October 2025
The mission of the LCMS Northern Illinois District is carried out by upholding three pillars which serve to direct our ministry
efforts: Word, Wellness, and Witness.
In our everyday lives, it’s easy for wellness to often be neglected: Are we getting enough physical activity? Are we making healthy and helpful choices in regard to the food we eat? Are our relationships with others positive and encouraging? Are we able to manage the ever-present stressors we face at work or at home?… It’s endless, isn’t it?
Wellness is about health and vitality – physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally – and the NID’s Wellness pillar speaks to that: Promoting and encouraging health and vitality in congregations, schools, ministries, professional workers, and lay-leaders.
In the summer of 2019, a Wellness Team was formed at the direction of the NID President, Rev. Dr. Allan R. Buss. This was born out of his deep concern for the future of our church and the wellness of those who serve in the church. This team came together with the intention to serve the NID by creating ways to help our professional church workers in their wellness.
Rev. Mike Gudgel is pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lemont, Illinois, served on the original Wellness Team, and is a current member of the Church Worker Care Team. He shared that the original committee looked into various options and discovered the Church Worker Care Team being used at the time by the LCMS Missouri District. This current NID program was originally based on their model: several key people helping the church workers in the District through all types of stressful situations. The NID’s Church Worker Care Team was established in November 0f 2020.
The Church Worker Care Team was formed to give our church workers currently serving congregations, schools, and ministries someone to whom they can speak who is a fellow church professional and can be a safe and spiritually caring colleague to provide support during a challenging time. Their specific purpose it to provide support, prayer, and encouragement.
Dr. Debbie Arfsten is a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Elmhurst, a professor of Christian education and the DCE program director at Concordia University, and also serves as director of the Church Worker Care Team. She shares, “In my years of experience, both in the parish and in the university setting, as well as the work I do with congregations in my DCE Director role at CUC, I have seen firsthand the high need for more support and care for our called workers. This has let to my desire and passion to continue seeing how these workers can be supported from our District, but ultimately, even more through they various congregations/schools/agencies that they serve.”
The Church Worker Care Team is currently made up of five members: Dr. Debbie Arfsten (Immanuel, Elmhurst/CUC), Rev. Brian Davies (Lord of Glory, Grayslake), Rev. Michael Gudgel (St. Matthew, Lemont), DCE Dari Hartmann (St. Paul, Mt. Prospect), and Rev. Caleb Schauer (St. John’s, Union).
These Care Team members are contacted directly by individuals seeking support and encouragement. Topics are guided by individual needs and circumstances, but can range from vocational uncertainty to stress management to church leadership issues and more. The Church Worker Care Team members do not have specific professional training in counseling, but are able to offer support, encouragement, and prayer in a confidential setting. If there is a concern identified by the Care Team member that they believe would be well-served by referring the church worker to professional counseling, the District has assembled a list of Christian counselor contact which have been recommended by clergy throughout District.
Rev. Kris Whitby serves the LCMS Northern Illinois District as the Assistant to the President – Mission & Ministry. He doesn’t personally serve on the Church Worker Care Team, however, the Church Worker Care Team’s work does officially fall under the auspices of his position. He shared that privacy and confidentiality are key to this program: “The Church Worker Care Team does not  have an NID staff member serving on it, nor do they give any content reports to me or President Buss. They are bound in the limits of mandated reporting to share that information if such concerns were to come to their attention, but as best we can, we seek to maintain a wall between what is shared with our Care Team members and what come officially to the NID office.
“Dr. Arfsten simply shares with us the basic topics the Care Team members are encountering so we can gauge a little about what’s going on for those using the service, and we hear generally how many contacts the Care Team is receiving in a given season. Otherwise, what’s shared with them does not come to the NID office.”
Pastor Gudgel spoke a bit more about the kinds of issues that can be brought to a Care Team member, “… This includes stressful challenges being faced in the church, the school, the family, or the marriage of these workers. Some issues are acutely problematic and need immediate attention. Others are not a serious and simply require a casual conversation. All of our church workers are blessed with this way of de-stressing and decompressing, with Christ lightening their load through the compassion of Church Care Team member.”
Dr. Arfsten shared that, in addition to the these one-on-one conversations available, Care Team members who are pastors have served at regional pastors’ conference each year to be available to those in attendance. Future plans include adding a presence at educators’ conferences and other opportunities where church workers may gather. She also added that when feasible in the future, there is hope to offer the Care Team services to church worker spouses and retired church workers.
Pastor Whitby commented, “… as we continue to face a world that seems to drift farther and farther from a full life in Christ, and as our ministries more and more face their own existential questions, the pressures on our church workers (and the problems they face as other institutions that used to support individuals and families become less effective) become even more compounded. The need for a caring individual who can come alongside someone during a particularly challenging time, and it being someone who understand those pressures from a first-hand experience, is all the more vital.
Pastor Gudgel would like to encourage all church workers in our District, “I’m a pastor who has endured the deep pain of knowing what it’s like to not have good mental health. By the grace of God, I have received help from faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. My life is exceedingly better than it used to be, and I want to share that gift with others. As is says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” He added, “You are not alone! WE want to hear from you! Please reach out at any time!”
Additionally, the LCMS Northern Illinois District is also moving forward with plans to additionally serve the District’s wellness needs, through the hiring of a part-time Wellness Officer. This person will lead the NID’s efforts to promote holistic wellness among church workers, lay leaders, congregations, schools, and ministries, while working closely with the NID Wellness Committee and Church Worker Care Team, among others. They will work to develop and implement initiatives which support physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual health while fostering a culture of care.
If you could benefit from reaching out to a Church Worker Care Team member, please find more information or contact information here: www.nidlcms.org/care-team/.
*Did you know that October is LCMS Worker Wellness Month? During the month of October, the LCMS celebrates Worker Wellness Month, places a specific emphasis on church worker appreciation and providing resources on a variety of topics for those who are called to serve. Please visit Church Worker Wellness for more information.
WELLNESS: Promoting and encouraging health and vitality in congregations, schools, ministries, professional workers, and lay-leaders.
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