06/10/2026
2026 ANNUAL GATHERING KEYNOTE SPEAKER INTRO:
We are so excited to have Julie Smith joining us as a keynote speaker this year! Julie is the Service Coordinator of LCMC. After participating in LCMC’s constituting convention, she went on to serve as a pastor in LCMC congregations, investing deeply in the work of her district, helping start and lead a seminary, and serving on the LCMC Board of Trustees. She later joined the LCMC staff as Coordinator for Districts and Fellowships and has worked closely with the Augustana and Epiphany Districts of LCMC.
A lifelong Lutheran, Julie was ordained in 1998 and has served congregations in Clarkfield, Bock, and Springfield, Minnesota. She also spent several years as a Bible camp director and is a co‑founder of St. Paul Lutheran Seminary. A graduate of Luther Seminary, Julie loves any opportunity to teach from leading silly Bible skits with first graders to helping seminary students sharpen their preaching.
Julie is an avid sports fan: high school football tops the list, with NBA games featuring any former Minnesota Timberwolves close behind. Like all Minnesotans, she believes summer should be spent at the lake with the Twins on the radio, and prefers not to be asked about the Vikings.
In her keynote, “Called for Faith,” Julie will discuss how before any other calling upon our lives makes any kind of sense, we are first called to faith. And as we carry out the various callings upon our lives, we are only sustained by a life of faith. Apart from faith in the promises of Christ Jesus, our callings are nothing but chores. Join us as we look at the calls of Jonah and Paul as snapshots of how faith and call work (or do not work) together.
We hope you will join us in New Braunfels July 24-25th to hear everything Julie and our other keynotes have to share with us!
Early bird registration ends June 30th! Register here: https://www.lcmctexas.org/annual-gathering/
