The Hein-Fry Lecture Series

The annual Hein-Fry Lecture Series, the premier endowed theological lectureship of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, identifies key theological issues facing the church and offers lectures that stimulate inquiry and discussion of those issues not only at the eight ELCA seminaries but throughout the church. Learn more.

Hearing the Word!

In August 2007, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved a major initiative entitled Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible. This initiative has the goal of "raising to a new level this church's individual and collective engagement with the Bible and its teaching, yielding greater biblical fluency and a more profound appreciation of Lutheran principles and approaches for the use of Scripture." In a desire to participate in the advancement of the ELCA's Book of Faith initiative, the Hein-Fry Planning Committee has developed a three-year sequence for the Hein-Fry Lectures entitled “Hearing the Word.”

The specific topics for this three-year sequence are:
 2009 – "Hearing the Word: Lutheran Perspectives on Biblical Interpretation"
 2010 – "Hearing the Word: Teaching the Bible in the Parish (and Beyond)"
 2011 – "Hearing the Word: Lutherans Read the Bible with the Ecumenical World" 

The topic in 2011 will address global and ecumenical approaches to biblical interpretation. The Bible is not an exclusive word and those who share in its messages are related to one another, whether we want to be or not.  Other Christians around the world have positive ways of experiencing the Bible that Lutherans can learn from and Lutherans have an opportunity to share their experiences of the Bible with those around the world. Hein-Fry in 2011 will give us an opportunity to enter into dialogue with a variety of Christians outside U.S. Lutheranism about engaging the Bible through global and ecumenical perspectives.

Learn more Hearing the Word: Lutheran Perspectives on Biblical Interpretation