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Join us for the Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium

Augsburg University’s Christensen Symposium will feature the esteemed Dr. Brian Bantum next week, Oct. 5 from 11:00am-12:00pm. Please join us either in the Hoversten Chapel at Augsburg or via livestream (register to attend online through this link.) His talk is titled, “All Things Are New: The Language of Our Life in the Face of Empire.”
Brian Bantum, PhD, writes, speaks, and teaches on identity, racial imagination, creating spaces of justice, and the intersection of theology and embodiment for audiences around the United States. He is a  contributing editor of The Christian Century and is the author of “Redeeming Mulatto: A Theology of Race and Christian Hybridity,” “The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial  World,”  and  “Choosing Us: Marriage and Mutual Flourishing in a World of Difference,” which he co-authored with his spouse, Gail Song Bantum.

Rooted and Open

Grounding your community in core beliefs, branching out into the unknown

This post is intended to share resources with those who participated in our workshop on February 5, 2021 at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza. In this post you will find:

  1. Notes taken during our workshop on 02/05/2021
  2. The video played at the beginning of our workshop
  3. A lesson plan to use in your home congregation
  4. The videos containing our partner congregations’ stories

Black and white sketch of tree and tree roots

Workshop Description

Core theological convictions should not be walls that prevent engagement with our neighbors. Instead, they can provide a blueprint for change and engagement across differences. This workshop helps participants identify core theological convictions and imagine they can be held loosely to allow for creative change in a shifting context. Case studies from congregations involved in Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub will help us see how this can be done.

It is important to acknowledge the title of this workshop is inspired by a document that has become very important to our work. “Rooted and Open: The Common Calling of ELCA Colleges and Universities” lays out a vision for the ELCA colleges and universities as institutions rooted in the Lutheran tradition and boldly open to a changing world. We think it’s worth the read and can serve as another case study of how to hold tradition loosely in a way that generates innovation for the sake of the world.

Key Take-away

Clarity on what your core theological convictions are and ideas for how these convictions can help them think theologically about ministry and creative change in a shifting context.

Continue reading “Rooted and Open”

2014 ACYTI Journal

The 2014 Augsburg College Youth Theology Institute (ACYTI) Journal has been published!

participants of the augsburg youth theology gather around a font posing for the camera
2014 ACYTI Participants

This year’s ACYTI was an intense week of friendship, classroom learning, worship, solitude, contemplation, discernment, and action on Augsburg’s urban campus for high school students from around the country interested in theology.

Students participated in hands on learning with classroom discussion both at Augsburg and sites throughout the Twin Cities. At the end of their week-long journey they reflected on what they took away from the week and wrote an essay.

This year’s theme was OMC! Christian Community in the Internet Age and focused on the impact of technology on the Christian Community. Take some time and read what current high school students are learning from Augsburg’s intellectual and diverse community experience!

Upcoming Christensen Symposium with Nadia Bolz-Weber

Nadia Bolz Weber headshotWe have less than two weeks to go until the annual Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium with Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber: The spirituality of being a total screw-up.

The day will involve Nadia’s presentation from 10:00am-11:00am in Hoversten Chapel. It is free and open to the public!

Learn more about it through StepUP’s blog post about the Symposium.

Augsburg Students – is a career in ministry in your future?

Join us for a special Q&A session for Augsburg students with Nadia Bolz-Weber.

Wednesday, Oct. 1
3:30-4:30pm
Oren Gateway 113

Ask questions of Nadia such as, “What is your advice for those of us considering careers in ministry?” Bring your own questions and be ready for good conversation!