Rev. Doug Bauman
St. Paul Lutheran Church Pastor the Rev. Doug Bauman will travel to Westfield March 8 to serve as a breakout session speaker during an Evangelism Conference, hosted by the Indiana District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
The conference, titled “Reformation Revisited: Modern Evangelism, Historical Tools,” will take place at the Epiphany Lutheran Church from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Rev. Geoffrey Robinson, Executive for Outreach, Stewardship and Human Care with the Indiana District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, said the conference will emphasize the historic tools Lutherans have used in learning about God’s word, responding to God’s word and reaching out to bring others to the truth of God’s word.
“… the focus is on the outreach, the Evangelistic aspects of the mission that the Lord has given to the church and that basically the mission and the command to reach out and to witness. I mean, that hasn’t changed, but how do we put that in action today in 2025 and in churches that are various sizes and in places, even in the state of Indiana that vary greatly from one another to some very rural areas to urban to suburban and in between,” Bauman said.
During Bauman’s session, he said he plans to discuss developing a congregational outreach plan and will invite participants to consider the faces, spaces and places of their own congregations. In other words, he will ask how participants can utilize the gifts of the people within their congregation, their church spaces for community use and their congregation’s location and population for mission and outreach.
In addition to Bauman’s session, the conference will also feature president of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne Rev. Dr. Jon Bruss as the keynote speaker. The head of the Office of National Missions for the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Rev. Dan Galchutt, pastor of Epiphany Lutheran in Westfield Rev. Jeremy Mills and pastor of St. John’s Lutheran in Bingen Rev. Peter Brock will also all be hosting breakout sessions during the conference.
“I would say that we’ve got some first class presenters and I don’t know that I’ll be able to gather this group again together because Dr. Bruss is the president of Concordia Theological Seminary here in Fort Wayne and he’s very much on the world scene, if you will. And then Rev. Dan Galchutt is the head of the Office of National Missions for our church body, so he’s running around all over the place too,” Robinson said. “So, it’s just very fortunate to get them to be able to be participants in this.”
Bauman said he looks forward to engaging in these topics and networking with others during the conference. He hopes that his session will provide encouragement to those who may feel discouraged when it comes to their present congregation and that they can faithfully witness and reach out regardless of their congregation’s size or challenges.
“… certainly another goal would be whatever they do as a church; worship, Bible studies, outreach events, fellowship events, however they engage their community that they would just consider how they can maximize the outreach effect of that event,” Bauman said. “So basically, how they can use that to connect to others so that they can invite and sow the seed of the gospel.”
Registration for the conference can be found at indianadistrictlcms.regfox.com. Epiphany Lutheran Church is located at 15605 Ditch Road in Westfield.
