WELSTech is back and talking AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the perspective of a pastor-in-training. Senior seminarian Jon Pederson shares insights from his thesis work on the topic. A teen online Bible study opportunity is coming up soon, and WELS is celebrating a special anniversary with a new online interactive timeline which details WELS history since the beginning.

AI and the public ministry – Martin and Sallie talk with Jon Pederson, a senior at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, about his thesis topic, AI Associate: Examining Artificial Intelligence and its Potential Impact on the Pastoral Ministry.

It will be a bit longer wait for our next episode, but totally worth it as we’ll be sharing all the WELSTech AI Summit goodness!

It’s time for WELSTech 770, your bi-weekly dive into ministry and technology topics of the day. And today the conversation centers around tech to assist with managing a strategic plan. Also in this episode, learn more about the upcoming Taste of Missions event and a helpful new iOS app. Plus, get the “skinny” on Sallie’s hardware pick of the week.

Working the Plan – Explore how Trello supports managing and communicating progress on a strategic plan. Martin shares WELS strategic plan in Trello, showing how color‑coded cards and cross‑linked resource boards enable clear, visual tracking of key objectives.

Taste of Missions – June 13 at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

Ryan Kirchoff’s latest blog post at Blueprint Schools is a great follow up to our recent interview

Hear an update from WELS AI Task Force regarding their work on an AI Ethical Framework and Risk Matrix

Fall has arrived on WELSTech, and we’re reminiscing about childhood sweater weather.  We share a church communication focused interview as well as details on all the happenings at January’s Lutheran Leadership Conference. The picks of the week include worksheet alternatives for teachers as well as a great place to keep things. It’s time to press play!

Modernizing Church Communication – Martin and Sallie talk with Dr Kristi Meyer, Prof. of Mathematics at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and part-time communications coordinator at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, WI. She and Pastor Kyle Bitter are teaming up to present a breakout on the topic of church communication at the upcoming Lutheran Leadership Conference. Kristi shares a preview of their breakout content, including one of her game-changing tools for improving communication.

WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership

Community feedback

WELSTech is in the groove! The regular season groove, that is. Join Martin and Sallie as we kick off a new season of the show and bring back a favorite show segment, Ministry Resources, that was missed over the summer. The show focus today is adding new volunteers to your team using tools and ideas aimed at giving them the knowledge and resources to carry out their responsibilities with confidence and joy.

Volunteers for the win – Martin and Sallie take a deep dive into working with volunteers in church or school. There are tech tools to assist with finding the right people and then orienting them to their new responsibilities.

We’ve got more to share on working with volunteers, including communication and appreciation.

WELSTech welcomes MLC’s Dr. James Carlovsky for a look at Artificial Intelligence from his research and presentations to various audiences. The rest of the show includes thoughts on giving thanks, the AI prompts industry, AI YouTube resources, texting your congregation, and evaluating your worship live stream.

Pros and Cons of AI – Dr James Carlovsky from Martin Luther College chats with Martin and Sallie about what may be the biggest disruptor in education. Does it make you more or less creative? Does it do the thinking for you or getting you thinking? The more you learn, the more there is to learn about AI.

We talk elementary tech integration, SAMR-style, with Rachel and Jason.

We’re back with another episode of WELSTech starring your handy, dandy calendar. Learn all about time blocking and how it can boost your productivity. We discuss an interactive book creation tool that looks like fun for the classroom and a simple but effective task manager which might be in your pocket right now. We also celebrate a new grandson for one of your “Awesome” WELSTech hosts!

Work Your Calendar – Martin and Sallie discuss a key tool for productivity, your calendar. Specifically, the topic is using your calendar to set up blocks of time to focus on specific tasks you need to accomplish. Mix in a bit of self-discipline, and this method could be a ticket to more productive days!

Calendar Management Wakelet

The topic which never goes out of style: I need advice on my church and/or school website.

Just like that we’ve reached the end of another school year and another year of edtech discussions with Rachel and Jason. Tune in for the wrap up of The AI Classroom.

Tune into this episode of WELSTech for a master class in herding cats as we navigate a lively discussion of the MLC degree and certificate offerings for technology directors. There’s also a broad range of picks of the week, Martin’s Screens and Souls presentation from Leadership Conference, and some free Google training to discuss.

Technology director – Martin and Sallie welcome our semi-regular edtech co-hosts, Dr. Rachel Feld and Jason Schmidt, along with yet another friend in the ed tech space, Dr. Bob Martens, Martin Luther College (MLC) Director of Information Technology. The discussion centers on the MLC Technology Director graduate degree program (a 30 credit MS Education Administration program) as well as two new certifications also offered by MLC in Education Technology Leadership and Technology Integration, each requiring 9 credits.

Summed up as learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, the three share how the program teaches edtech leadership skills needed to manage the many facets of the ever-changing edtech learning environment.

WELSTech is celebrating summer with a series of tech-in-ministry interviews called “Summer Tech Talks.” This week we head west to the oil country of western North Dakota to talk with Pastor Joel Prange about starting a home mission church. Turn up the audio as Martin and Sallie both have sound-related picks of the week. In addition, there’s an opportunity to support a missions-centric videography effort.

Getting to know North Dakota – Home Missions Pastor Joel Prange talks with Martin and Sallie about his two-year journey starting a new congregation in Dickinson, North Dakota. Amazing Grace Lutheran Church is worshipping in their own space and reaching out to the people in the area.

Summer Tech Talks continue, but mums the word on who will be behind the extra mic. Tune in to find out!

This week on WELSTech we take a deep dive into Google’s NotebookLM. Discover how this AI tool uses only your uploaded documents to create everything from video and audio overviews, flashcards, and summary documents, plus learn about other innovative AI tools like Hume Voice AI and the Plaud audio recorder that are changing the way we work and communicate.

I wonder …. – Martin and Sallie are joined by Dr. Rachel Renno, Director of Academic Computing for Martin Luther College, and Jason Schmidt, Director of Technology for Oshkosh (WI) Area School District to discuss Google’s NotebookLM and how it leverages AI only on the documents you upload. Use NotebookLM to generate video and audio overviews of your content as well as summary documents, flashcards, and quizzes. Plus, it integrates easily into Google Classroom!

Community feedback

This episode of WELSTech opens with an overview of the recent WELS Artificial Intelligence (AI) survey. The AI theme continues throughout the show, featuring details on the new Hour of AI initiative, a powerful prompt designed to help organize scattered thoughts, a WELS-centric GPT tool, and the latest edition of the TAAFT (There’s an AI for That) newsletter. And yes—watch out for AI llamas!

The survey says – Martin shares preliminary insights from the recent AI survey distributed to WELS called and lay workers. While analysis is ongoing, the results will guide and prioritize the efforts of the AI Task Force. Notably, information on ethical considerations and ministry-specific use cases of AI emerged as top desired resources.

Updated Google Calendar lectionaries for

John Rathje shares a bit about his Lutheran Leadership Conference session on planning that works. Register early to secure your spot and take advantage of discounted pricing.