2025 South Atlantic District
Pastor / Teacher / Staff Minister Conference
October 15-17, 2025 :: hammock beach resort :: Palm coast, FL
The theme for our District Pastor/Teacher/Staff Minister Conference this year echoes the theme from this summer’s Synod Convention: “Christ Through Us.” As Gospel proclaimers, our Savior has given us the high calling of being his voice in the world as we share the message of forgiveness and reconciliation with our neighbors. At this year’s conference, we will gather around God’s Word to be strengthened in our faith and built up in our callings. We will gather together around the cross in worship to receive God’s gifts of Word and Sacrament. We will gather with each other in fellowship to encourage one another and be encouraged. As we do, we trust that our God will equip and strengthen us for the work ahead and keep us focused on Christ, who promises to work through us.
To register for the District Pastor/Teacher/Staff Minister Conference, you must do 2 things:
Click on the Conference Registration button above - this registers you for the conference and is where you will pay your conference registration fee.
Click on the Hotel Reservation button above - this is where you will be able to reserve your room at the Hammock Beach Resort. If you are planning on coming early or staying later, the room rates will stay the same, but you must call to set up your reservation. See the General Conference Information sheet below if you are from FL and are interested in taking advantage of your church/school’s tax-exempt status, and to get more information on the room types available and the number to call to set up a room reservation.
The Conference Registration and Room Reservation deadline is Friday, September 12th.
If you have questions, you can reach the Conference Planning Committee at conference (at) sa.wels.net.
District Pastor Conference
The Psalms - Knowing Them Like the Back of My Hand (Prof Brad Wordell)
Luther called the Psalms the Holy Spirit’s Bible within the Bible. He said that the Psalms clearly proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Psalms paint a portrait of the coming Christ. Our study of the Psalms will focus on the larger structure of the Psalms—the five books and the storyline that runs through them—and identifying the groupings of Psalms in those five books (e.g., the first kingship cluster in Psalms 20 through 24). Special attention will be given to the Christo-telic nature of the Psalms, the themes of the Psalms, the structures of the Psalms, and the best way to read them. We will discuss the use of the Psalms in life and ministry, and how to teach the Psalms to God’s people. To whet our appetites for language study, about 10% of the seminar will include the reading and discussion of Hebrew. The specific psalms studied will be a mix of “the most-used psalms in pastoral ministry” and “hidden gems.” Participants will give input on the selection of those psalms.
District Teacher Conference
Wednesday’s Keynote: Professional Learning Communities in the South Atlantic District
The Professional Learning Community (PLC) model provides a research-supported method for schools to improve student learning outcomes through ongoing collaborative learning among educators. This keynote will give an overview of the purpose of a PLC, essential ideas, and necessary logistics to consider when implementing this approach within your school or across schools. Examples will be shared from over 20 years of experience with PLCs in a variety of settings to help you envision and make a practical plan for what a PLC can look like in your specific ministry setting. For those who have already started this work, this will help you identify next steps.
Thursdays Keynote: Giving the Gift of Feedback through High Quality Assessments
Feedback is a gift. Feedback helps us ensure that we are having our intended impact. To ensure that our students are learning what we want them to learn we need feedback. Our students need feedback to focus their efforts in the learning process. This feedback can come in the form of formative and summative assessments that provide teachers and their students with data that informs next steps in the learning journey. In this keynote we will review, share and apply research-based principles to design assessments that give us and our students actionable feedback. We will evaluate our current practices and take the next best steps in a shift from using assessments primarily to evaluate students’ content knowledge at a single point in time to using a variety of frequent assessments to identify progress on essential skills and inform instruction.