Life-Changing Wisdom from 1922
How did people emerge from a pandemic and World War to start a bold venture like Camp Arcadia in 1922? What Christ-centered wisdom from that era might inspire you to venture boldly into your future with faith and daring action? Join Rev. Michael Newman to see how Scripture and history refresh and renew you to meet your challenges today.
Rev. Michael Newman is president of the Texas District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. His latest book is Getting Through Grief: Eight Biblical Gifts for Living with Loss. It is available in both adult and youth versions. You can find all of Rev. Newman’s books at www.mnewman.org.
Loving People: The Hardest Task, Highest Calling, and Greatest Apologetic
Loving others well is not easy. Yet, as God’s people we are called to tackle this difficulty head on, loving others – especially the most dysfunctional among us – as best we can. Join Matt as he examines the most difficult types of relationships and shares not only how Christ equips us to do the hard work of loving well, but how loving others is the greatest possible apologetic to a cynical and divided world.
Rev. Matt Popovits is the Senior Pastor at St. Mark Houston in Houston, Texas. Matt is also the host of “What Matters Most” Radio and the “Make It Simple” Podcast. He’s the author of Tough Call and a forthcoming book with 1517.org. For more, head to mattpopovits.com.
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Next 100 Years!
We will explore the songs of Scripture and the hymns of our Lutheran tradition while being mindful of the importance of Camp songs. So, in other words we will take a look at the hits of the past, the songs of the present and imagine what the tunes of the future will look like. We will do lots of singing!
Rev. Ron Glusenkamp is currently serving as the interim senior pastor at Desert Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley, Arizona. In addition to that he is working as a yeastologist and Pretzel Pastor.
Peter Mayer is a singer, songwriter and musician who has toured for years with his own band and also as lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffet. Those years of playing have taken him to many stages, countries, churches, and living rooms. Peter was born in India where his father was a missionary.
Have You Ever Seen a Noun Walk and Talk?
Christian nouns do! The grammar of the Holy Spirit is active. He nudges us, teaches us, and sometimes pulls us into verbalizing our faith. We will explore the ways our stories of faith 1) talk the talk—witnessing verbally; and, 2) walk the walk—through love and service. And yes, Monique will sing!
Rev. Dr. John Arthur Nunes is an author and a Lutheran pastor. He has served as the president of Concordia College New York and as the President and CEO of Lutheran World Relief.
Monique Nunes serves as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coach and as a Student Support Specialist for Concordia University Irvine, California. Monique is known for incorporating her gift of sacred music into teaching and presenting.
John and Monique are based in New York. They have six children and twelve grandchildren.
The Book of Job & The Mystery of Suffering
Believers of all times and places have struggled with the mystery of suffering. If God loves us so much, why does He let bad things happen to us? The Old Testament book of Job has 42 chapters devoted to answering that critical question. Yet, many Christians know little to nothing about the book. These lectures will dig deeply into Job’s story and all that it teaches us as we face life’s struggles today.
Rev. Scott Christenson serves as the Senior Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church & School in Orange, California.
Songs of Summer Remix
Whether sitting on your back deck, cruising down the highway with the windows down, or hitting the beach—what would the hot days of summer be like without great music? Thankfully our amazing God also recognizes the need for a good tune to set the tone for life’s moments. He’s even inspired 150 top hits (Psalms) that form a perfect background track for real life. Get ready to pump up the volume on your relationship with Jesus!
Rev. Marc Schwichtenberg serves as Lead Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church & School in Rochester, Michigan.
Bob Unger is the Director of Worship and Music Ministry at Resurrection Lutheran Church and Schools in Cary, North Carolina.
The Cure of Mercy: Hope in an Anxious Age
Come for a week of bedtime stories, something to help us sleep a bit more soundly in our startlingly anxious age. Anxiety is natural and quite real, but it often leads to needless pain because it submerges us so deeply into worry and fear. Jesus offers us another Way through life by telling us stories of mercy that calm us, encourage us, and draw us back into Hope.
Rev. Dr. Scott Bruzek has been Senior Pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Wheaton, Illinois for 25 years. His preaching, teaching, and writing have focused on the beauty and rhythm of the sacramental life that orbits Christ.
Rev. Dr. Arthur Just has been on the faculty of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, since 1984 as a Professor of Exegetical Theology. He teaches New Testament, liturgics, homiletics, catechetics, and pastoral theology. He also serves the Office of International Mission as Associate Executive Director overseeing global theological education.
Dr. Just’s doctoral thesis, The Ongoing Feast: Table Fellowship and Eschatology at Emmaus, and his two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke for the Concordia Commentary are published. He has also published several other works including the Lukan volume for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Visitation, and Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service. He is currently working on a book entitled Open Eyes in the Breaking of the Bread: Stories of Conversion.
Kevin Hildebrand is Cantor at Concordia Seminary and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, IN.
Cosmopolitan Christianity: Embracing the World, Finding Jesus in the Process
We live in a world defined by diversity and difference. How can Christians not only lean into the miscellany of the modern, globalized world, but embrace and enjoy it? Digging into Scripture, Christian history, and contemporary stories from across global Christianity, Chitwood helps followers of Jesus find their identity in the unrest and recapture a cosmopolitan sense of wonder and neighbor-love in a messy world.
Rev. Dr. Ken Chitwood is a religion scholar, newswriter, and pastor affiliated with the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies at Freie Universität Berlin and the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s “Engaged Spirituality” project. Ken is the author of The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean and numerous articles with publications like Christianity Today and Religion News Service.
Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus
What would it be like for modern Christians to sit down beside Jesus as he explained the Bible to them? What were some of the techniques and approaches to the Scriptures in the first-century Galilee and what if we used those approaches today? Imagine the life-changing insights that might emerge. Dr. Chad will use selected portions of Scripture to expose how a Hebraic perspective allows us to read the Bible again for the first time.
Dr. Chad Yeshayahu Foster is the Lead Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Macomb, MI. Not only is Dr. Foster an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, but he has also received rabbinical ordination.
Dr. Foster has studied in England, France, and Israel, including the Yeshivat Kol HaTor and the Israel Bible Center in Ramat Gan. Not only is Dr. Foster an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, but he has also received rabbinical ordination. The combination of being both Christian and Jewish; of being both a pastor and a rabbi; of being both trained in Christian seminaries and by Orthodox Jewish rabbis; has produced a unique worldview and an ability to have conversations and build bridges.
Rev. Dr. Paul Maier is a bestselling author of fiction & nonfiction and retired Professor of History at Western Michigan University.
Resilient Faith // Finding Strength in Weakness
Do tougher times make tougher people? It’s hard to say. One thing we do know is that tough times require resilience. We haven’t all been in the same boat these past two years, but we’ve all been in the same storm. And our faith is not immune to the damage wrought by the storm. How can we find strength from Christ in moments of struggle, doubt, and weakness?
Rev. Gabe Kasper is Lead Pastor of University Lutheran Chapel in Ann Arbor, MI.
Will there be life after the death of “Christian America”?
We appear to be living through the death throes of “Christian America,” a centuries-old vision of this nation as one with a unique role and destiny in God’s plan. What, now, should we make of that vision and its many legacies in our national life? Is its impending doom best understood as a calamity, an opportunity, or something else altogether? Are we headed straight for wilderness? What might it mean to find God there too?
Dr. Heath W. Carter is an associate professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. His latest book project, entitled On Earth as it is in Heaven: Social Christians and the Fight to End American Inequality, will be published by Oxford University Press.
Unambitious Ambition: Leading Quiet Lives of Faith
We live in a world that is rife with selfish ambition and the ceaseless desire to get ahead. The Scriptures offer an alternative vision: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). During our week together we’ll contemplate this “unambitious ambition” and see how leading quiet lives of faith in Christ can bring deeper peace and satisfaction.
Rev. Dr. Ryan Tinetti is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Arcadia, Michigan. He is also author of the book Preaching by Heart, and co-host with Chip May of the podcast “Campfire Conversations.”
The Wisdom and Hilarity of Humility
“The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility,” wrote TS Eliot, paraphrasing Proverbs 31. Yet humility is not a quality that gets much airtime in our social media-driven age, even among Christians. During our week together, and in tandem with Pastor Tinetti’s presentations, we’ll explore the Bible’s understanding of humility, where it comes from, the way it shapes our lives with Christ, and how it informs our love of God and neighbor. We will also look at the link between this much-needed virtue and the balm of laughter.
David Zahl is the director of Mockingbird Ministries, co-host of the “Mockingcast,” and author of Seculosity and Low Anthropology. He also serves on the staff of Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, VA, where he lives with his wife and three boys.
Wrestling with God: Seeking Blessing in Difficult Biblical Texts
Martin Luther described struggles with hard biblical texts as wrestling matches like ancient Jacob’s with the mysterious night stranger. He refused to let go until he received God’s promised blessing. We will join the practice of this lifelong struggle, beginning with the story of a woman who approached Jesus with the same attitude, the woman whom Jesus called a dog with no claim on his time or gifts.
Rev. Dr. Fred Niedner taught biblical studies in Valparaiso University’s Theology Department for 40 years and currently serves as Senior Research Professor.
Limping with God: Jacob and the Life of Discipleship
Following Jesus feels like limping after God, as Jacob did after his wrestling match with the Lord. We hobble our way through life, beset by weakness. Our discipleship is a messy business. But that’s okay. We follow a Lord who doesn’t pick the pious but calls sinners. In these presentations, we will delve into Jacob’s life, and God’s work in his life, to see how it mirrors Christ’s work in our own.
Chad Bird is a Scholar in Residence at 1517. He is the author of The Christ Key and co-host of the podcast, “40 Minutes in the Old Testament.”
