The Tenth Annual Theological Conference and Plenary Session of The Augustana
Ministerium will be held August 12–14, 2014 at Divine Savior Lutheran Church in
Niwot, Colorado. Featured speakers include the Rev. Todd Wilken, the Rt. Rev.
James Heiser, Dr. Adam Francisco, the Rev. Dr. Kent Heimbigner, and the Rev.
Brett Balfour. The theme for this year's conference is:
Proclaiming the Unknown God—A Mars Hill Moment
With the full authority that was given to him by Christ to “go and teach all
the nations,” the Apostle Paul proclaimed the doctrine of Christ to Jews and
Gentiles in as many places as he was given opportunity. The Book of Acts
relates various opportunities Paul was given to preach the Word, beginning
always in the synagogue with the Jews, whose knowledge of the true God was
still incomplete, and then proceeding to the Gentiles who didn’t know the true
God at all. On one occasion, in Athens, St. Paul’s conversations in the
synagogue and marketplace resulted in an extraordinary invitation to address
the idol-worshipers gathered at the Areopagus, that is, Mars Hill. He addressed
them with boldness and with candor, but without rancor or hostility. He
addressed their idolatry directly, drawing from his knowledge of their
religious beliefs and using them as the starting point for his proclamation of
the unknown God who was, even then, making Himself known to them and calling
them to repentance. He taught the doctrine of Christ plainly, proclaiming the
resurrected Christ and the coming judgment, knowing full well that his words
would be perceived as foolish by the Athenian philosophers. Indeed, his address
was cut short by the continuing unbelief of most (but not all!) of his hearers.
Pastors are called, not only to teach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments
to their flocks, but also to “go and teach” as many as the Lord gives us
opportunity to teach, so that they may become members of Christ’s flock, or so
that they may be rescued from some pernicious doctrine that threatens their
souls. As Lutheran pastors who seek to imitate St. Paul’s pattern of sound
teaching, we can learn much from the apostle’s Mars Hill moment, both from the
respectful-but-authoritative manner in which he addressed the Athenians and
from his decision to highlight some obvious flaws in their own thinking and
beliefs as he proclaimed the unknown God to them.
The essays at this year’s conference are intended to assist Lutheran pastors as
they “proclaim the unknown God” to various groups of “religious” people who
either do not know the true God at all (i.e., to those who adhere to
non-Christian religions), or whose knowledge of Him is impaired by adherence to
false doctrine. Each essay will suggest some specific flaws in the beliefs and
practices of a given group that can be used as starting points for a
respectful-but-authoritative proclamation of the truth.
Rev. Brett Balfour: A Mars Hill Moment with the Jews
Rev. Dr. Kent Heimbigner: A Mars Hill Moment with the Mormons
Dr. Adam Francisco: A Mars Hill Moment with the Muslims
Rt. Rev. James Heiser: A Mars Hill Moment with the Mars Society
Rev. Todd Wilken: A Mars Hill Moment with the American
Evangelical/Spiritual-but-not-religious Person/Lutheran in Name Only
Hotel information is available at our Conference Lodging page.
Registration is now open both for online registration and registration by mail.
Registration will begin at 1:00 on Tuesday, 12 August, with the opening of the
session starting at 2:00. We will finish by noon on Thursday, 14 August. Please
see our Conference Schedule page for more information.
Rev. Paul A. Rydecki, Dean of Education
The Augustana Ministerium
Member of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA)
Pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Las Cruces, New Mexico
(575) 636-4988
________________________________________________________________________
The Rev. Eric J. Stefanski
Member of The Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America
Holy Trinity Ev.-Luth. Church (Unaltered Augsburg Confession)
P.O. Box 2612 - Harrison, Arkansas 72602
Email: [email protected] http://www.HolyTrinityLC.com
Lists: [email protected] http://www.cat41.org
Leadership - it's not what you think
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