Events Request a Speaker

Request A Speaker From CLR

Christian Life Resources offers speakers for a variety of events on a variety of topics. To learn about requesting a speaker for your next event, read below. Questions can be directed to CLR by phone at 1-800-729-9535 or by email.

SpeakersBook A PresenterAvailable SundaysPresentation TopicsAvailable A/V EquipmentSpeaker CompensationPromotional Materials

SPEAKERS

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Presentation Topics

​All presentations reflect a Biblical perspective on respective social trends:

Q & A on Life and Family Issues: Our most popular presentation! Questions can be asked on any life or family topic. Host is encouraged to distribute list of topics and encourage questions to be submitted anonymously at the presentation or in advance.

The Work of Christian Life Resources: Overview of the history of CLR and the way the ministry serves today.

The Work of New Beginnings – A Home for Mothers: Overview of the history of the home-for-mothers’ ministry of New Beginnings and the way it serves mothers and their children.

The “Culture of Death” Struggle: A look at suicide, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and a culture of death that presumes death over life based on quality standards.

Challenges in Contemporary Medical Care: A discussion of medical directive statements, pain management, resuscitation orders, alternative medicine options, allocation of limited resources, no-win scenarios, and decision-making options to stop or pursue further treatments.

Technology and Biotechnology: An examination of the line between restoring health and enhancing life, the future of artificial intelligence and transhumanism, and the blessings and curses of technological advancement.

Fertility, Birth Control, and Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART): Exploration of issues involving infertility, appropriateness and options in birth control choices, and various considerations when engaged in in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other ART technology.

Human Sexuality: Chastity, infidelity, various expressions of sexuality from heterosexuality to homosexuality to asexuality, gender dyphoria, transgenderism, as well traditional and non-traditional relationships from monogamy to polyamory are explained.

Embryology and Experimentation: A look at the beginning of life in its earliest stages, social attitudes about that life, and the promise/perils of stem cell research.

Christian Ethics: An explanation that, although we are constantly forced to make moral decisions in difficult and complex situations dealing with beginning-of-life issues, end-of-life issues, and during-life issues, we were created as ethical creatures and were also recreated in Christ Jesus to express ethical conduct of the highest quality.

Church and State: An overview of the rights, limitations, and challenges of working as a Christian and as a congregation within a republic form of government.  This includes discussing activism suggestions and limitations.

Confronting Culture: An opportunity as professing Christians who have been on the losing end of legal battles in our increasingly secular society to  identify and stimulate discussion on ways the believing community can grow in traits and attitudes that can serve us well as we confront culture.

Eugenics: A discussion of the culture of a society that determines some lives are worth living and others are not. This presentation looks at the issue from a historical perspective and the perils involving contemporary trends.

And When I Die: A look at death from the perspective of the patient, family member, and concerned friend.  In addition to dealing with attitudes and challenges in the dying process we will consider circumstances in which a decision is difficult to make.

Beginning of Life: An examination of a variety of beginning-of-life issues, such as fetal development, abortion, prenatal testing, genetic engineering of children, three-parent embryos, etc.

Medical Directives: A focus on the role of medical directives and filling out CLR’s Christian version of the advance directive statement.

Dealing with Differing Opinions: An exploration of the ways to deal with challenging life and family issues on a one-to-one basis with a focus on bridge-building and dealing with objections and concerns.

NOTE: The CLR speakers also present at conferences or seminars over a period of hours or days (examples: pastors’ conferences, retreats, etc.). Contact the national office regarding a topic tailored to your needs.

A/V EQUIPMENT NEEDED AT VENUE

The CLR office will inquire about availability of A/V equipment for the event. We realize your venue might not have any, might have some, or could have most of the equipment. The CLR staff will work with the coordinator to pinpoint the A/V equipment you have.

– Projector with VGA connection and cable
– Projector with HDMI connection and cable
– PowerPoint Capabilities with 4:3 Standard Aspect Ratio, or
– PowerPoint Capabilities with 16:9 HDTV Aspect Ratio
– Screen
– Confidence monitor (similar to a teleprompter allowing the presenter to see what is coming up). This monitor is generally placed in a location that is not distracting to the audience — such as the back of church.
– Speaker or sound system to connect to laptop with 1/8″ plug

Speaker Compensation

Christian Life Resources operates entirely on donations to the ministry.  We never want money to be a reason not to have a representative of Christian Life Resources preach or present.  Nevertheless, we ask that you follow these guidelines to help us be the best stewards we can of our limited resources.

Preaching Engagements

When a representative of Christian Life Resources is invited to preach in a worship service, all expenses are covered by Christian Life Resources. We ask, however, that the inviting congregation do what it can to help defray costs by providing an honorarium made out to Christian Life Resources (if that is customary); take a special door offering for Christian Life Resources; and/or provide and promote a sign-up sheet for people to learn more about Christian Life Resources (CLR can provide the sign-up sheet). We prefer where possible that preaching engagements that include the opportunity to conduct Bible Study. If the timing can be coordinated, the representative of Christian Life Resources may be able to present at an area Pastors’ Circuit or Conference Meeting the previous or next day(s).

Presentation Associated with a Preaching Engagement

The stipulations indicated under “Preaching Engagements” apply if the representative of Christian Life Resources is asked to present during the Bible Class period before, between, or after he has preached for a worship service.

If an additional presentation is required (same area/location, close to the same time, etc.) and it does not require additional travel, lodging, or car expenses, no extra fees will be associated with the additional presentation.

If the additional presentation does require extra expenses and the event is for a gathering of pastors (any number), or the host can guarantee a minimum of 25 people in attendance, CLR will not require an honorarium to be paid. Otherwise, a minimum honorarium of $150 is requested of groups unable to meet the 25-person minimum attendance.  If possible, please consider a door offering to mitigate costs and encourage those attending to sign-up to receive more information about Christian Life Resources.

Events Not Related to Preaching

Such events include presenting a Bible Class (with no associated preaching), conference, event, or seminar. The host must guarantee a minimum of 25 people in attendance. If such a guarantee cannot be made and the audience is smaller, a minimum honorarium of $150 is asked. Travel and lodging costs should be reimbursed by the inviting group regardless of the number in attendance.

NOTE: At every presentation, event attendees are provided material on the work of Christian Life Resources and are invited to sign up to receive regular communications on the work of the ministry.

Payment of Fees

Fees should be paid in the form of a check made out to “Christian Life Resources” and given to the presenter at the time of the event or sent to the CLR office afterwards.

Any honorarium, stipend, or fee intended for the presenter should be provided in a check made out to “Christian Life Resources.” IMPORTANT: the presenter requests that no checks be made out in their name. We also ask that no cash, such as that collected as a door offering, be given to the presenter; it should be converted into a check made out to “Christian Life Resources.”

Christian Life Resources
Box 56
Richfield, WI 53076

Live Video Presentation

CLR presentations on life and family issues are preferred to be done in-person. No matter how sophisticated our technology may be, nothing beats eye contact, observable hand gestures, and the chit-chat that goes with an in-person presentation.

Sometimes, however, this is not possible. The class might meet at an odd time, the attendance might not be that large, or the time period might be too restrictive. In such circumstances, CLR is willing to provide a live video presentation. This option requires a good internet connection, video projector, and sound system on your end.

The cost for a Live Video Presentation is $75/presentation, and the host is required to hand out the complete packet of material on the work of Christian Life Resources. These materials will be sent in advance.

Promotional Materials

Please use these promotional materials as you see fit to promote Christian Life Resources coming to your event. If you need anything additional, please contact us.

GENERAL NEWSLETTER/BULLETIN BLURB

Pastor Robert Fleischmann (Pastor Jeff Samelson) from Christian Life Resources will preach for the congregation’s __________________________ (Life Celebration Sunday [or Weekend], Mission Festival, etc.) on __________________ (Date). He will also lead the Bible study entitled, “________________________.” Pastor Fleischmann has served as the National Director of Christian Life Resources since 1988. (Pastor Samelson serves as the Director of Ministry Advancement.) The mission of CLR is to use life and family issues as bridges to convey the love of God and to share the message of salvation through Christ. To learn more about Christian Life Resources, please visit www.christianliferesources.com.

CLR Logo

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CLR Bulletin Insert

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PASTOR FLEISCHMANN’S SHORT BIO

Rev. Robert Fleischmann has been the National Director of Christian Life Resources since 1988. He is adjunct to Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary where he teaches a pastoral approach to eldercare and related life issues. He teaches an online Master’s certificate course at Concordia University on Bioethics and Biotechnology. He speaks throughout North America on the Biblical approach to various life and family issues and counsels people with God’s Word in correct decision-making.

PASTOR FLEISCHMANN’S LONG BIO

ROBERT R. FLEISCHMANN

BIOGRAPHY

ROBERT R. FLEISCHMANN

Pastor Robert Fleischmann serves as the National Director of Christian Life Resources (CLR). The organization’s mission is to use life and family issues as bridges to convey the love of God and to share the message of salvation through Christ. It does this most practically through service to mothers with a network of 12 pregnancy care centers and a residential home for single mothers.

CLR also helps people to understand and make Scripturally-guided decisions in medical matters, particularly as they apply to beginning- and end-of-life concerns. This involves increasingly touching on a wide variety of ethical questions in health and science, and life and family issues Christians face today. The Bible is central in this ministry which seeks to save lives both for now and eternity through education topics from abortion and infanticide to euthanasia and suicide, and from cloning and stem cell research to vaccines and organ transplants.

Christian Life Resources is one of the largest single-denominational pro-life agencies in the United States and is increasingly serving the church and society as a “think tank” on life and family issues. Though its theological position reflects that of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), CLR serves and shows the love of Christ to anyone who seeks its services, regardless of their faith – or lack of faith.

As National Director, Pastor Fleischmann speaks throughout North America on the Biblical approach to life, family, and other issues. He also writes extensively on these issues and counsels people with God’s Word in making medical decisions.

Robert Fleischmann was born in Pleasanton, California in 1956. He was raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin where he attended public grade schools and high school. He considers First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lake Geneva his home congregation and was confirmed there in 1970.

He became involved with life issues in 1976 while a student at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1979. That year he began working with Wisconsin Citizens Concerned for Life (the precursor to Wisconsin Right to Life) where he served as the volunteer co-editor of the organization’s state newsletter. He also helped form the Wisconsin state affiliate of Lutherans for Life.

Pastor Fleischmann first began working in life issues within the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod while at seminary. This enabled him to be present for the May 1983 formation of what is today Christian Life Resources and to be one of the original signers of the organization’s constitution.

Upon his graduation in 1983 from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin, Fleischmann was called to serve as the pastor of Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin. In 1988 Pastor Fleischmann was called to serve as the first National Director of Christian Life Resources to administer the programs and staff of the growing organization.

In 1993 he founded New Beginnings – A Home for Mothers which operated in Denver, Colorado, for nearly 21 years. In the summer of 2014, that ministry relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it continues to care for single mothers and their babies.

Fleischmann also teaches as an Adjunct Professor at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy in the Bioethics Department at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Pastor Fleischmann and his wife Diane live in Hartford, Wisconsin.

PASTOR FLEISCHMANN’S PICTURE

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PASTOR SAMELSON’S SHORT BIO

Pastor Samelson’s role at CLR includes establishing opportunities for Christian service and equipping Christians affected by the erosion of life and family values. Applying the truth of God’s Word on pertinent life and family issues, his responsibilities include a regular schedule of preaching engagements, education on the broader scope of the CLR ministry, monitoring of life issues, and leadership as a contact for the affiliate organizations of CLR.

PASTOR SAMELSON’S LONG BIO

REV. JEFFREY L. SAMELSON

BIOGRAPHY

REV. JEFFREY L. SAMELSON

Rev. Jeffrey L. Samelson began his service as Christian Life Resources’s Director of Ministry Advancement in April 2021, having served on the CLR National Board for the previous four years. He came to CLR with experience both in and out of the parish: he was the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church (WELS) in Clarksville, Maryland from 2000-2021, and prior to studying for the ministry spent five years in the U.S. Foreign Service as a consular officer, serving at the embassies in Singapore and Bogotá, Colombia. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis (1988), an MDiv. from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (2000), and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, & Human Rights (2018).

Rev. Samelson’s role at CLR includes establishing opportunities for Christian service and equipping Christians affected by the erosion of life and family values. Applying the truth of God’s Word on pertinent life and family issues, his responsibilities will include a regular schedule of preaching engagements, education on the broader scope of the CLR ministry, monitoring of life issues, and leadership as a contact for the affiliate organizations of CLR. Rev. Samelson’s service continues a long family involvement: his father was one of the founding members of the first affiliate of Christian Life Resources. Rev. Samelson resides with his wife, Charlene, in Grafton, WI.

PASTOR SAMELSON’S PICTURE

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CLR BOOKLET

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CLR MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Christian Life Resources is to use life and family issues as bridges to convey the love of God and to share the message of salvation through Christ.

ABOUT CLR

Our Mission 

The mission of Christian Life Resources is to use life and family issues as bridges to convey the love of God and to share the message of salvation through Christ. This organization educates people on what God’s Word has to say about the value and sanctity of human life. The intent is to mobilize Christians to make God-pleasing decisions about life and family issues. We focus attention on many issues such as: abortion, infertility, birth control, post-abortion syndrome, infanticide, medical directive statements, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. You may also access CLR’s Position Statement on Abortion and CLR’s Position Statement on Euthanasia.

Our Background 

When the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationally on January 22, 1973, members of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Libertyville, Illinois, saw the need to do something. Working with their pastor and with members from area Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) congregations, they opened the first WELS Lutherans for Life pregnancy counseling center. As time passed, more and more independent centers sprouted up around the country until 1983 when they united to form the national organization that existed as WELS Lutherans for Life. In 1999, the name was changed to Christian Life Resources, Incorporated.

Our Purpose 

The national office provides counsel to clergy, teachers, and lay people on a wide range of life- and family-related topics. It is a resource center of materials and services on these issues. Most importantly, the national office educates others on the perspective of God’s Word as it relates to these issues. Through its official publication, Clearly Caring, email services, annual national convention, presentations, and articles, the national office seeks to answer the question, “What would God have me to do?” based on the direction found in God’s Word. Through CLR’s website, we offer a wide assortment of information on life and family issues. We also provide free downloads of a Christian medical directive, customized for all states and some Canadian provinces.

Our Growth 

To date, the organization consists of 12 chapters which operate 11 pregnancy care centers across the United States. These centers are visited by approximately 11,000 clients each year. In addition to these regional chapters, there are currently a number of congregational branches.

Christian Life Resources also helped to organize and fund most of the work of New Beginnings – A Home for Mothers which relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2014. This program began in 1993 in response to the needs of single mothers and their newborns by providing residence and assistance in spiritual, academic, and vocational concerns. It is currently staffed by one full-time Executive Director, three part-time staff, and volunteers.

Our Affiliation 

With our affiliation, WELS Christian Life Resources subjects itself to the doctrine and practice of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, but it is not supervised or funded by the WELS budget or its administrators.

Our Office 

When the national office opened in May 1983, it operated from the church office at St. John’s in Libertyville, Illinois. In time it was moved to Plymouth, Wisconsin. From there it moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when Pastor Robert Fleischmann was called to be the first national director of the organization. For six years the office occupied two different locations in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area near Mayfair Mall. In January 1995, the office opened the doors to an expanded office location next door to the former WELS Administration Building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Then in July 2008, CLR moved its headquarters to Richfield, Wisconsin.

Beginning in June 2014, Christian Life Resources staff relocated to their homes to concentrate on the CLR mission to use life and family issues as bridges to convey the love of God and to share the message of salvation through Christ.

OUR CURRENT CLR ADDRESS:
Christian Life Resources
Box 56
Richfield, WI 53076-0056

You can also contact the CLR office by phone at 1-800-729-9535.

CLR Promotional Video

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Celebration of Life Sunday Promotional PowerPoint Slides

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