Last week I joined over 2,000 Lutherans at the Best Practices for Ministry event in Phoenix, Arizona. The three day conference provided engaging and inspiring ideas to help support our missions for God. The keynote speakers provided wonderful Christ-filled messages and reminded us of the importance of love and grace for one another.

As we enter the final month to reach our 2015–2017 Mission Goal, let us be reminded that in addition to your financial support, love and grace are needed for these missions. We are $117,736 away from the financial goal that must be met by March 31, 2017, but let’s also focus on spreading Christ’s love to one another.

Many of the speakers at the Best Practices in Ministry event talked about the challenges of engaging Millennials, those between the ages of 18 and 35. It seems to be a unified concern that the younger generation must be engaged now. Here are some of our ideas for meeting that challenge:

-Develop Podcasts;

-Build social media platforms;

-Be brief, not lengthy, in details and express the need right away; and

-Mentor these young adults to become leaders.

There are lots of good resources out there that offer ideas on how to engage the younger generation. Here’s an article I found helpful:

https://www.vanderbloemen.com/blog/churches-reach-millennials

By the end of the conference, as we reflected and prayed in the closing service, I felt inspired and optimistic about the future of LWML and the other Lutheran groups. Let’s all keep this next generation in our prayers. As long as we continue to support one another with love and grace, our future will flourish.

Pictured above are photos from Best Practices for Ministry from left to right:  Vicar Tim Norton a featured speaker for the LWML Convention and I; Me, Kelley Young, Carol von Soosten, and Ashley Jenkins presented a session on How to Engage, Encourage, Equip, and Enjoy Serving the Lord with Gladness in YOUR Mission Field; My presentation to a group of ladies at Best Practices on How to Engage, Encourage, Equip, and Enjoy serving the Lord with Gladness in YOUR Mission Field.