Upcoming Event
Multiethnic Symposium: Registration Closes Easter Monday, April 21
Learning From Each Other
Catechesis That Raises Up Multiethnic Leaders for the Kingdom
May 6-7, 2025 at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Plenaries:
- “A House of Catechesis and Prayer for All Nations: Formation Through a Contextualized Catechumenate” presented by Dr. Kent Burreson, Professor of Systematic Theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and Dr. Rhoda Schuler, Professor Emeritus, Concordia University, St. Paul, St. Paul, Minn.
- “Who’s Next? Necessary Skills in Raising Next Generation Ethnic Leaders” presented by Rev. Jeff Cloeter, Senior Pastor, Christ Memorial Church, St. Louis
- “Preparing Congregations to Serve and Empower Immigrants” presented by Dr. Stanish Stanley, Executive Director, CFNA and Jessica Bordeleau, Coordinator, Digital Publishing, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Kent and Rhoda invite our readers to this annual symposium at Concordia Seminary; the cost is very reasonable! Registration is $85.00 (with an additional $15.00 each for 2 lunches). To learn more about the topic, see the full schedule, and register, click here.
A blessed Great Week, as the Church contemplates the mystery of salvation accomplished by our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.
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Photo: close-up of mosaic behind the altar, Latin Calvary Chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. By Rhoda Schuler, 2023
Field Trip to Explore Multicultural Ministry
We (Kent and Rhoda) will be presenting the opening plenary address at Concordia Seminary’s Multiethnic Symposium, May 6-7, 2025. Our concern to have concrete, firsthand data coalesced with the desire of a pastoral team in Springdale, Arkansas, to have outside “consultants” visit and make recommendations for strengthening congregational faith formation across generations. It was a match made in heaven and came to pass through the work of the Holy Spirit and a generous grant from the Mid-South District of the LCMS.
On Saturday, February 22, we arrived in Springdale and received a warm welcome from Pastors Adam Gless and Brandon Martin, who serve the bilingual Salem Lutheran Church. During our four-day visit we worshipped with the congregation; broke bread with congregational members; attended Bible studies and faith formation gatherings for adults and for youth and their parents; and interviewed a variety of members.
And yes, there was time for relaxation and fun, as the banner photo and gallery of photos indicate. Those who know Kent will not be surprised to see him under the banner of Rendezvous Junction Brewery. A thoughtful colleague, he made Adam and Brandon aware that my beverage of choice is wine, that, according to the Psalmist, “gladdens the heart” (Ps. 104:15). The bartender “poured”—squeezed is more accurate—a generous glass of rose from the “dregs” of the bladder of the (un)boxed wine. One can see the seriousness with which each of the guys approached the flights of beer as they hunched over the beer rating apps on their cellphones. As we parted after a sumptuous breakfast Thursday morning, the four of us gave thanks to God for our time together; we pray our research will be a blessing for the people of Salem Lutheran and for the church at large.
To learn more about our findings, we recommend attending the Multiethnic Symposium. Click for more information.
Banner photos by anonymous, friendly person at table next to us at brewery. Gallery of photos by Rhoda Schuler.
Workshop Opportunity in Cleveland Area
We are pleased to share with our readers information about an upcoming workshop led by the Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, which is part of Concordia Seminary’s Faculty Led Workshop series. Dr. Filipek shares our passion for adult faith formation and partnered with us for our online conferences in 2020 and 2021, serving as a breakout session leader twice. We’ve also featured his book, Life in Christ, Rooted, Woven, and Grafted into God’s Story (CPH, 2023) on this blog.
Title: Faith Formation in a Nominally and Post-Christian World
Date: June 10 – June 12, 2024
Location: Faith Lutheran Church, Mentor, Ohio (greater Cleveland area)
Program cost: $150.00
Registration deadline: May 27, 2024
When the church speaks of “Christian formation,” we tend to speak of a classroom setting: Sunday school, Confirmation class, adult instruction and Bible study. Such a perspective runs the risk of treating the Christian faith as primarily intellectual. When that happens, the church can easily be equated with a K-12 school. Many have a mindset of, “When I have learned everything I need to know, then I can be done with church. Like school, I can graduate, move on and never return.” But the Christian faith is not something we simply learn, regurgitate, graduate and move on from. In this workshop, participants will explore how narrative catechesis can be used to cultivate a love of the one true God and a desire to dwell with Him here in time: weekly in the Divine Service and daily in our respective vocations and in eternity where we “appear with Him in glory” and dwell with Him forever.
To register, click here.
For more information, click here.
Institute of Liturgical Studies: Deadline for Early Registration Is Drawing Near
Join us at Valparaiso University, April 9 – 11, 2024 for “Creation, Not Commodity: the Church’s Liturgy in a Consumer Culture.”
Early registration (before February 29) is $275.00 and increases to $325.00 after that date. For first-time attendees and retired people, registration is only $200.00.
Kent and Rhoda’s seminar (Tuesday afternoon, April 9) costs an additional $75.00.
To register for the conference, click here.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Consumer or market culture’s role in our lives is so ubiquitous that we frequently fail to recognize its presence and influence over us. Even committed church folk will talk about “church shopping” when they move to a new location.
We live in a consumer culture in which our collective and personal economic well-being depends on our shared habits of material consumption. Those in ministry know that the market economy driving this consumption – with its emphasis on personal choice – impacts how the local congregation positions itself within its ministry context or fails to do so.
In its 75th year, the Institute of Liturgical Studies will turn its attention to this phenomenon.
We will seek to understand better the ways in which consumer culture impacts liturgical life. How might that impact be countered through careful curating of the church’s liturgical theology? We will also be seeking practical guidance for what we, as church practitioners, might learn positively from those who work to drive consumer desires in the marketplace.
To see the list of speakers, click here.
KENT & RHODA’S SEMINAR AT ILS
Adult Faith Formation: A Prophetic Challenge to Religious Consumerism
A consumer culture challenges the church on two fronts. From within, an “attractional” pattern for outreach has commodified the church and its message. From without, the marketplace is recognizing the spiritual void in our secular culture and is pitching its wares with promises to provide “a sense of identity, purpose, meaning, and community” (Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 131, 107).
We are convinced that robust adult faith formation practices and rich rituals are a prophetic challenge to these internal and external issues. This seminar will offer background material on adult faith formation, facilitate small group studies and discussions, and lead participants through experiential learning on ritual.
https://www.valpo.edu/institute-of-liturgical-studies/ils-2024-speakers-and-sessions/
To register for the conference, click here.