Events

Did you know that Luther preached loudly against economic exploitation? That Marx quotes Luther extensively in his legendary book, Capital? That Paul Tillich described himself as "on the boundary between Lutheranism and Socialism"? On Wednesday, Sept. 15, 5:30 - 7 p.m. CT, LSTC hosts a panel discussion on the overlap of Lutheranism and socialism, focusing on how socialist concepts apply to day-to-day ministry realities in the parish and in the world.

Speakers are Erin Coleman Branchaud (2018, MDiv), pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Logan Square; Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, professor of theological and social ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary; Tobita Chow (2017, MDiv), global labor organizer and director of Justice Is Global; Francisco Herrera (2016,ThM), Christian agitator and LSTC PhD student in world Christianity and global mission; Micah Uetricht, Lutheran PK, labor organizer, and deputy editor at The Jacobin. Angela Cowser, associate dean of Black Church Studies and doctor of ministry programs at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, will be the moderator.

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Upon registration, a Zoom link will be provided to participants. The event will also be live-streamed on LSTC's YouTube page and the YouTube stream will be shared on LSTC's Facebook page.

In partnership with McCormick Theological Seminary and Catholic Theological Union, LSTC will offer the 2021 Scherer Lecture virtually on September 28, 2021 at 4 p.m. The lecture will feature Dr. George Hunsberger, one of the founders of the Gospel and Culture movement.

This year's Scherer Lecture, titled “Three innovators in mission: Lamin Sanneh, Lesslie Newbigin, and Dorothy Day,” will focus on three Christians in our own day who brought creative innovation to the practice of mission. The first, Lesslie Newbigin, discovered on his return from years in India that the West itself was in need of conversion, and so advocated a "missionary encounter with Western culture." The second, Lamin Sanneh, discovered in those who had been evangelized the "infinite translatability of the gospel." The third, Dorothy Day, challenged Christians with her life of hospitality among the poor and her strong belief in pacifism. All three are models of mission today.

Dr. Hunsberger is professor emeritus of missiology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. He was the founding coordinator of the Gospel and Our Culture Network in North America and has served as the Secretary-Treasurer and President of the American Society of Missiology. He currently serves as an associate editor of the International Bulletin of Mission Research. His publication includes Bearing the Witness of the Spirit and The Story that Chooses Us and Missional Church and Treasure in Clay Jars. George is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.

Follow the event on Facebook and download the event flier to share with you network.

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Upon registration, a Zoom link will be provided to participants. The event will also be live-streamed on LSTC's Facebook page.

The Center for Advanced Studies in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) hosts quarterly lectures grounded in how science informs our religious understanding of the cosmos which God has created.

Guy Consolmagno, SJ of the Vatican Observatory, will present "Your God is too Small" on Friday, October 1 at 5:00 p.m. Central.

Join and follow the event on Facebook!

Please register below. Upon registration, a Zoom link will be provided to participants. The event will also be live-streamed on LSTC's Facebook page.

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Attend an Alumni Week lecture by Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez, associate professor of Lutheran systematic theology and global Lutheranism, October 12 at 7 p.m.

Abya Yala in Turtle Island: Decolonizing Latinequis Semantics is a critical theological, historical revisiting of the ways the USA (originally named Turtle Island) has re-baptized Abya Yalans (the people from 21 current Caribbean and Latin American countries of origin) as Latinx. A re-semanticization of this family of families is more relevant than ever.

Pérez-Álvarez holds both a master of theology and a doctor of theology from LSTC. He uses theological method and a variety of epistemologies while theologizing and re-contextualizing. His research areas include Queerness and the Bible, the eucharist and world hunger, baptism as the great socio-economic equalizer, neoliberalism and immigration, de-colonial homiletics, humor and resistance.

Registrants may participate in person at the Augustana Chapel or online via Zoom. All registered individuals will receive a Zoom link to participate in advance of the event via e-mail, too.

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Mark your calendars for Homecoming 2021! All alumni, all classes come back home to LSTC for this all alumni virtual event!

Plans for an all-class Zoom gathering, class hangout/breakouts and another "Talking About Antiracism" Learning Session are underway. Special recognition will be given to classes marking 10-, 25-, 40- and 50-year reunions, with distinct gatherings for each. We culminate the event celebrating our 2021 Distinguished Alumni Awardees.

Visit the 2021 Homecoming and Alumni Awards webpages for further details.

Join and follow the Homecoming event details on Facebook!

Register for Homecoming!

The Fall LSTC Seminary Sampler will take place October 25-27, 2021. During this event, prospective students are offered the opportunity to meet faculty and fellow students, engage in discussions about discernment, explore LSTC housing and opportunities in Chicago (for those interested in living on or near campus), and learn about the LSTC admissions process, including information about student services and financial aid.

For further details, please continue to monitor this webpage and the Seminary Sampler Facebook event discussion. Interested individauls should also register below!

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A massive, coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9-10, 1938, has come to be known as Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. It starkly signaled a movement towards the Final Solution, a systematic program of genocide designed to annihilate every Jew and others in Europe.

In addition to remembering, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago annually commits to the denunciation of anti-Semitism now and in the history of our tradition, and seeks to join together people of all faiths in the work of the world’s mending, the healing of the nations.

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Please save the date for the 13th Annual Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium, to be held virtually November 16 and 17. The symposium educates seminarians and church leaders about the work of Vine Deloria Jr. and about Indigenous culture, movements, and activism. This year, symposium content will focus on Indian boarding schools and their intersection with Christian and theological education.

Further information about this event, including event registration, the schedule of events, and speaker bios, will be posted soon!

The Spring LSTC Seminary Sampler will take place October 25-27, 2021. During this event, prospective students are offered the opportunity to meet faculty and fellow students, engage with LSTC alumni, explore LSTC housing and opportunities in Chicago (for those interested in living on or near campus), and learn about the LSTC admissions process, including information about student services and financial aid.

For further details, please continue to monitor our Visit page. Interested individauls should also register below!

In partnership with the Chicago Committee for Global Mission, LSTC will convene the 2022 World Mission Institute with a keynote offered by Dr.George Sabra, President of the Near East School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon.

More information coming soon!

LSTC held its 161st Commencement virtually on Sunday, May 16, 2:30 p.m., Central Daylight Time. The pre-recorded celebration was released on LSTC’s Facebook and YouTube channels. This year’s commencement speaker was José David Rodríguez, Augustana Heritage Chair of Global Mission and World Christianity at LSTC.

A virtual baccalaureate service also was held Saturday, May 15, 4 p.m. (CDT) via Zoom and livestreamed on YouTube. The baccalaureate preacher, Kimberly Wagner, assistant professor of homiletics and Alex Jacob and Gerda Maria (Swanson) Carlson Chair in Homiletics, was selected with input from the graduates.

The annual James Kenneth Echols Prize for Excellence in Preaching was held virtually on Thursday, April 15 at 11:15 a.m. The theme for this year was "food and feasting." This broad theme invited students to think creatively with a biblical text about the themes of food and/or feasting.

The James Kenneth Echols Prize for Excellence in Preaching is an annual preaching event established and funded by Mr. LeRoy T. Carlson. The aims of this event are to promote the quality and excellence of preaching, to inspire students at LSTC to fully use their varied gifts to improve their preaching skills, to increase the visibility and importance of preaching the Gospel on the LSTC campus and the world beyond, and to recognize the Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Echols and his many contributions by naming the prize in his honor.

Review the recorded sermons of the 2021 prize recipients.

Several worship services featured meaningful sermons by LSTC faculty and special guests.

Dr. Peter Vethanayagamony on April 7, 2021

Stacy Kitahata on April 12, 2021

Dr. Eunyung Lim on April 14, 2021

Rev. Dr. Sunder John Boopalan on April 26, 2021 - Coming Soon!

Watch a recording of this panel presentation.

April 6 at 1 p.m.: Marvin Wickware Jr., LSTC assistant professor of church and society and ethics, presented the third in a series, “Talking About Antiracism.” The title of the presentation was "For Such a Time as This: Public Church Theology in the Pandemic." LSTC Alumni Board members Melissa James and Liz Kocher served as hosts. Mr. Vance Blackfox, Rev. Scott Fritz and Rev. Priscilla Paris-Austin served on a panel. Watch the panel presentation recording.

April 6 at 6 p.m.: In "Introducing the Antiracism Transformation Team," Vima Couvertier-Cruz, team liaison, along with team members, discussed the team's work and purpose at LSTC. Watch the presentation recording.

This year's World Mission Conference focused on migration, mission, and spirituality, and the strong connection among all three. Peter Phan's keynote address grounded such a spirituality in the very being and mission of God. To be God, he suggested, is to be a migrant, to be on a journey in search of and in solidarity with all of humanity and the entire created world.

The World Mission Institute is sponsored annually by A Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice, Catholic Theological Union, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary.

Watch the presentation recording.

So often, Black people are invited to teach others through the lens of their pain. This Black History Month, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, LSTC Antiracism Team, Metropolitan Chicago Synod, and the African Descent Lutheran Association - Metro Chicago Chapter collaborated to explore the resilience of Black people through the intricacy of Black joy.

Black Joy Worship Services

Black Joy Presentations

Dr. King’s message of unity was the theme for the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration Monday, January 18. Five leading theologians reflected on the theme during the 60-minute pre-recorded tribute, and music was provided as well.

Read more about this important event!

Review the event recording on YouTube.