This last Monday-Wednesday I had the chance to meet with 100+ church workers in the Oklahoma District of the LC-MS. I was there to talk and discuss many different happenings going on in our synod and district, and to listen to Professor James Voelz from the St Louis Seminary talk on the book of Matthew. I must say that it was one of the best conferences I have ever attended.

We started the conference Monday night with an uplifting church service; ending the night with a fellowship time to get to know those who are new in our district and to talk to old friends not seen for a long time.

Tuesday was a day of intense study about the book of Matthew. Each session lasted 1 ½ hours, and we had four sessions that day. Each session began with a short devotion lead by one of the pastors from the Norman Circuit. We closed our day with a short worship service and fellowship.

Wednesday began with our last Matthew session and ended at 11:00am with our closing worship/ devotion time together.

The Matthew sessions were one of the most interesting studies I have been in. We learned so much about this book and how Matthew portrayed Jesus and His ministry. I took down pages of notes and I hope to have them put in the computer and be available to anybody that is interested in them by next week. If you want a copy of the notes just ask me for them and I will get them to you as soon as possible.

One of the main reasons I think it is important to go to these conferences is to learn, but it is also important that the other pastor/workers in the district get to know each other and talk to each other. I seldom miss these conferences for those reasons, but one of the other benefits is that it shows to the district workers that our churches are a part of district. It helps to keep your church’s name on the minds of those that are there.

The next conference is not until October, and I am already looking forward to going and being a part of that one.

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