Tag Archive for: AI

751 – Making Music with AI

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This episode of WELSTech features an interview with Pastor Nate Seiltz who recently creating 3 albums of music without singing or playing a note himself. With AI at his fingertips, he transformed his ideas for gospel outreach music into reality, and you can to! We also share survey results regarding church use of AI, a handy (AI-generated) summary of recent tech news with an emphasis on its impact on the church, and ideas for using AI to extend the impact of your weekly sermon.

The discussion

Music for outreach – Pastor Nate Seiltz, Director of WELS Multi-Language Publications, talked with Martin and Sallie about his recent AI-assisted production of 3 albums of songs geared toward sharing the good news of salvation in Christ. His artist name is Freetide. “Free” because grace is free, and he is free from sin and eternal death in Christ. “Tide” signifies movement, the Holy Spirit’s work in him through His Word and movement in his life as he lives by grace.

  • Made New (Spotify | Amazon Music) – These songs walk through the darkness of doubt, the fire of trials, and the ache of waiting—but they lead to grace, healing, and freedom. With honest lyrics and uplifting melodies, Made New is a declaration of what God does with the broken: He restores. He renews. He makes us new.
  • Fruits of the Spirit (Spotify | Amazon Music) – These nine songs walk through each fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22–23, reflecting on how they each take root in real life. 
  • Living Proof (Spotify | Amazon Music) – From first steps into grace to standing fearless in Christ, these songs tell a true story — of scars healed, chains broken, hope renewed. We are not who we were. We are living proof that mercy is real, and grace still wins.
  • Suno.com

Ministry resource

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Community feedback

  • Sign up for Concordia Technology Solutions webinar series – Tuesday, June 3, 2025
    • Church Members 360 – 10 am CT
    • Church Ledger 360 – 11:30 am CT
    • Church Unite 360 – 1 pm CT
  • Turn one sermon into a week of discipleship – Facebook post from WELS Intersections

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  • Our 2025 Summer series – Tips & Tricks – kicks off.

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A Season of SAMR - final podcast of the school year. Focuses include SAMR and Leadership, AIAS, earphones, implementation software

750 – A Season of SAMR

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The WELSTech co-hosts for all things edtech are driving this episode as we wrap up our SAMR focus with how it assists education leaders. We also introduce the AI Assessment Scale, a tool for clearly stating acceptable levels of AI use. Rachel has new headphones for “weird” ears that don’t like earbuds, and Jason shares a tool that uses AI to create individual student feedback. Bonus: It’s also a time-saver for teachers.

A Season of SAMR - final podcast of the school year. Focuses include SAMR and Leadership, AIAS, earphones, implementation softwareThe discussion

SAMR and Leadership – We close out our season-long look at the SAMR framework for education technology integration with our favorite edtech gurus, Dr. Rachel Renno, Director of Academic Computing for Martin Luther College, and Jason Schmidt, Director of Technology for Oshkosh (WI) Area School District. School leaders may find policy creation and maintenance challenging, but policies are definitely worth the effort as they provide needed structure to make decision making easier. And while a dedicated AI policy may not be needed, incorporating AI guidelines into standard policies – Acceptable Use, Academic Integrity, Data Privacy, etc. – is wise.

Ministry resource

Picks of the week

  • Shokz – Bone conduction open-ear headphones
  • Snorkl – AI student feedback

Next time

  • Pastor Nate Seiltz from WELS Multi-Language Productions shares stories of AI music creation.

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747 – Canva for Ministry

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WELSTech is back with a deep dive into Canva waters and the terrific capabilities it has for churches and schools. The toolset is easy and intuitive, even if you’ve never used it before. This episode may be all you need to get started! Martin shares his phone case pick and there’s some AI-generated coding for the classroom happening. See you on the inside!

The discussion

Behind the scenes with Canva – Sallie takes viewers to the design table using Canva and demos design templates and elements, text tools, color palettes, brand kits, and apps while Martin tries to stump her with questions. With the robust feature set and variety of formats which Canva can produce, it’s well worth the price of admission. The amazing news is churches and schools don’t pay a penny!

Ministry resources

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

  • Teacher Michael Vlieger from Risen Savior in Mankato, MN shared programmed resources for the classroom which he created with the help of ChatGPT and Canva. Reach out to Michael if you’d like to learn more or get a copy.
    • Eraser Game (Video)
      • Users enter text, and the application creates an exercise where clicking on a word makes it disappear. For longer passages, this helps with memorization by gradually removing words rather than requiring students to recall an entire section at once.
    • Banned Words Checker (Video)
      • Our writing series includes specific banned word lists for each lesson, but students and I occasionally overlook these during the review process. This tool allows users to input a list of banned words and their text, and provides a count of each banned word’s occurrence within the document which can be printed.
    • Cloze Generator (Video)
      • This enables teachers to create a cloze activity or a fill-in-the-blank memory work worksheet. Simply type the passage name or reference and paste or type the desired text, choose the difficulty level and font size, and click “Generate.” The application then produces a printable worksheet with a set number of words removed based on the selected difficulty. Works great for longer selections
  • From the WELSTech Google group

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Digital art lessons and social sharing from someone doing both!

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745 – WELSTech AI Summit Review

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Wednesday and WELSTech, an unlikely pairing, but so worth it! Join us for a recap of the recent WELSTech AI Summit plus discussion of an AI classroom tool/powerhouse, Lent and Easter resources, and browser tips to enhance your day. Blessings on this Ash Wednesday!

The discussion

There and back again – The WELSTech AI Summit was held February 21-23, 2025, at Divine Savior Church and Academy in Doral, FL. Martin and Sallie share details on the event format and the top AI-related ideas which emerged from the weekend.

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Next time

Secondary school tech integration will be the SAMR infused topic of the day as we welcome our resident EDU gurus, Rachel Renno and Jason Schmidt.

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744 – Smarty Pants AI

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WELSTech is back and talking AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the perspective of a pastor-in-training. Senior seminarian Jon Pederson shares insights from his thesis work on the topic. A teen online Bible study opportunity is coming up soon, and WELS is celebrating a special anniversary with a new online interactive timeline which details WELS history since the beginning.

The interview and discussion

AI and the public ministry – Martin and Sallie talk with Jon Pederson, a senior at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, about his thesis topic, AI Associate: Examining Artificial Intelligence and its Potential Impact on the Pastoral Ministry.

Ministry resources

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Community feedback & events

Next time

It will be a bit longer wait for our next episode, but totally worth it as we’ll be sharing all the WELSTech AI Summit goodness!

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737 – AI Talk with Dr James

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WELSTech welcomes MLC’s Dr. James Carlovsky for a look at Artificial Intelligence from his research and presentations to various audiences. The rest of the show includes thoughts on giving thanks, the AI prompts industry, AI YouTube resources, texting your congregation, and evaluating your worship live stream.

The discussion

Pros and Cons of AI – Dr James Carlovsky from Martin Luther College chats with Martin and Sallie about what may be the biggest disruptor in education. Does it make you more or less creative? Does it do the thinking for you or getting you thinking? The more you learn, the more there is to learn about AI.

Ministry resource

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Community feedback & events

Next time

We talk elementary tech integration, SAMR-style, with Rachel and Jason.

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732 – Volunteer Onboarding

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WELSTech is in the groove! The regular season groove, that is. Join Martin and Sallie as we kick off a new season of the show and bring back a favorite show segment, Ministry Resources, that was missed over the summer. The show focus today is adding new volunteers to your team using tools and ideas aimed at giving them the knowledge and resources to carry out their responsibilities with confidence and joy.

The discussion & interview

Volunteers for the win – Martin and Sallie take a deep dive into working with volunteers in church or school. There are tech tools to assist with finding the right people and then orienting them to their new responsibilities.

Ministry resources

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Community feedback & events

Next time

We’ve got more to share on working with volunteers, including communication and appreciation.

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729 – Summer Tech Talks – Ben Workentine

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Welcome to WELSTech! This episode focuses on our triple citizenship, in heaven, on this earth, and now, in a digital world. Pastor Ben Workentine shares thoughts for the Christian living in an increasingly opinionated and unfiltered digital world. We also report details on our latest hardware, print on demand, and church texting finds.

The discussion & interview

The mic is live – Joining Martin and Sallie this week is Pastor Ben Workentine from St. Mark Lutheran Church in Green Bay and De Pere, WI. Pastor Workentine presented a paper on the topic of digital citizenship at the recent Northern Wisconsin District Convention and shares highlights from the paper with the WELSTech audience. Spoiler alert: Your audience is the world while you live your digital life as Christ’s ambassador.

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Next time

Were back with more of our Summer Tech Talks series. What ministry tech goodness will we uncover next?

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728 – Summer Tech Talks – Joel Prange

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WELSTech is celebrating summer with a series of tech-in-ministry interviews called “Summer Tech Talks.” This week we head west to the oil country of western North Dakota to talk with Pastor Joel Prange about starting a home mission church. Turn up the audio as Martin and Sallie both have sound-related picks of the week. In addition, there’s an opportunity to support a missions-centric videography effort.

The discussion & interview

Getting to know North Dakota – Home Missions Pastor Joel Prange talks with Martin and Sallie about his two-year journey starting a new congregation in Dickinson, North Dakota. Amazing Grace Lutheran Church is worshipping in their own space and reaching out to the people in the area.

Picks of the week

 

Community feedback & events

  • We have an opportunity to support “Christ in media” through support of videographer Colin Neville as he spends two years in Thailand with Friends Network, telling the stories of various missions through video. Learn more and support Colin’s work.
  • gamma.app

Next time

Summer Tech Talks continue, but mums the word on who will be behind the extra mic. Tune in to find out!

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726 – Summer Tech Talks – Rob Davidson

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Welcome to the good ole summertime on WELSTech! Our “Summer Tech Talks” interview series will feature technology from around the synod and across the world. This week we start in St. Louis, MO, home of Concordia Technology Solutions. The back half of the show includes Sallie sharing teacher professional development resources and Martin divulging his new favorite AI chatbot.

The discussion & interview

Concordia Technology Solutions – Joining Martin and Sallie is Manager of Sales and Marketing for Concordia Technology Solutions (CTS), Rob Davidson. Rob shares the latest news about CTS products including Church 360°, Christian Worship Service Builder, and Shepherd’s Staff.

Picks of the week

Community feedback & events

Next time

Summer Tech Talks continue with a (virtual) trip to Thailand to learn more about technology at Asia Lutheran Seminary.

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