Conference Details | Sessions | Sponsorship
Keynote Address by Kurt Nitz
9:15 a.m. -10:45 a.m.
Leaders as Stewards of Organizational Culture
Odds are there are some things about your organization that you really love, and which help you get stuff done. There are also probably other things that seem to make things more difficult than they need to be. These recurring patterns that are impacting your efforts may be rooted in your organization’s culture. Culture can be an invisible web of shared assumptions, expectations, habits and values that form your team’s daily behaviors in a way that sabotage or accelerate your strategic plans or initiatives.
Given culture’s power to impact an organization’s ability to achieve results, it is vital that leaders understand what culture is and isn’t, as well as their unique role as stewards of that culture.
Drawing on decades of experience guiding organizations through culture change, Kurt will help participants examine their own leadership and consider who they need to be to effectively shape culture in their organization. Participants will leave understanding their unique role as stewards of organizational culture and better equipped to shape it.
Meet the Speaker: Kurt Nitz
For more than 25 years, Kurt Nitz has guided culture transformations that help organizations achieve results once thought unattainable. His leadership journey spans service in the U.S. Navy aboard nuclear submarines, executive roles in semiconductor and solar manufacturing, and a third career as a consultant focused on organizational culture. Kurt has led culture workshops around the world. Within WELS, he has served on the Commission on Congregational Counseling and the Long-Range Planning Task Force, and is a co-developer of the Everyone Outreach program, which has supported nearly 200 congregations in building outreach-focused cultures. His most recent work, Shadow of the Leader, equips pastors and lay leaders to guide congregations through intentional culture change. Kurt and his wife, Kristin, are members of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Rockford, Michigan.
Afternoon Main Session by Kirk Triplett
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.​
You’re Not Alone: Caring for Mental Health in Ministry
“Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna eat some worms.” Often said jokingly, this phrase captures how many pastors, church workers, and lay leaders genuinely feel at times. Ministry is deeply meaningful, yet emotionally demanding, and the weight of leadership can quietly build into isolation, discouragement, and burnout.
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In this engaging and interactive session, Rev. Dr. Kirk Triplett addresses the growing mental health challenges facing church leaders with honesty, hope, and practical insight. Drawing on decades of pastoral and organizational leadership experience, Kirk explores realistic strategies for sustaining well-being, strengthening team relationships, and cultivating church cultures where leaders and congregations care for one another.
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Participants will gain practical, research-informed tools to support positive mental health and recognize how stress, burnout, and emotional fatigue show up in ministry settings. Whether you serve as a pastor, church worker, lay leader, or church member, you’ll leave better equipped to respond with compassion and contribute to a healthier, more flourishing church community rooted in mutual support, hope, and love.
Meet the Speaker: Kirk Triplett
Rev. Dr. Kirk Triplett is an expert in church and organizational leadership with a focus on the positive mental health of pastors and church workers. Drawing from more than 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry and management roles both inside and outside the church, Kirk brings relevant, thoughtful, and practical insight to his work. He holds a master’s degree in Christian Studies with an emphasis in Leadership and a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership, both from Grand Canyon University. Kirk specializes in helping pastors, church workers, and congregations develop greater awareness around mental health and work toward becoming healthier, more resilient, and flourishing communities of faith. Kirk currently serves at Zion Lutheran Church in El Paso, Texas. He and his wife have been married since 1991 and are the parents of three children and grandparents to four.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
AI for Mission-Driven Work: Practical Steps for Getting Started
Designed specifically for mission-driven organizations, this session, led by Joanna Drew, will provide a roadmap for adopting AI responsibly and effectively. Participants will explore AI implementation across three areas: AI fundamentals, change management, and practical implementation.
Participants will first gain a deeper understanding of AI basics, including risks, limitations, and ethical concerns around bias, equity, and environmental impacts. Next, participants will explore the importance of developing an AI policy that is grounded in organizational values to catalyze behavior change. Finally, participants will learn how to begin using AI tools through prompt engineering techniques, a tech stack audit, and small pilot projects. At the end of the session, participants will have clear, actionable steps they can take to begin using AI within their organizations.
Meet the Speaker: Joanna Drew
Joanna is an independent grants management and AI capacity building consultant with over 15 years of experience working in the social sector. She founded Hilo Consulting in 2020, securing over $4 million in funding for grassroots organizations. Beginning in 2023, Joanna pioneered work at the intersection of AI and social impact, bringing a practitioner's lens to responsible AI adoption in the philanthropic sector. Her work focuses on translating complex AI capabilities into actionable, values-embedded strategies that enable changemakers to scale their impact. In 2024 and 2025, she was featured on the Fundraising.AI podcast, co-authored an article for the Center for Effective Philanthropy on philanthropy's role in responsible AI adoption, and presented at philanthropy and nonprofit conferences about AI in Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. Most recently, she joined the Navigate AI Collaborative and launched an AI for Social Impact Newsletter to equip mission-driven leaders with the tools to build new pathways to impact.
Meeting Neighbors Where They Are with the Gospel
This workshop will explore how fresh expressions of Christian community are opening up opportunities to love neighbors, in the name of Jesus, who aren’t ready or able to access traditional church. Learn from Wisconsin Lutherans who have been experimenting with this over the past two years and consider how your congregation or synod might join in this work.
Meet the Speakers: Dwight Zscheile
Dwight Zscheile is professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He teaches and writes at the intersection of theology, leadership, and innovation, with a focus on how Christian communities adapt and flourish in changing cultural contexts. Dwight is the author or co-author of several influential works, including The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age, Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the Church in America (with Craig Van Gelder), and the recent Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together (with Blair Pogue). He is also co-editor of The Starter’s Way: Leading New Contextual Christian Communities. A graduate of Stanford University, Yale University, and Luther Seminary, Dwight has served congregations in Minnesota and Virginia. Growing up in a secular home in California has deeply shaped his commitment to helping churches cultivate meaningful Christian community with their neighbors in today’s evolving world.
Meet the Speakers: Tessa Pinkstaff
Tessa Pinkstaff is a spiritual director and founder of Practices for Life, a ministry that invites people to explore Christian spiritual disciplines as a pathway to God’s healing and transformative presence. She is deeply committed to helping individuals and communities grow into the likeness of Jesus. Tessa serves as Care Coordinator at Emmanuel Covenant Church in Shoreview, Minnesota, where she leads prayer and care teams and regularly preaches and teaches. She also hosts a weekly Dwelling in the Word webcast, serves as a project consultant for Luther Seminary’s Faith+Lead initiative, and contributes articles to the Faith+Lead blog. In addition, Tessa is an assistant adjunct professor at Hope International University, teaching online courses on spiritual disciplines and mentoring ministry students. She is co-author of Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (Fortress Press, 2023) and facilitates workshops and retreats that invite participants to experience spiritual practices firsthand.
From Ministry to Marketplace: Insights from Elevate Community Initiatives
What if your ministry could grow in impact and sustainability without relying solely on donations or burnout-level sacrifice? In this session, Matthew shares real-world lessons from entrepreneurial ministry through PivotPoint and Elevate Community Ministries, where faith-driven vision meets hands-on community work. Through stories of both challenges and breakthroughs, participants will explore a shift from maintaining programs to building ministry models that develop leaders, restore dignity through work, and strengthen community partnerships. The session offers practical insights into entrepreneurship, leadership development, and collaboration across ministry contexts, while connecting these lessons to “Beyond the Breakwater” themes of courage, creativity, and trust. This is a practical, experience-based session designed to equip participants with tangible next steps for pursuing sustainable ministry innovation.
Meet the Speaker: Matt Markey
Matt Markey is a ministry leader working at the intersection of faith, entrepreneurship, and community development. His work is primarily focused on PivotPoint, a workforce development ministry that restores dignity through work, mentorship, and practical community engagement. Matt’s leadership is shaped not only by nonprofit work, but also by his roles as a husband, father, and soccer referee—spaces where consistency, accountability, and presence matter. Through lived experience, he has learned to stop telling God what he plans to do and instead follow where God leads, even when the path is unclear. Rather than speaking from theory, Matthew brings stories formed through real decisions, risk, and adaptation. His passion is helping ministry leaders see how faithfulness, innovation, and sustainability can work together to strengthen mission and serve neighbors well.