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The 44th Annual Rural Ministry Conference

March 9-11, 2025
Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa

Form Follows Mission: 
Creative Ways STaR Congregations are Adapting for the Sake of Vitality and Sustainability in Mission and Ministry.
An Invitation from the Director of the Center for Theology and Land, Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen:
In response to the on-going challenges of demographic, economic, and cultural change, small town and rural (STaR) congregations and small membership congregations in metropolitan contexts and their judicatories are creating and/or recreating a spectrum of innovative responses in leadership training and missional form to sustain and enhance the sustainability and vitality of mission and ministry.  We will gather to learn what God is doing out there, cross-pollinate with ideas from one place which might work in another, and dream together (Acts 2:17) and perhaps perceive of a new thing (Isaiah 43:19).
Our Keynote Speakers and our Bible Study Leader will engage us in theological reflection, and our breakout sessions and workshops will inspire us with examples of how to faithfully engage this calling on behalf of creation and provide opportunities to dialogue, dream, and network in practical ways toward that goal.
The cost of full registration is $200 before Feb 16th and $225 after.  Registration closes on the 26th of February.
Full Registration for the conference includes:
Sunday Evening Meal
Monday Lunch
Monday Night Banquet
Tuesday Boxed Lunch
Monday only Registration (Workshop Registration) is $50.00 and includes:
Monday Lunch
Zoom Registration is $50.00 and will include all bible studies and keynote/plenary speakers.

Speakers

Leaders and Speakers

Featured Keynote Speaker: Pastor Nancy Nyland

Pastor Nancy Nyland has a passion for rural ministry and small membership congregations in any context. She earned a B.S. in Education in elementary education (1979) and a M.S. in Education in counseling (1980) from Eastern Illinois University. After working for six years in higher education at University of North Dakota and South Dakota State University, she attended Luther Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, MN earning her MDiv (1986-1990). She was ordained in 1990. She served as pastor at First Lutheran and East Lake Andes Lutheran, Lake Andes, SD (1990-2003). She served as pastor at St. Peter Lutheran, Bassett, NE and St. John’s Lutheran, Atkinson, NE (2003-2011). Moving from the parish to a call in the wider church, she served as Director for Evangelical Mission (DEM) in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod from July 2011 through September 2024. During her time as DEM, she collaboratively developed a transformational ministry process, a spiritual renewal process, and a shared ministry process for congregations in the synod. She also has led Congregational Vitality trainings across the ELCA, worked with congregations in transition, and assisted congregations with visioning and identifying their purpose and guiding principles. Returning to the parish, Pastor Nancy began a new call as pastor at Bethany Lutheran in Indianapolis, IN on December 1, 2024. Pastor Nancy enjoys teaching practical ministry principles with a touch of creativity, fun, and enthusiasm.

Rev. Jeff Schlesinger, MDiv, ThM
Jeff Schlesinger has spent the vast majority of his life living and serving in small towns of the rural Midwest. Much of the time he was a city dweller, he was either longing for or preparing to return to small town life.
Schlesinger was born and began his life in and around Mendota, Illinois (population 6900) before his family moved to Plano, Illinois (population 4900) where he graduated from high school. His undergraduate degree was earned on the shores of Lake Michigan at Carthage College after which he lived and taught math in suburban Chicago (population a lot!).
After mishearing God and working briefly for Lutheran Brotherhood, his pastor and his wife teamed up to set him straight, pointing him to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN (population – still a lot).
Earning his MDiv and being ordained in 1998, Rev. Schlesinger has served First Lutheran Church, Barron, WI (population 3300), St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Princeton, IL (population 7600), Freedom Lutheran Church, Oregon, IL (population 3600); and now for the past 10 years, Heart of Illinois Lutheran Parish (HOILP) which consists of Immanuel Lutheran Church outside Compton, IL (population 266) and First Lutheran Church in Lee, IL (population 306). Pastor Schlesinger earned his ThM in New Testament Studies from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 2012.
In addition to serving as pastor of HOILP, Schlesinger has identified two ministry foci in his years leading up to (and potentially following) his retirement:
1) Making sure that love and care of God’s creation is an integral part of the Church’s ministry and
2) Helping the Church reimagine and build new ministry models in a rapidly changing church.
Rev. Schlesinger currently lives with his wife and two putty tats in the midst of the cornfields and windmills of southern Lee County, Illinois. He has three grown children, one who lives in an eastern metropolis, one who claims the world as her address, and one who helps bring theater to a small town in southeastern Minnesota.

Bible Study Leader: Mark Yackel-Juleen

Schedule

Schedule

Sunday, March 9, 2025
3:00 pm – Registration
5:45 pm – Introductions and Prayer
6:00 pm – Dinner
7:00 pm – Keynote – Pastor Nancy Nyland
“Claiming Hope in a Changing World”
Monday, March 10, 2025
9:00 am Welcome Opening Prayer –Bible Study
10:15 – Break
10:30-11:45 – Keynote – Pastor Nancy Nyland
12:00-1:00 –Lunch
1:30 – 5:00 Breakouts
6:30 – 8:00 pm– Banquet
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
8:30-9:15 am–Bible Study
9:45 – Break
9:30 – Plenary – Rev. Jeff Schlesinger, MDiv, ThM
11:00 am – Worship Service –
12:00 – Boxed Lunches and Farewell

44th  Annual Rural Ministry Conference

Breakouts

Workshop Options

Breakout session information coming soon!

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2025 Conference

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