WELS Ministerial Education trains men to stand on their own two feet as pastors. Every Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary graduate can read a biblical text in its original language, construct a sermon based on that text with clear law and gospel, and plan worship around that text and that sermon using the resources available synodically and locally.

When the new Christian Worship suite came out in 2021, WELS Congregational Services (CS) realized that those men might appreciate some help figuring out how to make the best use of all the new resources. The three-volume set of Christian Worship: Commentary on the Propers proposed many themes for preaching and worship planning. Where should a man begin in worship planning? CS suggested beginning with The Foundation.

The Foundation is a free, year-round worship planning program. It offers congregations a comprehensive set of ready-to-use materials, including service themes, hymn and psalm suggestions, a preacher’s podcast, and promotional graphics in both English and Spanish, all designed to nurture existing members, assist in outreach, and engage first-time visitors.

Key Features and Goals of The Foundation

• Outreach-Focused: The materials are intentionally structured to be accessible to unchurched guests and first-time visitors, making it easier for members to invite friends and neighbors.
• Series-Based Planning: It organizes worship around specific themes for each church season and unique subthemes for every week of the year.
• Time-Saving: By providing preplanned services, sermon helps, and marketing materials, it frees up busy pastors and worship planners to focus on community outreach and pastoral care.
• Customizable: While the materials are ready to use out of the box, they can be easily adapted to fit the specific context and traditions of individual congregations.

The program is a joint effort meant to build upon the central importance of public worship, ensuring that congregations have the tools they need to feed the faithful and to bless their local communities.

Who Uses The Foundation?

According to a survey done by the WELS Commission on Worship in 2025,

• 722 of 1,205 congregations use The Foundation resources (60%).
• Among congregations using CW21, 550 of 744 use The Foundation (74%).
• Among congregations using CW93, 106 of 309 use The Foundation (34%).

Congregations using CW21 are more than twice as likely to use The Foundation resources (74% vs. 34%), suggesting a strong association between adoption of the new hymnal suite and use of The Foundation materials.

Congregations using The Foundation account for 86,051 average weekly worshipers. This represents 66% of the total average Sunday attendance of all congregations in the survey. An interesting comparison is that although 60% of congregations use The Foundation resources, those congregations account for 66% of all average Sunday attendance, indicating that The Foundation users tend to be somewhat larger congregations on average than non-users.

WELS pastors and other worship planners are capable of doing the work on their own. But many of them have found that The Foundation helps them to make the best use of the new hymnal suite resources to the glory of God and the good of his Church.