Lay Leader Training - January 13

Schools often encourage their board members to attend the annual Lay Leader Training if close to home. The annual NWD Lay Leader Training (for lay members serving on church boards) will be held on January 13, 6-8pm, at St. John Lutheran Church - Pulaski. Lay leaders will spend time with Pastor Shoup and his staff to explore leadership and other key areas to help lay leaders serve effectively in their role. Registration is open under Events and Info at nwdlcms.org or directly HERE.

Team Ministry Workshop: Family Ministry

January 22

Principals, pastors, DCE/DCO/DFLM/DCMs, deaconesses and other staff interested in family ministry will want to attend the January 22 Team Ministry Workshop from 9am-3pm at St. Marks in Wausau. Building Families of Faith and Character is a vision pillar in our NWD Ministry Plan. This day will provide ministries with a framework and tools for family ministry in the congregation. We are excited to have Rev. Dr. Todd Biermann from the Concordia Center for the Family as our speaker/presenter.

Smaller congregations with only a pastor are also invited to attend this important event. Registration is open HERE.



Hearts for Jesus - Lutheran Bible Translators

Many NWD schools and churches use February as HFJ month. Lutheran Bible Translators is an RSO of the LCMS that has created resources for your HFJ campaign. Our NWD goal is $5000. Every $20 provides a translated Bible.

A District fundraising page can be found HERE. This has a launch video as well as a way to give digitally. It is best to send your donation to the North WI District LCMS with HFJ on the memo line – this allows us to better track the success of the campaign. 100% of your gift will go to LBT.

Additional classroom activity resources and guided prayer activities from Visual Faith Ministry, customized for schools, will be available in January.

SGOs and the One Big Beautiful Bill

The OBBB creates a $1,700 tax credit for individual donors giving cash to a School Granting Organization that funds k-12 education. This starts in 2027 and each state must decide to opt-in. The WI governor has already decided to opt-out. We are hopeful the loss of revenue in the state, since people will donate to other states to receive the deduction, will lead to a change of heart.

There will be many organizations competing for these dollars in WI. Currently, the North and South WI district offices are considering a shared Lutheran SGO for the state, run collaboratively to minimize expenses and streamline marketing. Even though WI may never opt-in, we want our Lutheran schools to have the opportunity to benefit from this on day one if it becomes available. More to come.