AFLC Annual Conference
I’m currently getting ready to go to the AFLC Annual Conference in rural Osceola, WI at the Association Retreat Center which is fondly called the ARC. The theme for this year’s AFLC Annual Conference is Abundant Life. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
While the Conference doesn’t officially start until Wednesday evening with the Opening Worship Service, Wednesday morning and afternoon sees a flurry of activity. In the morning, Conference Committees will work with the governing boards and directors of the various department of the AFLC in order to draft resolutions for the Conference to consider. Meanwhile, those governing boards and directors will typically hold meetings to discuss the work under their purview. For example, the Schools Board of Trustees might be interviewing potential seminary students and Home Missions might be discussing church planting with a group of leaders interested in starting a new congregation in their town.
While all of that is going on, the Women’s Missionary Federation (WMF), has their national rally and business meeting going on as well. And as if that isn’t enough, Annual Conference is for the whole family. There is nursery service provided for little ones, children will be running around participating in VBS, and there is a youth track for 6th-12th graders that always includes fun games, times of worship, and teaching.
The Opening Worship service is often a wonderful service because it doubles as an Ordination Service for new pastors. This year, there are two men being ordained out of our seminary and they both come from the same church so they will be having their ordination service at their home church.
Each session begins with a devotion and closes with a time of prayer. In between we will hear reports about all the different ministries in the AFLC. Church planting, overseas mission work, our Bible College and Seminary, our publishing house, efforts in evangelism and discipleship, our Alaska ministry, and so much more each take turns talking about what has been going on and where they are going in their areas of work.
Sprinkled in we also have elections. This year there will be an election for the President of the AFLC as well as a number of nomination elections. Basically how it works is that the Annual Conference nominates people to serve in the different areas of ministry which are operated by separate corporations. Then, those corporations hold annual meetings that elect new members, directors or trustees to their controlling boards, and officers. Those corporation meetings or on Friday afternoon.
While those meetings are going on, there are a series of different lectures you can attend that are always interesting and beneficial. This year, President Rev. Micah Hjermstad will be talking about Biblical Leadership and Pastor Jeremy Larson will be talking about small group discipleship. On Saturday afternoon there are department electives where you can get a more in depth view of what is going on in publishing, evangelism, church planting, and overseas mission work.
Each night at 7 PM, the day ends with a worship service. It was always the hope of the AFLC’s forefathers and the Lutheran Free Church, her predecessor body, that the Annual Conference would be more of a worship gathering than a businesses meeting and this desire has continued to today. At the opening worship service we will hear from Rev. Lloyd Quanbeck who is the pastor at Maranatha Free Lutheran Church in Glyndon, MN. The Thursday Evening service is the Missions Festival. Rev. Paul Abel who is a missionary in Brazil will be sharing the message. Friday’s service is the Communion Service and the speaker is Mr. Owen Parsley. Mr. Parsley is leading a group of Christians in Flandreau, SD as they seek to start a new church there.
You can watch those evening services online here: https://www.aflc.org/live/
Overall, Annual Conference is a great time to meet new friends, reconnect with old friends, hear about the work going on in God’s Kingdom, and to pray with like minded Christians that God’s Kingdom would continue to grow. Next year’s conference will be in Fargo, ND. I strongly recommend you try to come!
