More than 150 people attended the Media Outreach in World Missions Conference held last week at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minn. This was the second major conference presented by the Christ in Media Institute. Executive Director Dr. Thomas Kuster was pleased with the results, "The Holy Spirit has looked on this gathering as a good opportunity and has blessed it."

The three-day conference focused on the effective use of technology for gospel outreach in world missions. Individuals with a variety of experiences and expertise came together to discuss how to encourage, extend, and plan ways to use technology in outreach. “There was active discussion during the seven sessions, but more important the conversations during the breaks, the exchange of business cards within these groups, is exactly what we wanted to happen,” says Kuster.

Conference leaders included a number of world missionaries, media professionals, and leaders of various Evangelical Lutheran Synod/WELS boards and commissions that are concerned with world mission outreach. Faculty and students from both the ELS and WELS seminaries, Bethany Lutheran College, Martin Luther College, and Wisconsin Lutheran College were also in attendance.

“This conference fulfills one of the core purposes of the Christ in Media Institute and that is to bring together the people with expertise and those people seeking expertise so that those who seek it can meet the people who have it,” says Kuster. “We thought it was especially important to have key people here and we want to learn from those using technology and mass media to reach out to whatever audience both at home and around the world.”

Kuster adds, “We know that there is media and technology going on in many places. We want to make it possible to share ideas and not reinvent things and then stimulate each other regarding ideas for the future.”

Many of the conference leaders will be featured on next week’s WELSTech video podcast hosted by WELS Chief Technology Officer Martin Spriggs and Sallie Draper, WELS technology trainer. You can watch their interviews from the conference beginning Oct. 23.