Valparaiso UniversityValparaiso, IN 46383-6493

WelcomeOURCHILDREN’SCHURCH

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missions

FAIT

H

Please join us for...

OUR CHILDREN’S CHURCH:A State of the Church ConferenceValparaiso UniversityValparaiso, IndianaAugust 2-4, 2015

Learn

more

abou

t our

excit

ing

confe

rence

...all t

he

detai

ls ins

ide!

OURCHILDREN’SCHURCH

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missionsFA

ITH

$110 (postmarked by April 15, 2015)

$140 (postmarked after April 15, 2015)

$40 College Age and Millennials (b. 1985 to 2005)

$30 Banquet Only

$40 Day Tripper (per day)

Optional lodging cost is $85 per room per night (hot breakfast included) at the Country Inn and Suites, 2020 LaPorte Aveue, Valparaiso, IN 46383.

Reservations may be made directly by calling the hotel at (800) 830-5222. Ask for the “Church Conference.” Welcome

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2015

8:30am WORSHIP FOR EARLY ARRIVERS Valparaiso University Center for the Arts (VUCA)

3pm - 5pm REGISTRATION Harre Union

5pm HAPPY HOUR Ballroom A, Harre Union

6pm BANQUET WITH KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: DR. DAVID H. BENKE Ballroom A, Harre Union

8pm EVENING PRAYER, PASTOR JIM WETZSTEIN Ballroom A, Harre Union

SCH

EDU

LE

MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015

BREAKFAST ON OWN

8:30am FELLOWSHIP AND LATE REGISTRATION

9am SERVICE OF THE WORD, DR. FREDERICK NIEDNER Chapel of the Resurrection

10am PRESENTATION #1: DR. BOB NEWTON VUCA Auditorium

11am BREAK-OUT SESSION #1 VUCA classrooms

12pm LUNCH ON OWN

2pm PRESENTATION #2: DR. CHAD LAKIES VUCA Auditorium

3pm BREAK

3:15pm BREAK-OUT SESSION #2 VUCA classrooms

4:30pm AFTERNOON PRAYER Chapel of the Resurrection

5pm DINNER ON OWN

7pm PRESENTATION #3: DR. ELIZABETH A. GOODINE VUCA Auditorium

8pm EVENING PRAYER, DEACONESS LISA POLITO Chapel of the Resurrection

POST-PRAYER FELLOWSHIP ON OWN

OURCHILDREN’SCHURCH

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missions

FAIT

H

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015

BREAKFAST ON OWN

8:30am FELLOWSHIP AND LATE REGISTRATION

9am SERVICE OF THE WORD, DR. ROBERT SCHMIDT Chapel of the Resurrection

10am PRESENTATION #4: DR. MATTHEW BECKER VUCA Auditorium

11am BREAK-OUT SESSION #3 VUCA classrooms

12pm LUNCH ON OWN

2pm PLENARY SESSION: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? VUCA Auditorium

3:30pm PRAYER BEFORE TRAVEL AND DISMISSAL

CO

STS

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missions

FAIT

H

This Lutheran conference will discuss ideas and

best practices regarding Christ-centered, people-focused ministry models intended to strengthen congregations as they hand down a missional faith and praxis to succeeding generations. The sessions are open to everyone, from Lutheran and other denominations, wishing to discuss issues of Christian faith and mission in the 21st century, especially in relation to the so-called “Millennial Generation.”

“Our Children’s Church” will provide a safe place for professional church workers and lay leaders to address various issues of the faith and Christian mission in relation to younger generations. We will examine best practices for teaching the core of our faith as well as engaging some disputed topics within the church and related to its purpose.

Recognizing the need for congregations to attend to these concerns, “Our Children’s Church” provides diverse opportunities for discussion, brainstorming and resources. The conference will serve as a model for the LCMS and other national church bodies to empower and equip congregations as they maintain and promote intergenerational understandings of faith and practice.

Keynote: DR. DAVID BENKEDr. Benke was elected President of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in June 1991, and has served in that capacity until the present. He plans to retire as “bishop” at the end of the Triennium, June 2015, and is excited to begin new opportunities to engage the world with the Gospel of hope (and spending time with wife, Judy).

DR. MATTHEW BECKER: “Open Discussion in Your Children’s Church”An ordained pastor in the LCMS (since 1989), Dr. Becker has taught theology at Concordia University, Portland (1993-2004) and Valparaiso University (2004-present). He addresses the need for open theological discussion in today’s church for the sake of a healthy and responsive mission to millennials and others. Just how does a biblically-grounded, confessing church maintain its confession, while at the same time engaging the wider culture on issues of importance to both church and individuals in that culture?

PLEN

ARY

PRES

ENTA

TIO

NS DR. ELIZABETH A. GOODINE:

“Why the Disconnect?”Working first in nursing and health education, Dr. Elizabeth A. Goodine served with her husband, David, as a missionary among the Izi people in south central Nigeria. In 2004 she earned her Ph.D. in Religion at Temple University. She then taught at Loyola University-New Orleans, Concordia College – New York, and recently returned to Loyola University to the Department of Religious Studies. Her research interests include the use of Bowen Systems theory in examining movements of power within relationships, particularly in regard to gender discrimination in the Christian context. She is active in local LCMS congregations and currently serves as the President of Ordain Women Now, an LCMS group dedicated to the furthering of justice for all people. Theologians of good faith support vastly different interpretations of scripture regarding the proper relationship of women and men to God and to one another in the Church. Given these differing positions, the discernment of whether one’s theology is of God or is rooted, instead, in traditional long-held cultural values is

“OUR CHILDREN’S CHURCH”

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:Dr. David H. Benke, President, Atlantic District, LCMS

PRESENTERS:Dr. Matthew Becker, Associate Professor of Theology, Valparaiso UniversityDr. Elizabeth A. Goodine, Professor of Religious Studies, Loyola University, New OrleansDr. Chad Lakies, Assistant Professor of Theology, Concordia University, PortlandDr. Bob Newton, President, California-Nevada-Hawaii District, LCMS

PREACHERS:Dr. Frederick Niedner, Professor of Theology, Valparaiso UniversityDr. Robert Schmidt, Emeritus Professor of Theology, Concordia University, Portland

BREAKOUT SESSION LEADERS AND TOPICS:Pastor Jock Ficken: Missional Communities among the MillennialsCarol Schmidt/Dr. Elizabeth A. Goodine: The Ordination of Women: Can We Talk?Father Kevin McCarthy: What’s Working with Millennials in Our ParishDeaconess Marie Meyer: The Biblical Worldview of Man and WomanDr. Paul Mueller: Deacons for the 21st CenturyDr. Frederick Niedner: Preaching in the 21st CenturyDeaconess Lisa Polito: Peer Ministries Among MillennialsPastor Jim Wetzstein: Campus Ministry to the Millennial Generation

essential. The Church’s current position on this issue impacts the future Church. Studies show that Millennials care deeply about their neighbor; their tolerance across gender, racial, class and religious lines is unprecedented. They often express great love and enthusiasm for Jesus – but not for the Church! Why the disconnect? And what might be done about it?

DR. CHAD LAKIES: “Millennials: Beyond the Therapeutic Church”Rev. Dr. Chad Lakies is Assistant Professor of Theology at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. His work focuses on the intersection of Christianity and culture, investigating questions concerning how the practices of American life and the Christian life function to form particular kinds of people. While a student at seminary in St. Louis, he worked with one of the largest churches in the area to start a young adult ministry to connect with a growing but often overlooked population. A millennial himself, Chad came into the church as an atheist with a list of burning questions. He met Jesus in and

through the people around him who provided welcome, space to ask questions, and truth in answering them.

DR. ROBERT NEWTON: “A Missional Church: Reflections on the Early Church”A 1977 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Robert served as an evangelistic missionary to the Kankanaey people in the Philippines from 1977 to 1983. Upon his return to the States he did graduate work in missions at Fuller Seminary. While there he assisted the Pacific Southwest District in developing a cross-cultural leadership training program. After receiving his doctorate from Trinity Seminary in Deerfield, Illinois, he served as a professor of world missions at Concordia Theological Seminary from 1985 to 1998. For the 1996-97 academic year he was on sabbatical with his family serving the Gutnius Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea under the Board for Mission Services. In 1998 he accepted a call as senior pastor to First Immanuel Lutheran Church, an urban, multi-cultural congregation in San Jose, California

For questions or further information, contact Dr. Matthew Becker at matthew.becker@valpo.edu or 219-464-6695.

We hope to see you there!

and continued in that ministry until being elected president of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District in 2003. Twenty-first century America looks increasingly like the first-century world of the New Testament – hostile to Christ’s Church and derisive of its preaching of the Cross. What might we learn from the missionary faith and life of those first-century Christians that informs and encourages us in our missionary service today?

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missions

FAIT

HCONFERENCE FEES: Registration Fees include reception, banquet, presentations and other proceedings. All fees listed in U.S. Funds. PLEASE CHOOSE:

OURCHILDREN’SCHURCH

dialogueministry

next

gen

erat

ion

com

mun

icat

ion

missionsFA

ITH REGISTRATION FORM

OUR CHILDREN’S CHURCHA State of the Church ConferenceValparaiso UniversityAugust 2-4, 2015

FIRST NAME (will be on badge)6

CHURCH/LOCATION6

MAILING ADDRESS6

HOME/WORK PHONE6

CITY6

LAST NAME6

STATE6 ZIP6 COUNTRY6

CELL PHONE6

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME6 EMERGENCY CONTACT PHONE6

BREAKOUT SESSION PREFERENCES: 1

2

3

4

5

6

CANCELLATIONS/CHANGES AND REFUNDS: Fees for missing the banquet, late arrivals, and early departures will not be refunded. Fees will be refunded, less a $20 processing fee, if cancellation or change resulting in a refund is received in writing no later than July 1, 2015. After that date, fees are non-refundable. All refunds will be processed after the conference. Substitutions are allowed at no charge.

PAYMENT METHOD: Check or Money Order must be in U.S. funds payable to: Daystar.net. There will be a $25 fee charged on checks returned by the bank due to insufficient funds. Registration confirmation/receipt and further information will be mailed.

FULL CONFERENCE EVENTS*

FULL CONFERENCE EVENTS*

COLLEGE AGE & MILLENNIALS (b. 1985 to 2005)

BANQUET ONLY, AUGUST 2

DAY TRIPPER, AUGUST 3

DAY TRIPPER, AUGUST 4

TOTAL

$110 (*Postmarked and paid ON OR BEFORE April 15, 2015)

$140 (*Postmarked and paid AFTER April 15, 2015)

$40

$30

$40

$40

$

Please mail check or money order (payable to “Daystar.net”) and your completed registration form to:

Dr. Matthew BeckerCollege of Arts and Sciences1400 Chapel DriveValparaiso UniversityValparaiso, IN 46383

I am enclosing my check/money order

Deaconess Marie Meyer: The Biblical Worldview of Man and Woman

Pastor Jim Wetzstein: Campus Ministry to the Millennial Generation

Father Kevin McCarthy: What’s Working with Millennials in Our Parish

Dr. Frederick Niedner: Preaching in the 21st Century

Carol Schmidt/Dr. Elizabeth A. Goodine: The Ordination of Women: Can We Talk?

Dr. Paul Mueller: Deacons for the 21st Century

Pastor Jock Ficken: Missional Communities among the Millennials

Deaconess Lisa Polito: Peer Ministries Among Millennials

A

H

G

F

E

D

C

B

I am e-mailing/faxing my registration form and will mail my check/money order separately

Please e-mail/fax your registration form to:

Dr. Matthew BeckerE-MAIL: matthew.becker@valpo.eduFAX: 219-464-5511

E-MAIL6