Reverend Brian Barlow has invested over 20 years in ministry to those who struggle with relational and sexual brokenness. Having been reconciled out of gender broken past, Reverend Barlow offers a life giving testimony of God’s healing grace. He has held leadership positions for local and international para ministries specifically focused in providing pastoral care to individuals and families impacted by gender dysphoria. Rev. Barlow offers a voice of hope individuals, pastors, church leaders, and parents of gay and transgender children.He and his family  reside in Southern California and serve at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church, Quartz Hill, CA. Reverend Barlow continues to serve with many local and national ministry partners including Lutherans for Life, Y4Life, LINC, Help4Families in addition to traveling and speaking at various youth events.
When God acts He leads them home 
The pressure to comply with the message, "God loves you just the way you are" has distorted the Gospel in America. It implies the "Good News" is a kind of love that leaves one to accept they will never change. In 2012, God in His mercy uncovered my poor theology and revealed a pure Gospel. He loved me so much He was unwilling to leave me where He found me.   When a penitent person, brought to faith in Christ, responds to God's invitation for life, they want to go home. The church in American is rapidly changing to accommodate an LGBTQ narrative that says, change is not possible or necessary. This session combines a personal testimony with tangible ways the church can provide a safe place for those leaving the LGBTQ culture.  
  
His message to the church is unique having experienced first hand the journey home to Christ. Specific to his message is that "God is able to do immeasurably more" (Ephesians  3:20) With the cultural message that love should be more compassionate than truthful many once-gay men and women find church to be confusing. Brian has spent over 20 years ministering to those with un-wanted same-sex attraction, youth and families impacted by homosexuality. While his story is not everyones story it is one example of how God is able to redeem and reorient even the most disfigured lives. 

Michelle Bauman joined the Lutherans for Life team on June 1, 2019, and serves as the Director of Y4Life. She communicates with high school and university students about issues surrounding life, addressing them from a Biblical perspective, and supports the building and maintaining of Y4Life Teams on high school and college campuses across the nation. Michelle earned her Lutheran Teaching Degree in secondary education from Concordia Nebraska (1998) and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Indianapolis (2011). Before joining Lutherans for Life, Michelle taught middle school English at Holy Cross Lutheran School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, (1998-2002) and English, Drama, and Speech at Trinity Lutheran High School in Seymour, Indiana, (2002-2019) where she also served as Trinity’s Recruitment Director (2004-2017). She lives in Columbus, Indiana, with her husband and two sons, Nathaniel and Simeon, and attends St. Paul Lutheran Church, Clifty, where her husband serves as pastor. 

Rev. Harrison Goodman – Chief of sinners. Child of God. Pastor Harrison Goodman preaches Christ crucified as a light that shines in darkness and a hope for the hopeless at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, San Antonio Texas. As content executive for Higher Things, he helps to make these same gifts known online by employing the many voices and talents of our brothers and sisters in Christ. He believes that while the internet cannot replace word and sacrament ministry, it doesn’t need to try. He shapes Higher Things content to point youth and young adults toward the gifts given in your sanctuary.

Lindsey Keiser currently serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General.  In this role, she helps defend the legislation passed by Kentucky’s General Assembly, including numerous pro-life laws.  Prior to moving to Kentucky, Lindsey worked as Legal Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary where she handled a portfolio that included religious freedom, free speech, and pro-life issues.  Lindsey earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and her Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.
Pro-Life Advocacy in a Post-Dobbs–and Possibly Post-Roe and Casey–World
By July of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a decision in a case that has the potential of finally overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The case–Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization–involves a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans almost all abortions after the fifteenth week of pregnancy, and Mississippi used this opportunity to ask the Court whether Roe and Casey should be overruled.  Whatever the Court’s decision, Dobbs will have a significant impact on pro-life legislation and advocacy going forward and there will be much for advocates of the sanctity of life to do in the post-Dobbs world. This presentation will discuss the key abortion cases that brought us to this point, possible outcomes in Dobbs, and potential next steps for advocates. 

Dr. Richard “Rick” Marrs is professor of Practical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Called to the faculty in the fall of 2006, he served previously as the dean of faculty (2010–13), director of Continuing Education and Parish Services (2007–09) and director of the Master of Divinity (M.div.) and Residential Alternate Route (RAR) Programs (2013-21). His areas of interest and expertise include pastoral care and counseling, Christian counseling and Christian reconciliation. Before coming to the Seminary, Marrs served at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Junction City, Kansas. (2000–06). He was a professor of psychology and a counselor at St. John’s College in Winfield, Kansas. and at Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Illinois. (1986–98). He also has done counseling, clinical and consulting work with wide variety of other counseling agencies. Marrs earned his Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary. He also holds an Associate of Arts (A.A.) from St. John’s College; a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Concordia College, River Forest, Illinois. (now Concordia University Chicago); a Master of Science (M.S.) in counseling from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.; and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in counseling psychology from Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. (1994). He has been licensed as a psychologist since 1996. In 2019, Marrs published the book Making Christian Counseling More Christ Centered, which focuses on the relevance of Luther’s soul-care theology in Christian counseling (WestBow Press). He continues and expands that discussion in a blog series on Concordia Theology. Marrs is married to Laura, who operates her own professional organizing business. They have two adult daughters, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren. Marrs coached the seminary’s varsity tennis team from 2007–16 and still enjoys playing tennis. He also competes nationally in stair-climb races and is usually ranked about sixth in the nation for his age group.

Heather Ruesch, national speaker, author, and founder of the You Matter Tour, has over 20 years of experience working in pro-life ministry. Her background is in child development and psychology, and she has served as both an educator and executive director of pregnancy centers. Currently seeking a master’s degree in Counseling and mentoring students through the social-emotional challenges of the pandemic, Heather believes in a "whole body awareness" method of teaching: you are more than a physical body with physical worth; you are social, emotional, mental, and spiritually made.