Mar 03, 2021 Print This Article

Multiethnic Symposium to explore Global South contributions to the church

Online event set for May 4–5

Registration is now open for Concordia Seminary, St. Louis’ online 2021 Multiethnic Symposium, set for May 4–5.

The symposium brings together missional leaders including pastors, congregational lay leaders and others from across The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). The symposium explores what it means and what it will take to become a truly multiethnic church.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “The Rest and the West: What the West Can Learn from Global South Christianity” with a focus on how Global South customs can contribute to practices such as preaching, teaching, worship, arts, evangelism and social engagement.

“Like the rest of Christianity, the fastest growing Lutheran churches are now in the Global South,” said Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M., interim Multiethnic Symposium chairman and the Werner R.H. Krause and Elizabeth Ringger Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries at Concordia Seminary. “Through migration and birth rates, the people of the Global South and their children also are in our communities and churches in the United States. What can we in the West learn from the rest? We are so excited to explore this question in our Multiethnic Symposium.”

Highlights of the event include:

  • Keynote presentation by Dr. Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History in the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
  • 15th Annual Lecture in Hispanic/Latino Theology and Missions by Dr. Marcell Silva Steuernagel, Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of the Sacred Music Program in the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
  • Plenary by Dr. Vince Bantu, Assistant Professor of Church History and Black Church Studies,  Fuller Theological Seminary, Houston, Texas
  • Plenary by Dr. Samuel Deressa, Assistant Professor of Theology and the Global South, Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.
  • Sectionals led by various presenters

Registration is now open and is $35 per person. The deadline to register is April 19. For more information, visit csl.edu/multiethnic or contact Continuing Education at 314-505-7286 or [email protected].

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). To learn more, visit csl.edu.