The Gottedienst Conference: Art, Beauty, and Confession

Redeemer Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, IN  May 6-8, 2024 A+D

Registration: $45 until April 15, after that $75. Register at the bottom of THIS PAGE by entering your email and paying via PayPal.

Gottesdienst will host a conference May 6-8, 2024 at Redeemer in Fort Wayne featuring keynote addresses by David Scaer, Ed Riojas, and John Hrehov on art and beauty as theological concepts and needs for the Church’s confession. David Scaer is well known among us. Register with the early bird discount by April 15 for only $45 and save $30. April 16-May 7 registrations are $75. The schedule is given below along with information regarding Riojas and Hrehov. The conference includes 2 dinners and Gemütlichkeits and one lunch.

The Gemütlchkeits are sponsored by LCEF. LCEF offers a number of financial products, but their current rates for rostered church worker mortgages are very competitive. They are also offering great rates on fixed rate investments and liquid accounts. If you’re in the market, look here https://lcef.org/get-started/start-investing/.

Redeemer Lutheran Church is located at 202 W Rudisill, Ft. Wayne, IN 46807.

Edward Riojas received a BFA degree from Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, graduating summa cum laude with a major in drawing and a minor in printmaking. He spent nearly 31 years in the newspaper industry. Riojas has since returned to his fine art roots and works as a full-time artist, creating sacred art for commissions and collaborations with various Lutheran entities. His work can be found in sanctuaries, institutions, private collections, and markets throughout the U.S. and across the globe.

For more information: http://edriojasartist.com/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Edward-Riojas-Artist/100035400236545/ http://theartcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/

John Hrehov holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He is a Professor in the Department of Art and Design, at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). Hrehov has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, including Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; and Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC.

Awards include the 2021 Recharge New Surrealist Prize, created for painters living in the U.S. and U.S. Territories who are working in the New Surrealist Style, Gladys Emerson Cook Prize in the Area of Prints, Drawings, and Pastel, the 167th Annual Exhibition National Academy of Design, NYC, and the Eastman- Bolton Memorial Award, Cleveland Institute of Art. His work has been featured and reviewed in various publications including Art in America, American Artist Magazine, Louisville Courier-Journal, and The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, IN. He is represented by Denise Bibro Fine Arts, Inc. in New York, NY, and Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL. For more information: http://www.johnhrehov.com/

Monday, 6 May 2024
1:30 p.m. Divine Service
2:30 p.m. Conference welcome
2:45 p.m. Session 1 – David Scaer “Beauty as a Theological Category”
4:15 p.m. Break
4:30 p.m. Vespers
5:00-8:00 p.m. Gemütlichkeit and and supper provided

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
8:30 a.m. Matins
9:00 a.m. Coffee and Donuts (undercroft)
9:15 a.m. Session 2 – Edward Riojas “Art, Beauty, and Confession”
10:45 a.m. Session 3 – John Hrehov “Art, Beauty, and Confession – another perspective”
12:15 p.m. Lunch provided
1:00 p.m. Session 4  – Panel Discussion with Riojas and Hrehov
2:15 p.m. Session 5 – Singing Lesson with Jonathan Busarow
3:45 p.m. Vespers
4:30-8:00 p.m. Gemütlichkeit and Supper provided 

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
8:30 a.m. Divine Service
9:00 a.m. Coffee and Donuts
9:15 a.m. Session 6 -Nathaniel Pullmann “The Centrality of Art in Classical Education”
10:30 a.m. Panel Discussion

11:30 a.m. Lunch on your own

“Sacraments, Liturgy, and Mission”

The Saint Mark’s Conference concerns the confessional, sacramental, and liturgical life of the Church of the Augsburg Confession.

The Rev. Paul Gregory Alms will speak on Sacraments and Vocation in Luther’s Lectures on Genesis in two parts. Pastor Alms is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Catonsville, Maryland. He is a graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, having earned Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees there. He has published articles in journals such as Touchstone, First Things Online, Concordia Theological Quarterly, Lutheran Witness, and others. He is married to Suzanne and they have four daughters and two grandchildren.

The Rev. Charles McClean will discuss A Chapter in LCMS History: The Liturgical Society of Saint James. Pastor McClean is a graduate of Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis and has been pastor of Our Saviour since 2013. Pr. McClean has served parishes in Virginia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, among other places. His Master of Sacred Theology thesis, Theological Issues at the Colloquy of Montbeliard 1586, was prepared under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. Arthur Carl Piepkorn. Pastor McClean is editor of The Conduct of the Services.

The The Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel and the Rev. Benjamin Janssen will talk about Service for All People: The Lutheran Liturgy in Mission, Outreach and Catechesis. Dr. Spittel is the senior pastor at First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, PA, having served there since 1998. He received the Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, in 1990 and a dual diploma Doctor of Ministry from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Antiochian House of Studies in 2007. He also serves as President of the Pittsburgh Area Lutheran Ministries, and as Suffragan (Auxiliary) Bishop and Vice-President for the Eastern Region of the English District. Pastor Janssen is called by First Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Pittsburgh, PA to serve Holy Cross Evangelical-Lutheran Chapel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a mission congregation of First Trinity Church and the Pittsburgh Area Lutheran Ministries. In 2023 he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indianna. He and his wife Elizabeth are happily married and keeping busy as they raise their two sons in the Christian faith.

Additionally, we will have:

The Rev. Stephan Gramenz
Pastor of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Christ the King
Pawling, New York
Preacher at Divine Service

Rev. Roy Axel Coats
Pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
Baltimore, Maryland
Preacher at Divine Service

Rev. Benjamin Hertel
Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church and St. John’s Lutheran Church
Accident, Maryland
Preacher at Vespers

The Rev. Brian Westgate
Pastor of Saint Paul’s Church, Kouts, Indiana
Conference Organist

The Saint Mark’s Conference concerns the confessional, sacramental, and liturgical life of the Church of the Augsburg Confession. It is hosted by Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Maryland and is open to interested clergy and laity.

https://www.oursaviourbaltimore.org/conference/