Lutheran Confessions Course

Links:

 

Paul: Justification, Sin, Election and Freewill
Maria: Justification, Law and Gospel, Baptism
Kristi: Justification, Faith and Good Works, Confession and Absolution
Jessica: Justification, The Church, Adiaphora
Nisar: Justification, The Holy Supper, The Ministry and Priesthood of All Believers

 

Course Overview

In fall 2018 the NWWA Candidacy Committee has invited me to teach my “Lutheran Confessions and History Seminar” that I taught at Trinity Lutheran College as a way to meet the candidacy requirements for TEEM candidates (and potentially others in candidacy—case by case).
The class meets on 6 Sunday afternoons from 4-6pm at Central Lutheran Church in Everett:
  • Sept 30th
  • October 14th
  • November 11th
  • November 25th
  • December 16th
  • January 6th

The first and last class sessions will need to be attended in person (if you live in the greater Seattle area), but for the others you can join by Zoom video conferencing if you like (though in person is better).

This is also a good course for students who are in discernment for ministry, considering seminary, for continuing education for pastors or deacons, or for lay leaders who want to dig deep into Lutheran theology. It’s taught at a seminary level, though with a collaborative approach where we use what we know to help one another learn together.  It’s essentially a guiding reading course (like a doctoral seminar), so most of the learning happens as you wrestle with the material outside of class. I’m available as a tutor in between sessions to help you if you get stuck. With Zoom, we may be able to arrange group study sessions as well.
We cover the key Lutheran Confessional documents via theological topics—grace, sin, baptism, etc—which are the core of Lutheran theology. Along the way, the important historical context will be included.  Each student gets to dig deep into one or two that really are of interest to you (or are particularly confusing) and we learn from each other to gain a common understanding.
For each of the topics we ask the following questions (which are the questions on the take-home, open book, open notes, phone a friend exam):
  1. How do Lutherans understand this? (aka What does this mean?)
  2. What are the key theological elements?
  3. Why was this important in the 16th Century context?
  4. Why is (or could) this be important in your context?
The final take-home exam is simply answering those 4 questions for each of the topics in your own words—using whatever resources you need to come up with the answer.
The course fee is $500, which will be covered for TEEM candidates and waived for members of Central Lutheran (thanks for hosting!). Scholarships are available.