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St. Michael's Conference 2015

St. Michael's Liturgical Conference 2015

"Liturgical Renewal in Missouri" - This eighteenth annual St. Michael Liturgical Conference will focus on the liturgical renewal movement, and its impact on the Holy Liturgy in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

2015 Keynote Address: "Liturgical Renewal in Missouri" - The Rev. Dr. Charles Evanson, keynote presenter at the first St. Michael Liturgical Conference in 1997, returns for our 18th anniversary to discuss the history and development of liturgical worship in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Fr. Evanson's presentation will include important figures and organizations, as well as trends in the development of our liturgical practice. He will also address the state of the liturgical practice in Missouri today.

Q & A with Fr. Evanson & Panel Discussion - Fr. Mark Braden, Pastor of Zion, will facilitate a Q & A period during which conference attendees can interact with Fr. Evanson on his keynote presentation.

A panel discussion on the Holy Liturgy by this years' presenters, joined by several distinguished guests and select Gottesdienst editors, will follow the Q&A with Fr. Evanson. Questions from Conference attendees will be answered and discussed by the panel.

Workshops: The Liturgical Contributions of Walter E. Buszin & Robert D. Preus - Dr. Reuning will discuss the liturgical contributions of Walter E. Buszin, Musician and Theologian, who was the first musician in the Missouri Synod to set the historic Introits to Gregorian chant tones. Dr. Eckardt will discuss the contributions of Dr. Robert D. Preus, President of CTS, to a robust revival of Confessional Lutheranism, and the resultant rediscovery of the Lutheran liturgical heritage.

Our 2015 Conference Presenters:

The Reverend Dr. Charles Evanson holds degrees from Valparaiso University and from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Fr. Evanson has served as Pastor of four Lutheran congregations in the U.S. and Canada, including Redeemer, Fort Wayne. He served as secretary of the Liturgical Texts and Music Committee during the preparation of Lutheran Worship, and as the Secretary of the LC-MS Commission on Worship. He is a member of the Faculty of Evangelical Theology in the University of Klaipeda, Lithuania; Guest Lecturer in the Luther Academy, Riga, Latvia; has taught at the Seminary of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Concordia Seminary ; Concordia Theological Seminary, and has presented at numerous theological conferences in Europe, Central Asia, and Scandinavia.

The Reverend Dr. Daniel Reuning is Kantor and Church Musician at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, and an emeritus member of the faculty of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, where he served as Dean of Chapel for 31 years. He holds a Doctorate in Musicology from the University of Illinois, a Masters degree in Sacred Music and Liturgy from Union Theological Seminary, and the M. Div. from Concordia Seminary St. Louis. Dr. Reuning is the Director of the Fort Wayne Bach Collegium, now in its thirteenth season.

The Reverend Dr. Burnell Eckardt is Pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Kewanee, Illinois. He received the Ph.D. from Marquette University and the S.T.M. from Concordia Theological Seminary. Fr. Eckardt is editor of Gottesdienst: A Quarterly Journal of the Evangelical-Lutheran Liturgy, and author of Every Day Will I Bless Thee: Meditations for the Daily Office and The New Testament in His Blood: A Study of the Holy Liturgy of the Christian Church.

Panel Discussion - This year's Conference features a Panel Discussion on the Holy Liturgy by the Conference Presenters, joined by several distinguished theologians and select Editors of Gottesdienst magazine.