The Seminary Explores

Dr. Christianson talks to Stephen Niebler, Executive Director, Adams County Council for Aging about important issues around aging.  How to avoid family conflicts over the right to die as in the cases of Casey Kasem or Terri Schiavo. What to do when you suspect abuse of an older person-- financial, physical, or emotional. The most important local issues that impact on the aging:  transportation, housing, trying to understand complicated forms—in health, banking, Social Security, etc.

What do monks do all day and what is their value in modern society? Is a Protestant, specifically Lutheran monastery a contradiction in terms? Listen to the story of St. Augustine’s House, a Lutheran monastery in Oxford, Michigan and how Father Jude, formerly the Rev. Donald Motaka, found his way there with your host Dr.Christianson.

Listen to the insightful and interesting reflections on the current crisis in the Holy Land from the Rev. Dr. Angela Zimmann, who recently returned from serving at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.

Host Dr. Largen, Pastor Paul Hoffman and art therapist and licensed mental health counselor Donna Linn, talk about the adult faith formation program that was pioneered at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington.  They now travel the country educating Synods, Congregations and Seminary constituencies about that successful program.

Seminarian Lamar Bailey describes his background in public policy to Dr. Largen, and offers a compelling argument for the church to be more involved in the world:  “being a member of a congregation also means being a member of the community.”

Dr. Largen talks to Sara Gyson about her involvement with the community garden on the Gettysburg Seminary campus, and the ways in which a garden can foster a church’s mission in the world, and also strengthen Christian discipleship in ways large and small.

Argentina beyond “Evita”: a bustling nation with a strong professional class, a varied economy (especially agriculture and manufacturing), and exceptional scenery. The younger generation, represented by this team Rotary International team made up of attorney Marinal Ramos, attorney Melisa Cruzat and business administrator Leandro Marquez, is fully aware of the troubles of the distant past but has only experienced democracy and an open society in which women are making themselves felt especially in the field of law.

The Rev. Dr. Ted Peters, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union describes the important difference it makes in our lives when we give up our attempts at self-justification [which often includes scapegoating] and rely on God’s justification.

Dr. Largen Speaks with The Rev. Dr. Cheryl Peterson the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary about what she calls a “spirit-breathed” ecclesiology, describing a new way of understanding the church for the 21st century.