Theological symposium to focus on creation

“From the Creation to the New Creation: Seeing All Things in Light of the Entire Story” is the title of the 24th Annual Theological Symposium to be held Sept. 24-25 at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

The symposium will examine the “fragmentation of society” in which people lead isolated lives at work, at home, at church and with family.

“Even the biblical stories we hear on Sunday often are a collection of fragments for many Christians. How do we put the pieces together?” asks a news release about the symposium. The answer “may lie in the recovery of God’s grand story that spans from the first creation to the ‘new creation’ — centered in Christ’s resurrection.”

The symposium will discuss how the “bigger picture” of God’s story can help us as we see how the individual pieces fit together: How do we read and preach the individual texts of Scripture as part of the grand story? How does the church fit into God’s work in the world? How do we live our individual lives of vocation as participants in this story?

Plenary speakers — all of whom are Concordia Seminary professors — and their topics are:

the Rev. Dr. David Schmitt, “God’s Story: Telling it Bigger, Telling it Longer.”

the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, “Christ is Risen: The Beginning of the New Creation.”

the Rev. Dr. Charles Arand, “Back to the Beginning: Creation as Shape and Meaning of the Story.”

the Rev. Dr. Paul Raabe, “‘Daddy, Will Animals be in Heaven?’ The Future New Earth.”

The symposium also will include small-group discussions, question-and-answer sessions with plenary speakers, sectionals and Matins.

Full registration is $130, or $140 after Sept. 6, and includes a buffet reception at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24; daily refreshments; and all materials. Free registration is available for full-time students and faculty of LCMS seminaries and Concordia University System schools. Full-time students from other institutions may register for $30.

For more information or to register, click here.