January 22-24, 2024 - Faith Lutheran Church, Sharpsburg, GA

Anthropology may be the critical theological locus of the next century. This is seen easily in the transgender movement or the cultural debates on sexuality. Knowing what to make of the body, though, and how to impact the soul through it is a vast question that the Church now faces in special force because of recent technological gains. This conference will begin to give that question attention. Together we will ponder questions like:

  • What is happening with someone who "worships online?"

  • Is enfleshed gathering necessary to the life of the Church and, if so, how essential?

  • What are forms of delivering the Word through technology that edify the body of Christ?

  • What might they look like in the future? What might we shy away from?

  • In short, what does it mean for Lutherans with Christological (read incarnation here) and sacramental commitments to make use of technology without its potentially dehumanizing effects? 

 
 

CONFERENCE Presentations

  • Presenter: Missionary Michael Hartmann

    Five hundred years ago, Luther leveraged technology in the form of the printing press to increase the spread of the gospel exponentially. Now, in the twenty-first century, in the midst of another technological revolution, we have the opportunity to again use technology to initiate what some have called a "great age of evangelism."

    Given the technologies of AI, video conferencing, online learning, and more, boundless opportunities are now open for pastors, missionaries, and church leaders. How might we creatively and boldly use such technologies to bring Christ crucified to a dying world? Missionary Mike Hartmann envisions the possibilities as we seek to reach more souls than ever before.

  • Presenter: Pastor Jonathan Bauer

    Over the last few decades, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has come to the fore in the work of the church. Church leaders across the world face unavoidable questions at the intersection of anthropology and technology, questions like: What is happening with someone who "worships online?" Are in-person gatherings essential to the life of the Church and, if so, how essential? What forms of delivering the Word through technology edify the body of Christ? How might the uncritical adoption of or overreliance on certain technologies undermine the body of believers?  In short, what does it mean for Lutherans with incarnational and sacramental commitments to make use of technology without its potentially dehumanizing effects? Pastor Jonathan Bauer addresses such key issues, tethers us to core, Lutheran commitments, and lays a Scriptural foundation for the prudent use of technology.

 
 

Conference Worship Resources

 
 

Conference Presenters

Missionary Michael Hartman (D.Min) serves as missionary to England, with a focus on London and international ministry. As the first WELS missionary to the area, he carries out exploratory work among a core group of WELS members living in England. 

Prior to his call to England, Missionary Hartman served as leader of the Latin America mission team, Missionary Hartman spent time in Latin America after graduating from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1999, at which time he was assigned to Mexico City. During the first 14 years of his ministry, he helped our sister synod in Mexico plant churches and develop leaders.

In 2013, drawing on the foundation laid by former missionaries to Latin America, Missionary Hartman worked with a team to create Academia Cristo, a ministry that provides Biblical material and training in Spanish. Today, Academia Cristo engages with an average of four million people every month. More than 500 students are active in a training program in which they learn Biblical theology and receive tools and mentoring as they work to plant churches in their neighborhoods.

Pastor Jonathan Bauer graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2008. His first call was to Emmanuel Lutheran in Tempe, Ariz. There he served as an associate pastor in a large church setting with focused responsibilities in the areas of worship and outreach.

In 2014 he accepted the call to Good News in Mount Horeb, Wis., a mission church that had started having weekly services about one year prior to his arrival. Good News has grown to a congregation of more than 200 members and dedicated its first permanent church home in February of 2023. 

During his ministry, Jon has served on the Institute for Worship and Outreach and the Executive Committee of the WELS Hymnal Project. He gave a keynote address at the 2023 WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership and currently serves on the WELS Commission on Congregational Counseling.