Luther Seminary Concord

05/12/2022

On May 3rd, the Texas-based organization, The Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity (SACReD) published a letter instructing congregations who wish to preserve or even improve access to abortion as a medical human right on how to proceed. You can find the letter in this article. We at The Concord encourage everyone to read this letter and take the education opportunities that the letter lists.

Read the full story on The Concord's Website:
theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/the-spiritual-alliance-of-communities-for-reproductive-dignity-publishes-letter-instructing-faith-communities-in-working-for-reproductive-freedom

Special Reminder: Your classmate's bodies are not topics of theological debate. The comment section of this post will be a place to share your learning. It is not a place to express anti-abortion sentiment. Any comment that breaks this boundary will be deleted.

On May 3rd, the Texas-based organization, The Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity (SACReD) published a letter instructing congregations who wish to preserve or even improve access to abortion as a medical human right on how to proceed. You can find the letter in this artic

04/21/2022

In his fantastic new piece for The Concord, D.J. Chatelaine uses Coldplay as a case study to explore the church's need to embrace secular music in worship! Read this fascinating article today on The Concord's website!

theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/music-and-the-modern-church

We Lutherans are good at talking about and living in paradox, muddying the waters when it comes to binary ways of thought and being. So, why don’t we do the same with music to discover the sacred in what we otherwise have called secular? As Chris Martin sings, “If you never try, you’ll never k...

04/15/2022

Bible Madness has ended! And the winner is…….

The Gospel of Luke!!!!!!!!!

The Gospel of Luke has survived the Final Judgment to win the title of Best Book in the Bible (among our readers). And for good reason! Think about the essential passages of faith found only in Luke. The feminist verses of liberation in the Magnificat! The Parable of the Prodigal Son! The revelation of resurrection on the Road to Emmaus! Also there’s something about a Good Samaritan, but I don’t think anyone has ever read that story.

Thank you all for participating in this tournament of Bible Madness! It literally could not have happened without you, and we hope that it gave you some joy and fascination during this Lenten season! Happy Holy Week!

See All Results Here:

Bible Madness Results are coming in! In this article we’ll update the results of each round of voting so that you can get all the data you need!

04/08/2022

The Final Round of Bible Madness has arrived! The last competitors standing are The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John. Which is the greatest Gospel of the Biblical canon? That is for you to decide! (And then make sure to vote in the fight for third place between Isaiah and Psalms!)

You can vote at this link:
https://forms.gle/v98QfKYStnoH3jdi6

And you can see all the results at this link:
https://theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/bible-madness-results

04/06/2022

Open letters from Faculty and Staff members of Luther Seminary proclaim their support for the Student Council’s proposal to begin a Reconciling in Christ Process at Luther Seminary and promise their solidarity with LGBTQIA2S+ students, BIPOC students, international students, and all students who have experienced marginalization at Luther Seminary.

In addition, both letters call upon the Enterprise Leadership Team (ELT) to give the Student Council’s Reconciling in Christ proposal a generous hearing or to let the proposal go to the Board of Directors. Both call upon the ELT to be better about communicating with students, open up avenues for greater student participation in decision-making processes, create healthier processes of accountability, and operate with greater transparency.

Read the full letters on The Concord's Website today!

theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/open-letters-from-faculty-and-staff-show-support-for-student-council-lgbtqia2s-students-and-bipoc-students

Open letters from Faculty and Staff members of Luther Seminary proclaim their support for the Student Council’s proposal to begin a Reconciling in Christ Process at Luther Seminary and promise their solidarity with LGBTQIA2S+ students, BIPOC students, international students, and all students who h...

04/04/2022

Bible Madness Round 4 is over, and we're down to the "Fulfilled Four!" It's Gospels vs. Old Testament books now, with Luke vs. Psalms and John vs. Isaiah. Who will compete in the championship match? That's up to you, dear voters.

Vote today at this link!
https://forms.gle/67LD3Utu5Wfc5at49

And check out all results at this link:
https://theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/bible-madness-results

03/30/2022

The Q***r Students' group at United Theological Seminary has written an incredibly gracious statement of solidarity with the LGBTQIA2S+ students of Luther Seminary given the events of the past week. I encourage you all to read it today on The Concord's website.

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities Q***r Students’ Statement of Solidarity with LGBTQIA2S+ Students of Luther Seminary Last week, Luther Seminary students were informed that Luther Seminary would not be pursuing a student proposal to become Reconciling in Christ, the Evangelical Lut

03/25/2022

Round 2 of Bible Madness is over! Despite some really close calls, the higher seeded books almost always came out on top. Job was the only underdog victory, soundly defeating the higher seeded Amos. But now we're down to some really tough matchups! Genesis vs. Matthew? Mark vs. Jeremiah? Romans vs. John???
As we enter the Spiritual Sixteen, it's up for you to decide which Books will move forward! Vote in Round 3 of Bible Madness today by following this link:
https://forms.gle/wCEQf54Si21NJTXu9

03/23/2022

In a rare editorial, I, Bergen Eickhoff, would like to speak from my role as the Proclaim Representative at Luther Seminary and Editor of The Concord.

Yesterday morning you were sent an email from President Robin Steinke detailing how the Executive Leadership Team has decided not to bring a proposal from the Student Council before the Board of Directors that would have asked the Board to become a Reconciling in Christ Seminary by 2024. Beyond being an incredibly disrespectful dismissal of the Student Council’s attempt to bring a proposal before the Board of Directors, it was also filled with misinformation and dangerous rhetoric that does not provide an accurate characterization of the Student Council’s efforts or the experience of LGBTQIA2S+ students at the seminary.

This email hurt my heart as a student committed both to justice and to clear and honest communication. So because I have been present with the current movement to see Luther become a Reconciling in Christ seminary, I thought that I would provide an annotated version of President Steinke’s initial message to let you know the full story and explain why the words of this message are so harmful. Though this is a long annotated response to President Steinke and a vulnerable one, I hope that you will read it. The President's words have done great harm to a number of students, and I hope that my words can explain why.

You can read my response to President Steinke's message at The Concord by following this link:
theconcord.squarespace.com/articles/president-steinkes-letter-annotated-by-luther-seminarys-proclaim-representative

On the morning of March 23rd, 2022, an email was sent to the entirety of Luther’s campus by President Robin Steinke. Beyond being an incredibly disrespectful dismissal of the Student Council’s attempt to bring a proposal for Luther to become a Reconciling in Christ Seminary before the Board of D...

03/22/2022

Round 1 of Bible Madness is over, and voting for Round 2 begins today! See the results below, and then vote using the poll at this link:

https://forms.gle/3vesDcLxsP16xWPs7

03/18/2022

Voting for Bible Madness has begun!!!

Follow theses links (to Google Forms) to vote for your favorite Books of the Bible in Round 1!

Voting Part 1:
https://forms.gle/CjB9xC3tLHk4nWfH9

Voting Part 2:
https://forms.gle/XiK6VkG4L12gn87w7

Voting Round 1 of The Concord's Bible Madness

03/17/2022

Austen Hartke is coming to Luther Seminary on March 22nd!!!

You are invited to join the lunchtime presentation and discussion online or in-person on the 22nd! Read the article for more details!

If you’re coming in person (on campus), you can join us in Dining Rooms A&B (OCC) on Tuesday March 22, 11:45am-12:45pm CDT. If you’re planning to join online, please reach out to Dr. Matt Skinner ([email protected]) directly to receive a Zoom link!

Courtesy of the professors teaching Scripture and Its Witnesses , the renowned theologian Austen Hartke will be leading class, preaching in chapel, and hosting a lunchtime discussion this coming Tuesday. And you are invited to join this Lunchtime Discussion with Austen Hartke about Biblical Interp