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
2025 Workshop Presentations
(This will be updated for 2026 in in the time leading up to the conference)
I. Preaching and Teaching
German Study on the First Chief Part—Pastor Ryan Loeslie
Getting Better at Bible Study: 2nd Kings—Pastor Andrew Harris
Getting Better at Bible Study: Joseph (OT), a Picture of Christ—Pastor Aaron Koch
Getting Better at Bible Study: Tribes and Nations of the Bible—Pr. David Ramirez
Getting Better at Preaching: Climbing Mt. Tabor—Pastor James Roemke
Getting Better at Preaching and Teaching: The Book of Zechariah—Pastor Jacob Hercamp
Getting Better at Preaching and Teaching: 2nd Kings 17-19 for Catechesis and Worship Ritual—Pastor Karl Fabrizius
Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 7—Pastor Benjamin Ball
Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 8—panel
Upcoming Sunday Text Study: Trinity 9—Pastor Fritz Eckardt
Who Knows Whom?—Pastor Mike Grieve
Zechariah 3: Joshua’s Garments and Crown—Pastor Jacob Hercamp
II. Liturgical Matters
From Creative to Confessional—Pastor John Bussman
How to Introduce and Use The Lutheran Missal—Pastor Evan Scamman
Liturgical Renewal in the Parish—Pastor Stefan Gramenz
Living the Liturgy: Implementing Matins in the Parish—Pastor Larry Beane
Wash Your Hands, for Christ’s Sake—Pastor Fritz Eckardt
You Can Chant!—Pastor Sean Willman
III. Care of Souls
Artificial (Man-Made) Intelligence (A.I.)—Pastor Jonathan McCall
Can Spies too Be Saved—Pastor Eric Skovgaard
Conducting a Free Pre-Marital Inventory—Pastor Sean Willman
Handling Anonymity—Anonymous
How to Talk to Your Families About Tech—Pastor Joshua DeYoung
Inactives—Pastor Joshua Conradt
IV. Congregational Life and Parish Administration
All Things Should Be Done Decently and in Good Order:
Revising Your Constitution & Bylaws—Pastor Matthew Moss
Beyond the Church Walls: Practical Ways to Be Present in Town—Pastor Jason Braaten
“For Glory and for Beauty”: The Divine Service Deserves the Best—Pastor Matthew Moss
How Do Conventions Work?—Pastor Jack Gilbert
Keeping the Tools in the Pastor’s Toolbox Sharp: The Baptism Checklist—Pastor Kyle Verage
Nominations Actually Do Matter—Panel
Operating a Classical Lutheran School in a Small Parish—Pastor Doug Zahner
Parish Resources: Books in Brief—Pastor David Ramirez
Political Cohesion in the District & Synod—Pastor Wes Hromowyk
Running a Men’s Group—Pastor David Petersen
Setting Goals, Making Plans: An Annual Planning Conference—Pastor Greg Truwe
The Call Process—Pastor Heath Curtis
What to do about VBS—Pastor Andrew Preus
V. Pastoral Leadership
Apostolic Succession: What It Is and What It Isn't and Why It Matters—Pastor David Petersen
Campus Ministry: Why, How, and More—Pastor Michael Schuermann
Faithful in the Midst of the Mess in the LCMS: Living as Confessional Lutherans in Congregation, Circuit, District, and Synod—Pastor Paul Preus
Leadership in the Face of Crisis in the CUS—Pastor Jamison Hardy
Making your Winkel Better—Pastor Joshua Willadsen
Moving Towards the Ideal—Pastor Heath Curtis
New Pastor Forum—Panel
Warfare Against the American Interim—Pastor Karl Hess
You are My Martyrs—Pastor Steve Andrews Jr.
Your First Years of Suffering in Ministry: Has God Given Me Up or Have I Given Up?—Pastor Jacob Deal
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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