform our brothers and sisters of the CELC about the 94th synod convention of the Evangelisch-Lutherische Freikirche. God willing, it will take place from June 10–12, 2022, in Chemnitz, Germany. Vice president Rev. Jörg Kubitschek (Saalfeld) will present the synodical essay. His paper will focus on “The relevance of a Lutheran Confessional Church in a pluralistic environment.” 

In 2022 our synod looks back on a history of 145 years under God’s blessings. It was founded by the first conventions in 1876 and 1877. Our first president came out of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. His name was Friedrich Ruhland. He was born in Germany, but left his homeland for confessional reasons. In 1873 he accepted a call to St. Johns in Planitz and Trinity in Dresden. 

The time when the ELFK was founded seems to be quite similar to our time today. From its beginning, the ELFK stood faithfully on the inspired Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions in a pluralistic environment. But it is alone God’s grace and work. May he continue to give us strength and power to hold on to his Word and the Lutheran Confessions. May he give us faithful called ministers in the future and may our congregations continue on this way on earth to our heavenly home. For this reason we come together for our 94th synod convention in 2022. 

May God be with you and bless your work in his kingdom.

Your brother in Christ,
Rev. Michael Herbst
ELFK President
 

 

           
                       Rev. Godoy receiving a stole from Rev. Villares
                              with Rev. Cherney in the background

In a service held April 3, 2022, in his parents’ home in Dom Cavati, MG, Brazil, Rev. Denício Godoy was ordained and commissioned as a missionary of the Igreja Luterana de Portugal (ILP) to Brazil. The rite of ordination was conducted by ILP president Rev. Artur Villares. Rev. Kenneth A. Cherney, Jr., the WELS Europe Team representative to the ILP, brought greetings from WELS and participated in the laying on of hands. 

Rev. Godoy first reached out to Rev. Villares six years ago when he became troubled by the direction of the IELB (Igreja Evangélica Luterana Brasileira, an LCMS daughter church) and began seeking a more solidly confessional affiliation. He finished his studies at the IELB seminary in São Leopoldo, RS, but declined to take a call into the IELB’s ministry. Subsequently, he was received into fellowship with the ILP via colloquy. Rev. Godoy has an active online presence where he translates and shares WELS materials. 

After the service, Rev. Godoy, Rev. Villares, and Rev. Cherney worked on refining Rev. Godoy’s aggressive outreach plan, which has been approved by the WELS Europe Team and sent on to the WELS Board for World Missions. It calls for a joint effort between WELS and the ILP to plant two new congregations (one in Dom Cavati and another in Governador Valadares, a much larger city to which Rev. Godoy has moved with his family) and to greatly expand the ILP’s online presence in Brazil. The goal is to identify “inquirers,” provide them with information and materials, and follow up on those that seem to present the best opportunities for church planting.

Submitted by Rev. Kenneth A. Cherney, Jr.

                                       Poster with the family of Rev. Godoy

Dear Friends in Christ,

Greetings from Christ Evangelical Lutheran Ministries (CELM) of India.

We have a Lutheran seminary in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India to teach God’s Word and to train our workers. On Friday, March 25, 2022, we had a graduation service, and by the grace of God eighteen students graduated. All of them studied over seven years in God’s Word and were equipped for the ministry work.

Out of the 18 students, 14 of them belong to Telugu states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and 4 of them belong to North India (Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh, and Uttar Pradesh). 

These men are very talented and learned God’s Word to preach in their communities. All of them have congregations, and they have gone back to their congregations for full time gospel work. They were all very happy when they received their certificates and also some gifts from WELS (such as laptops for their continuing education).

Please pray for our new graduates that God may use them in his kingdom work.

Submitted by Rev. Prasad Babu

                                    Photo of the graduation service