About the conference

Seventh Annual Lutheran Studies Conference at PLU – Thursday, September 28, 2017

The conference will focus on the liberating and reforming role singing has played in the Protestant tradition.

Presenters include:

  • Dr. David Cherwien, Director of the National Lutheran Choir, who will lecture on Luther’s use of vocal music in the Reformation and the Lutheran tradition of choral music.
  • Dr. Steven Newby, composer, conductor, gospel/jazz vocalist and professor at Seattle Pacific University, who will speak on the role gospel music in African American theology, history and liberation movements.
  • Dr. Richard Nance, Director of the Choir of the West at Pacific Lutheran University, will present on the unique and influential history of choral music in our Lutheran colleges and universities in the United States.
  • The PLU Choir of the West will join us for a Hymn Festival in Lagerquist Concert hall, led by Paul Tegels, University Organist at PLU, featuring song and narrative about influential music in the Lutheran tradition.
  • Conference participants will have an opportunity to observe a joint rehearsal of PLU’s Choir of the West and the National Lutheran Choir from Minneapolis, Minn.

Past Conferences

The annual Lutheran Studies Conference provides an opportunity for the university, the larger community, and persons from diverse religious and humanistic viewpoints to explore particular and pressing issues within the thoughtful and generous milieu of Lutheran higher education. Each conference welcomes scholars, artists, and religious leaders whose expertise is offered in an engaging and thought-provoking manner. Past conferences have been devoted to the limited gift of water (2011), political commitments (2012), the figure of Jesus of Nazareth (2013), justice in society (2014), the legacy and future of Jewish-Christian relations (2015), and perspective on racial justice (2016).

As a university of the church, PLU promotes the 500 year Lutheran tradition of asking difficult questions, welcoming opposing viewpoints in civil conversation, nurturing a community of intellectual charity, and challenging students, alumni, and friends to promote a just, peaceful, and sustainable way of life for all, not just the privileged few.