Events

Join us February 18, 2021 from 6-7:30 p.m. Central for Black Voices of Transformation: A Spoken Word Event for Black History Month. The virtual event will feature eight African-American artists from Christian and Muslim communities expressing socially conscious and personally inspiring messages.

This event is being coordinated by Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement in partnership with the American Islamic College and the Inter-Religious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary. Other collaborative partners are Inner-City Muslim Action Network, Interfaith Youth Core, Silk Road Rising, and Young Chicago Authors.

Please RSVP to receive participant links and details.

Download the event flier.

Michael Spezio, associate professor of psychology, neuroscience and data science and director of the Laboratory for Inquiry into Valuation and Emotion (The LIVE Lab) at Scripps College, Claremont, Calif., will present the next CASIRAS Talk Friday, February 19, at 4 p.m., Central time. This talk is hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) and LSTC. The Zoom event is free and open to the public.

Further details about the event, including an event registration link, can be found in this news release.

The Spring Seminary Sampler experience is designed for those who want to immerse themselves in what it means to be a seminarian at LSTC. Seminary Sampler participants may:

• Sit in on virtual classes
  
• Meet with our distinguished faculty
  
• Engage with LSTC students
  
• Attend chapel services
  
• Attend special events
  
• Tour the LSTC campus

Participants are able to connect with admissions staff to register for their desired experiences - that is, as much or as little as they choose. After registering for the event, a member of the admissions team will reach out to confirm preferences.

Learn more about Seminary Sampler and register to attend by March 4.

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.

Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden, gave an online presentation, “Technology, Theology and Spirituality in the Digital Age,” on Dec. 9, 2020.

Jackelén was director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), 2003-2007, and has also been president of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT).

The talk was hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) and LSTC.

A recording of the video is now available on the LSTC YouTube Page.

In 2013, the Annual American Indian and Alaska Native Symposium at LSTC was renamed in honor of Vine Deloria Jr., an alumnus of Augustana Seminary, Rock Island, Ill., a predecessor school of LSTC. The symposium has been held in November each year since it began over ten years ago. It has featured presentations, lectures, food and cultural activities. Past keynote speakers include Susan Kelly Power (Standing Rock Sioux), Rev. Dr. Gordon Straw (Brothertown Nation), Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Yuchi/Muskogee), and Prairie Rose Seminole (Three Affiliated Tribes of ND).

The 2020 Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium was offered in collaboration between Other+Wise and LSTC. Biographies of the symposium presenters are available.

Keynote Address: November 17 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
The first night of the 2020 Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium at LSTC featured a keynote address by Dr. David Martinez (Akimel O'odham/Hia Ced O'odham/Mexican). Martinez is associate professor of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University and the author of Life of the Indigenous Mind: Vine Deloria Jr and the Birth of the Red Power Movement (University of Nebraska Press, 2019). In this lecture, Martinez discusssed Vine Deloria Jr.’s historical significance and ongoing relevance to today’s Native American sovereignty movements with particular attention to his work at the intersection of environmental justice, tribal sovereignty, and tribal rights.

Access the recording of the keynote lecture on the LSTC Facebook page or the LSTC YouTube page.

Chapel Service: November 18 from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
On Nov. 18, the symposium continued with a chapel service at 11:15 a.m. Central time. Elona Street-Stewart (Delaware Nanticoke), Synod Executive for the Synod of the Lakes and Prairies (PCUSA) and co-moderator of the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), preached. She has been engaged for four decades in grass root and national advocacy on racial equity, Indian education, family empowerment and public policy.

Access the recording of her sermon on the LSTC YouTube page.

Panel Presentation: November 18 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
A panel discussion featuring Dr. Juana Majel-Dixon (Pauma-Yuima Band of Luiseño Indians), Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota and Dińe) and Dr. Kyle Whyte (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) explored the legacy of Vine Deloria, Jr.'s activism and scholarship. The panel was facilitated by Vance Blackfox (Cherokee). They spoke to the relationship of people to land that is woven throughout Deloria's work. With particular attention to the issues of sovereignty and eco-justice that are of enduring importance to Native communities throughout these lands - and thus to the many people living on Native lands - this panel challenged us to consider the gifts offered by Deloria's work, and to commit ourselves to responding in the months and years to come, in the land to which we owe so much.

Majel-Dixon teaches federal Indian law and U.S. policy at Palomar College and is a visiting professor at San Diego State University, Claremont Graduate University, and Cal State San Marcos.

Goldtooth is Keep It in the Ground Campaign Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network. He was one of the outstanding Water Protectors at Standing Rock/Oceti Sakowin Camp fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Kyle Whyte is the George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Justice at the School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan.

Vance Blackfox (Cherokee), founder and director of Other+Wise and creator and producer of the symposium, served as moderator of the sessions. Other+Wise is a co-sponsor of the 2020 Vine Deloria Jr. Theological Symposium. Learn more at www.otherwise.red.

Access the recording of the panel presentation on the LSTC Facebook page or the LSTC YouTube page.

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.

On November 9 from 11:15 - 11:45 a.m., LSTC provided a commemoration service. Reflection, music and witness was provided by Rabbi Shoshana Conover, Cantor Sheera Ben David, and Lucille Wolf.

Review the service bulletin and watch the service recording on the LSTC Facebook page.

English

In honor of Latinx Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Asociación de Ministerios Latinos de la ELCA, and Domestic Mission – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America partnered together to offer a dynamic panel presentation.

The presentation, entitled Adelante! The Future of Latinx Lutheran Leadership, was moderated by LSTC Adjunct Professor Rev. Dr. Rubén Durán. Panelists included:

• Jen DeLeon, Director of Justice for the WELCA; President of Asociación de Ministerios Latinos de la E.L.C.A.
• Joseph Castañeda Carrera, Mission Developer, Adore LA; Assistant to the Bishop for Authentic Diversity and Ethnic Specific Ministries, SW California Synod
• Aura M. Suarez, Deacon, ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod; Director, Latino Lutheran Lay Academy
• Erik Gronberg, Bishop, ELCA Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod

Event Flyers: English and Spanish

PowerPoint Slides: Panelist Aura Suarez PPT Slides, Panelist Jen DeLeon PPT Slides and Panelist Joseph Castaneda-Carrera.

A recording of this presentation is now available on the LSTC YouTube page.

Homecoming 2020 details can be found on the Homecoming page and the Alumni Awards page.

Watch the Talking Anti-Racism intentional learning session recording, lead by Rev. Dr. Linda Thomas, Professor of Theology and Anthropology, Dr. Marvin Wickware, Assistant Professor of Church and Society and Ethics, and Rev. Elizabeth Kocher, MDiv 2017.

Watch the Distinguished Alumni Award Presentation recording, lead by Rev. Sara Olson-Smith, MDiv 2006 and Rev. Michael Fick, MDiv 2004. Read more about the 2020 awardees.

Chapel sermons lead by Rev. Angela Shannon, MDiv 1996 and Rev. Kyle Severson, MDiv 2015 are available now on our LSTC YouTube channel.

For more information or questions about Homecoming 2020 or future alumni events, contact Jessica Houston, Alumni Services and Events Manager at jhouston@lstc.edu.

Bearing witness to the good news of peace in Jesus Christ — peacemaking — is central to the church’s mission, especially today as the world experiences an intensification of racial tensions near and far. In the 2020 Scherer Lecture on September 29 at 4:00 p.m., LSTC welcomed Dr. Al Tizon of North Park Seminary to address the following questions:

• What does peacemaking look like in a world that, humanly speaking, is hopelessly divided along racial lines?
• What principles must be operative for genuine peace to have a chance?

Download the event flier!

Review Dr. Tizon's PowerPoint slides.

Watch the recording of the lecture.