Good Shepherd Institute 2019

November 10–12, 2019

Open to all, Good Shepherd Institute is an annual conference that focuses on pastoral theology and sacred music. The conference is broken down into main talks alongside sectionals focused on a specific topic, offering attendees the opportunity to choose how they would like to focus their learning. Music is an important aspect of the Good Shepherd Institute; the first two evenings conclude with a special service of music, with regular daily chapel services and other recitals throughout the conference.

This year’s conference will focus on the richness of the Church’s hymnody as “a living tradition and something new,” as the Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel once described it, by acknowledging that living tradition through some significant milestones and identifying how the Church’s song informs our present and guides our future. We will recognize the 400th anniversary of Heinrich Schütz’s Psalms of David with a lecture and demonstration, the 300th anniversary of Isaac Watts’ collection of psalm paraphrases as part of the annual hymn festival, and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jaroslav Vajda during a sectional on his life and work. Plenaries will address hymnody and children, the long-anticipated LSB Companion to the Hymns, and considerations when making choices for what your congregation sings.

Of course, no Good Shepherd Institute would be complete without the annual organ recital, this year performed by Tom Mueller from Concordia University Irvine. Choral Vespers will follow, with the Schola Cantorum presenting Bach Cantata 140, “Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying.”

If you’re a pastor, consider joining us for the 2019 Advent Preaching Workshop immediately after GSI. Details at www.ctsfw.edu/PreachingWorkshop.

If you have registered for Luther Hostel, don’t forget your 50% off discount code!