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Gallery of Past Events

Since its relaunch in 2009, Wellspring has planned, organized, and led over a dozen seminars and conferences with a total of well over 500 participants taking part in these offerings.

Some of these offerings were purposefully limited to 35-50 participants in order to provide an interactive environment for participants to learn, engage, and share experiences. Some of the small-conference themes included:

• The Pastor Parish Dance – led by Dr. Bruce Hartung, exploring a healthy relationship between a pastor and their congregation.

• Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century – led by Pastor Mark Hricko, focusing on discovering a greater sense of purpose and mission strategy in a rapidly changing cultural context.

• Your Theology and Your Personality – led by Dr. Bruce Hartung, exploring how our unique traits and preferences can inform the ways we connect to the Gospel and express our faith.

Spiritual Leadership in a Time of Crisis – led by Rev. Rob Morris, Pastor, Christ the King, Newtown, CT (Sandy Hook), leading attendees in discovering how they can minister as messengers of comfort and hope in Christ.

Holding Up the Prophet's Hand - led by author Dr. Bruce Hartung, revealing strategies to support clergy and all faith-workers for more effective ministry.

In addition, Wellspring has designed and led several larger conferences with over 100 participants. These offerings featured a number of notable and informative keynote speakers and session leaders including U.S. Congressman Larry Bucshon, Concordia College President John Nunes, KTLA Los Angeles personality and Rose Parade host Stephanie Edwards, and Dr. Tony Cook of Lutheran Hour Ministries, among others. These large conferences focused on the roles of women and men in ministries and outreach to millennials.

In addition to the single-day offerings described above, Wellspring created and continues to lead the Senior Pastors Conference, a gathering of senior leaders across the Southeastern District (LCMS). These senior pastors meet twice yearly for a two-day conference. During the pandemic, they continued remote sessions via Zoom to support and collaborate. The Senior Pastors Conference resumed in person gatherings in June 2022. Topics addressed during the Senior Pastors Conferences include preaching, church staffing, mission strategy, post-pandemic ministry, and many others, all in the context of issues shared by pastors who serve congregations with multiple services, ministries, and staff.