Rev. Dr. Ronald R. Feuerhahn, associate professor of historical theology and archivist at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, was honored on Monday, Dec. 2, with the publication of a book in honor of his sixty-fifth birthday. The book, “Lord Jesus Christ, Will You Not Stay,” was officially presented to Feuerhahn in the Seminary’s Clara and Spencer Werner Auditorium in an evening ceremony which included remarks by members of the book’s editorial committee, Dr. John F. Johnson, president of Concordia Seminary, and Feuerhahn.
The 395-page, hard-bound festschrift is a collection of 18 theological essays treating a wide variety of topics. The first nine essays include “The Freedom We Have in Christ” by Bo H. Giertz, “Why Did the Issue of Indulgences Trigger the Reformation” by Glen E. Zweck, and “The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: Some Ecclesial Implications” by David W. Lotz.
A new setting of the hymn, “Lord Jesus Christ, Will You Not Stay,” composed by Henry V. Gerike, Concordia Seminary’s director of choirs and coordinator of musical and cultural activities, separates the first nine essays from the latter nine essays. This special choral setting for a men’s choir was sung publicly for the first time in a service of evening prayer in the Seminary’s Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus, following the presentation of the festschrift. The hymn was a favorite of the late pastor and theologian Hermann Sasse, the subject of Feuerhahn’s doctoral dissertation, “Hermann Sasse as an Ecumenical Churchman.”
The latter nine essays include contributions by Feuerhahn’s colleagues on the Concordia Seminary faculty: “When Caesar Smiles and Christ Judges” by Norman E. Nagel; “Divine Determination and Human Responsibility” by Robert A. Kolb; and “Forming a Lutheran Liturgical Reader” by Kent J. Burreson.
The Feuerhahn festschrift committee was comprised of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod clergy, many of whom were students of Feuerhahn while attending Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. They are J. Bart Day, Jon D. Vieker, Albert B. Collver, Scott A. Bruzek, Kent J. Burreson, Martin E. Conkling and Naomichi Masaki. The foreword to the festschrift, written by Bruzek, traces events in Feuerhahn’s life, beginning with his divine call to serve as missionary-at-large and assistant to the pastor at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Ruislip, West London, Evangelical Lutheran Church of England in 1963. Bruzek read portions of the foreword at the Monday evening celebration and concluded with the last words of the foreword, “For our Lord’s good use of Ron, we now give thanks.”
Pictures of the festschrift presentation are available on Concordia Seminary’s Web site (https://www.csl.edu/csnews.htm [1]). The festschrift is available through Concordia Publishing House (CPH) and may be ordered via the CPH order line (314.268.1000) or Web site (www.cph.org), or through the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, bookstore (314.505.7315; www.csl.edu/bookstor.htm [2]; or e-mail: [email protected] [3]).