A Conference Exploring Hermeneutics, Text and Culture
READING
TWO
TEXTS
June 10 - 11, 2025
WHEN /
June 10 - 11, 2025
About the Conference /
Join us for an insightful conference focused on the connections between God's Word and our local contexts in God's World.
This event is designed to explore edgy topics, deepen our understandings, and foster open, safe, and meaningful discussions.
WHERE /
St. Mary of the Lake Conference Center
Mundelein, IL
Details /
Retreat and reflect in the quiet, calm, and sacred surroundings on the edge of breathtaking St. Mary's Lake. Amenities include an on-campus meeting hall, overnight lodging for guests, and meals with a hosted happy hour.
Rev. Dr. Dieter Reinstorf
Featured Guest Speaker
Former bishop (2010-2023) of the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA). His academic expertise is New Testament and Hermeneutics, and he has served as a research associate of the Department of New Testament Studies in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria.
He will speak on interpretive issues related to understanding Galatians 3:26-28 within the context of South Africa, especially in the aftermath of Apartheid.
Dr. Gary Phillips
Featured Guest Speaker
Gary A. Phillips is the Edgar H. Evans Professor of Religion emeritus and Dean of the College emeritus at Wabash College. His scholarship centers on ethics of interpretation and the Bible’s relationship to Western aesthetics, particularly the artwork of Holocaust survivor Samuel Bak.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Phillips will lead participants in an “exegesis” of the Holocaust art of Samuel Bak and the hermeneutical issues related to interpretation of visual texts, providing an entrée into a theoretical consideration of post-structuralism and its insights into the role of authors, the nature of texts, and the challenge of ethical interpretation.
ARTWORK of SAMUEL BAK
Rev. Dr. Jeff Kloha
Featured Guest Speaker
Jeff Kloha has served as provost and professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and the Chief Curatorial Officer at Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. His areas of expertise include the Pauline epistles and the manuscripts of the New Testament.
Using the work of H.-G. Gadamer, he will explore the movement from text into context within a theological framework of the Christocentricity and authority of Scripture and our post-Christian context. Particular attention will be given to culturally “problematic passages,” such as those on wealth, love, and humility.
