Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary is proud to announce that Rev. Jon Vieker will be the major presenter for a Festive Convocation in honour of the 200th birthday of C. F. W. Walther. Rev. Vieker is the Senior Assistant to the President of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and a noted expert on the early hymnals of the LCMS.
The Convocation, which focusses on Walther’s work as hymn-writer and hymnal editor, will begin with a hymn festival on the evening of Sunday, 23 October, 7:00pm. The hymn festival will be enhanced by the music of Resurrection Lutheran Choir under the direction of Dianne Humann, and is open to all comers at no cost.
On Monday, 24 October, Pastor Vieker will illustrate and explain Walther’s role as editor of the first (German) hymnal of the LCMS, and show how this early core of hymnody carried through into the English hymnals of our mother synod. Monday’s events run from 9:00am till 4:30pm. Through the assistance of the David and Natalie Appelt Fund, the registration cost has been kept to $25.
Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (25 October 1811–7 May 1887), the father of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, served as its first president from 1847 to 1850 and then again from 1864 to 1878. In 1839 he emigrated from Saxony, Germany, with other Lutherans, who settled in Missouri. He served as pastor of several congregations in St. Louis, founded Concordia Seminary, and in 1847 was instrumental in the formation of the LCMS (then called the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States), the mother of Lutheran Church–Canada. Walther worked tirelessly to promote confessional Lutheran teaching and doctrinal agreement among all Lutherans in North America. He was a prolific writer and speaker. Among his most influential works are Church and Ministry, Pastoral Theology, and The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel.
Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary 