For many clergy and musicians in the ELCA, the training they have received in liturgical theology has been minimal.  Deep thinking about ritual practice, the intersection of music and theology, and how the Gospel of Jesus is proclaimed in the liturgical assembly is always the business of the church, and in an age of rising White Christian Nationalism and unfettered secularism, this work is even more important.  The evangelical catholic tradition of the church offers a counternarrative to these trends, training communities and clergy to make use of the riches already in their midst. 

To this end, the Seminar will gather learning cohorts to examine individual contexts together, enter into conversation about how the liturgy can be supported and expanded in those contexts, to give leaders practical training to do this, and to invite continued learning and thinking about liturgical theology as a framework for the Lutheran tradition.  As a small community of learners, each cohort will study and learn together.  Learning cohorts are appropriate for:
 

• Pastors

• Deacons

• Seminarians

• Church Musicians

• ​Interested Lay Voices

Commitment
​Each cohort will be assembled based upon regional considerations, and will meet online once a month for about two hours.  Participants commit to participating in these online gatherings, reading between gatherings, and examining contexts together, and gathering as a cohort in celebration of what has been learned at the 2027 Seminar.  Each cohort is led by an experienced liturgist who will guide discussion on the texts read, mentor participants, and learn with those who are convened.

Likewise, each cohort will gather twice between now and the second Seminar in August of 2027 to hone practical skills and continue formation together.  Cost: free.