The 175th anniversary of WELS means our church body has been blessed with seven generations of God’s grace. From a few immigrant pastors who organized in Milwaukee, the WELS has grown to reach across our nation and throughout the world with the Bible’s message of salvation by grace through faith. Our Synod continues to foster unity of doctrine and practice as we walk and work together to train workers and reach out with the Gospel. This session intends to provide brief highlights from our Synod’s history, including some of the challenges (and lessons) that are part of the story.

Professor Paul Koelpin has taught history and theology at Martin Luther College in New Ulm for thirty years. Prior to teaching, Prof. Koelpin served in a home mission setting when he was assigned to start a congregation in Columbia, Maryland. He has had a role in helping plan our Synod’s recent celebrations, serving on both the Reformation 500 and the WELS 175 committees. Prof. Koelpin and his wife Becca have four grown (and married) children and nine (soon to be ten) grandchildren. His two daughters are both married to WELS pastors. His son Josh is a recent Seminary graduate and was assigned to start the WELS mission in Boston, and his youngest son lives in Texas and works in the retirement planning field (and occasionally plays keyboard for his WELS congregation there).