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Boldly sharing God's love
A look at how 21-year-old Stella Zarling approaches sharing her faith.
During this year’s WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership, a handful of breakout sessions focused specifically on young adults and their perspectives on church, worship, and the issues facing their generation.
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In short, people in their 20s often feel disconnected from church. They fall into the gap between the programming offered for children or teens and the deeper level of involvement which—for older adults—often comes with school-age families and the ability or capacity to hold church leadership positions.
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During this year’s conference, Clark Schultz, pastor at Shepherd of the Hills, West Bend, Wis., led a panel-style discussion with a few of his 20-something church members.
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Stella Zarling shared her unique approach to reaching out to this age group: simply looking for people who appear to be about her age and asking them if they know Jesus. As she has stepped out on her own as an adult, Stella, now 21, has developed a deep desire to make sure other 20-somethings know they are loved by Jesus and their church communities.
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What began as a small monthly gathering of friends and family in the Zarling family’s basement in 2023 quickly grew to a group sometimes exceeding one hundred 20-somethings gathered in the Zarlings’ yard (pictured) or a nearby barn event venue. These worship nights generally consist of live worship music, small group breakouts, and a devotion led by a male WELS member or seminary student from nearby Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis.
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As the fifth year of war begins in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church (ULC), along with citizens of Ukraine, continues to experience hardship and suffering. Families have had to flee to safer locations, homes have been destroyed, and some pastors have had . . .
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At precisely 7:27 P.M.—sunset—on Saturday, April 4, members from four Lutheran congregations in the Madison, Wis., area, joined around a bonfire to commence a joint Easter Vigil. It’s an ancient tradition revived in 2019 by the area congregations, both . . .
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Last Friday evening on the security camera, I saw a man standing outside our church, so I ran across the parking lot to see if he needed anything. I found out his name was Ryan. He said, “I was driving by and hoping to go inside and pray.” . . .
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