767 – Best of 2025

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Take a look back at 2025 with Martin and Sallie as they share highlights, memories, and favorites from year 18 of the WELSTech Podcast.

Events

Ministry resources

Interviews

Picks of the year

Next time

Year 19 of WELSTech is ahead of us. What will it hold for tech-in-ministry?

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766 – Christmas Conversation with Melanie

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Merry Christmas from WELSTech! We’re continuing our holiday tradition of sharing a special Christmas interview with our listeners. This year, we’re excited to welcome Melanie Giddings from the Lutheran Schools Office to talk about the important work underway to develop a new religion curriculum.

The interview

A new curriculum in development – Melanie Giddings, Curriculum Coordinator from WELS Lutheran Schools, joins Martin and Sallie to share an inside look at the work being shared by many hands on a new Pre-K to 12 religion curriculum being developed to succeed Christ Light.

Christmas Coloring Book Collab

There’s still time to submit your AI-generated Christmas coloring page for inclusion in a WELSTech crowd-sourced coloring book. Send your entries to [email protected], and we’ll choose a random contributor to receive some sweet WELS swag!

Try this prompt:

A black and white coloring page for kids of [YOUR TOPIC], thick lines, white background, no shading, no grey scale, simple vector style.

Next time

Join us in January for our look back at WELSTech 2025!

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765 – Christmas Coloring

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‘Tis the WELSTech Christmas season! Join us for a giveaway announcement that involves the good news of Christmas, coloring books, and AI. You could win a fun WELS item while you exercise your AI skills. Christmas concerts, anniversary offerings, travel apps, managing your smart home, and free EDU GPT round out this episode. Let’s goooo!

The discussion

Celebrating in color – Martin and Sallie are collocated, Christmas-color coordinated, and collaborating on a coloring project. Everyone is invited to participate in an AI experiment, creating Christmas-related coloring pages which we’ll compile into a sharable book. Send your entries to [email protected], and we’ll choose a random contributor to receive some sweet WELS swag!

Try this prompt:

A black and white coloring page for kids of [YOUR TOPIC], thick lines, white background, no shading, no grey scale, simple vector style.

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback

Chat GPT is free for teachers until June 2027

Next time

Melanie Giddings, Curriculum Coordinator from the Lutheran Schools office, shares details on this important work.

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764 – NotebookLM: The Godzilla of AI

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This week on WELSTech we take a deep dive into Google’s NotebookLM. Discover how this AI tool uses only your uploaded documents to create everything from video and audio overviews, flashcards, and summary documents, plus learn about other innovative AI tools like Hume Voice AI and the Plaud audio recorder that are changing the way we work and communicate.

The discussion

I wonder …. – Martin and Sallie are joined by Dr. Rachel Renno, Director of Academic Computing for Martin Luther College, and Jason Schmidt, Director of Technology for Oshkosh (WI) Area School District to discuss Google’s NotebookLM and how it leverages AI only on the documents you upload. Use NotebookLM to generate video and audio overviews of your content as well as summary documents, flashcards, and quizzes. Plus, it integrates easily into Google Classroom!

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback

Get involved

763 – Planning That Works

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On this episode of WELSTech, we take a closer look at one of the standout offerings from the upcoming WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership. We also revisit the WELS Strategic Plan, with a special focus on the Calling pillar. Plus, we’ve got our usual lineup of helpful Picks of the week and the latest Community Feedback. Ready to dive in? Simply press Play!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 38:39 — 35.4MB)

The interview and discussion

Church Planning – Martin chats with John Rathje, Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Kent State University, about his upcoming breakout session at the WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership titled Planning That Works.

Ministry resource

WELS Strategic Plan – Christ Through Us

Picks of the week

Community feedback

From the WELSTech Google Group

Next time

Jason and Rachel return for some educational technology goodness!

Get involved

762 – Llamas in the Machine

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This episode of WELSTech opens with an overview of the recent WELS Artificial Intelligence (AI) survey. The AI theme continues throughout the show, featuring details on the new Hour of AI initiative, a powerful prompt designed to help organize scattered thoughts, a WELS-centric GPT tool, and the latest edition of the TAAFT (There’s an AI for That) newsletter. And yes—watch out for AI llamas!

The discussion

The survey says – Martin shares preliminary insights from the recent AI survey distributed to WELS called and lay workers. While analysis is ongoing, the results will guide and prioritize the efforts of the AI Task Force. Notably, information on ethical considerations and ministry-specific use cases of AI emerged as top desired resources.

Ministry Resource

Updated Google Calendar lectionaries for

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

John Rathje shares a bit about his Lutheran Leadership Conference session on planning that works. Register early to secure your spot and take advantage of discounted pricing.

Get involved

761 – Comms and Cardigans

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Fall has arrived on WELSTech, and we’re reminiscing about childhood sweater weather.  We share a church communication focused interview as well as details on all the happenings at January’s Lutheran Leadership Conference. The picks of the week include worksheet alternatives for teachers as well as a great place to keep things. It’s time to press play!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 44:22 — 40.6MB)

The interview and discussion

Modernizing Church Communication – Martin and Sallie talk with Dr Kristi Meyer, Prof. of Mathematics at Wisconsin Lutheran College, and part-time communications coordinator at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, WI. She and Pastor Kyle Bitter are teaming up to present a breakout on the topic of church communication at the upcoming Lutheran Leadership Conference. Kristi shares a preview of their breakout content, including one of her game-changing tools for improving communication.

Ministry resource

WELS National Conference on Lutheran Leadership

  • January 19-21 at the Chicago Hilton
  • 4 Keynotes & 69 Breakouts
  • Register now for early bird pricing – $299

Picks of the week

Community feedback

Get involved

760 – Listening to Your Flock

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For the 760th time, welcome to WELSTech, a podcast at the intersection of technology and ministry. This episode features a discussion of the dos and don’ts of church and school surveys. Also included is a new source for liturgical art, a deep dive into “Smart” Health, and a new vocabulary word – workslop! Eek!

The interview and discussion

Survey Best Practices – Martin and Sallie welcome Alycia Cameron, and she shares her experience with conducting surveys and how that applies to churches and schools. Listen for guidelines on whether you need a survey and the suggested length of a survey, plus much more.

Ministry resource

Part 1 of Christ Through Us, WELS strategic plan: Culture

Picks of the week

Community feedback

Get involved

759 – Academic Integrity

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WELSTech is back with an unexpected AI buzz word discussion that’s a hot topic in schools right now – Academic Integrity. Jason and Rachel return bringing videos, gems, and flow to the podcast. Plus, there’s a new tech-enabled look at WELS 10-year strategic plan. Your earbuds are waiting!

The discussion

AI using AI – Martin and Sallie are joined by Dr. Rachel Renno, Director of Academic Computing for Martin Luther College, and Jason Schmidt, Director of Technology for Oshkosh (WI) Area School District to discuss the other “AI,” academic integrity in an artificial intelligence world.

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback

Get involved

758 – A Season of AI

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The first episode of the 2025-26 season of WELSTech is unlocked! Martin and Sallie kick off with a Lutheran-flavored AI theme for the season and share resources to assist with school AI policies. Sallie has a random pick of the week, and Martin shared Gmail keyboard shortcuts. All this and more. Let’s go!

The discussion

A place of AI – Martin and Sallie kick off a new season of WELSTech under the theme AI: What does this mean? First up is a look at school guidelines and policies around AI. Feel free to make copies of the shared resource documents and edit them to meet the needs of your school.

Ministry Resource

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Get involved