Through presentations and conversations with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) [1] pastors who have developed successful adult faith formation programs, participants will be introduced to a model of adult faith formation and discipleship with roots in the catechumenal practices of the early church. The January conference is a repeat of the original event, which was held in October and attended by 54 pastors, church workers and laity.
“The process of faith formation, like so many other things, is caught as much as it is taught,” said Dr. Kent Burreson [2], Concordia Seminary’s Louis A. Fincke and Anna B. Shine Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, dean of chapel and co-director of the conference. “Part of our intention with this online workshop is to encourage more people to catch these pastors’ passion and investment in faith formation. We hope that this encore conference makes it even more accessible.”
This conference is made possible through a 2020-21 Teacher-Scholar grant, one of 15 awarded from the Vital Workshop Grants Program [3] at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), Grand Rapids, Mich., with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Burreson and Dr. Rhoda Schuler, faculty member in the Department of Theology and Ministry at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., and conference co-director, collaborated on an initial Vital Worship Grant project [4] in 2018-19 that identified and studied several congregations with a vibrant adult catechumenal process.
Each of the 15 Teacher-Scholar grants was awarded to scholars integrating research that connects worship with other disciplines of study and practice and is intended to advance the flourishing of Christian public worship practices. Originally, the goal was to meet with congregational leaders in person, but the conference was moved to a virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The conference is free for parish pastors, commissioned ministers and lay leaders of LCMS congregations. For more information about the event or to register for “Treasures Old and New (Again): A Conference on Adult Faith Formation,” visit forminglutherans.org [5].
About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) [1]. To learn more, visit csl.edu [6].