The spring adult faith formation class on systematic theology, “Introduction to Fundamentals of Christian Theology to Serve God’s Mission in the 21st Century,” will be held on six consecutive Saturdays starting April 11 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The first session of this course will be held in person at Peace Lutheran Church, 2800 West Jefferson Street, Springfield. The remaining sessions will be online via Zoom.
Presented by the Rev. Dr. Winston Persaud, the primary focus of this course in systematic theology will be an introduction to fundamentals of the Christ faith: theological non-negotiables, grounded in Scripture, Creeds, and the Confessions. Given that in the words of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, we confess, “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church …,” the approach will be Lutheran and ecumenical, and it will give intimations to participants that faithful witness to Jesus Christ means being aware of and learning about the diversity of the world in Scripture and in our own immediate and the wider communities. Participants will be asked to reflect on the church’s confession that God is eternally Triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
About the presenter: The Rev. Dr. Winston D. Persaud is retired professor of systematic theology at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. He is a graduate of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (Ph. D., 1980), Wartburg Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity, 1977), and the University of Guyana (B.A., 1974). He is a native of Guyana, where he served his home congregation, Redeemer Lutheran Church, prior to joining the Wartburg faculty in February 1984. His teaching and research are focused on defining and confessing the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world of religious and non-religious alternatives. He seeks to speak of God’s justifying grace in and through Jesus Christ in a way that makes the technical language of Scripture and the Confessions connect with the questions people are asking.