The Symposium for Central Appalachian Lutheran Dogmatics (SCALD) is designed as a day of theological discussion, employing the symposium model. Presenters give papers with discussion of those papers open to all participants. It is about providing an intellectually engaging and profitable opportunity for rank and file clergy and lay theologians (amateur and professional) to test their often private ruminations among those capable of being critical and convivial at the same time.

SCALD III

Finally, after messing around with the pandemic and everything associated with it, we are ready to announce SCALD III!

Yes, that's right friends the Symposium for Central Appalachian Lutheran Dogmatics returns after a four-year hiatus. We convene at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Morgantown, WV, on 9 November 2023, for a day of papers and critical (yet convivial) conversation.

To register, click here. Use the same link to submit a paper proposal.

Papers should be suited to a 20-minute oral presentation followed by 30-40 minutes of Q&A and conversation. As for topic, it is fairly open, but every paper must in some way engage the Lutheran Confessional/dogmatic tradition. If you would like a consultation, contact +Riegel. Proposals should have a working title and abstract. Paper proposals are still be accepted on a rolling submission basis. The following (under their working titles) have been accepted:

• Dr. Chemnitz or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 3rd Use of the Law — Tony Setley
  
• Mist in the Pulpit, Fog in the Pews: A Proposal to Clarify and Enhance Confessional Subscription in the ELCA — Daniel Collins
  
• Disputation on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and the So-called Virtual Communion — Matthew Riegel
  
• Progression or Regression: Hymnody and the Lutheran Faith — Brian McClinton
  

Logistics: There is no registration fee for SCALD. A bucket will be set out for voluntary contributions to defray coffee, etc. Lunch will not be served. Instead, ample time will be given in a lunch break for attendees to hit local eateries of their choice. Feel free to pack a lunch or order delivery if you prefer.

We've set up a SCALD III facebook event. Feel free to join if you are on social media.

Past SCALDs

SCALD II

SCALD II, meeting in Keyser, WV, on 21 Feb 2019, saw a doubling of attendance over SCALD I, with thirty participating, representing six ELCA judicatories (WV-WMD, LSS, Allegheny, MNYS, NC, and Del-MD). There were two non-ELCA folks there (TEC and UCC). There were six laity and twenty-four clergy. One of the lay participants, a seminarian from LSTC, even road the train overnight to attend.

SCALD II papers...

• The Rev. Christine Olson — Ask, Search, Knock. Opened? A Case for a Theology of Prayer in a "Just Do It" World
• The Rev. Brian McClinton — "You mean we can't sing Pass it on in Church": Hymnody and the theological importance in Christian education
• The Rev. Jonathon Jenkins — A (More) Trinitarian Baptism
• Vr. James Demmel — On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Kierkegaard
• Eric Crump, Ph.D. — Shameless - and Mindless: A Proposed ‘Sexual Reformation’ in Need of Enlightenment

In the photo above right, Brian McClinton leads the gathering in singing hymns of the Christian Science tradition as an example of catechetical hymnody.

SCALD I

SCALD I met in Morgantown, WV, in 2017 with fifteen present. While predominantly pastors of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod, we also had a pastor from Lower Susquehanna join us and two priests from the Episcopal Diocese of WV.

SCALD I papers...

• The Rev. Matt Day — Suicide and the Church's Answer: A Theological Primer on the Theology of Suicide and How the Church Should Respond
• The Rev. Elizabeth Leigh Hadaway — The Babylonian Captivity of the Clergy Spouse
• The Rev. Brian McClinton — My Church Council President Is a Montanist: Is That a Problem? -- Brian McClinton
• The Rev. Mike Hadaway — Holding Fast: Ecumenism, the Answer to the Saviors Prayer or a Betrayal of Dogma?
• The Rev. Jerry Kliner — The 95 Theses 500 Years On: What's Settled, What Is Still in Dispute?

BTW, in the photo at upper right is The Rev. Elizabeth Hadaway, at SCALD I, delivering her paper, "The Babylonian Captivity of the Clergy Spouse," a very interesting critique of commonly held ideas about the role of the clergy spouse in light of Augustana XIV, XVI, and XXIII.

Resources

• Book of Concord
• English translation, Triglotta ed. (https://bookofconcord.org/)
• Schmid, Heinrich. The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church., 3rd ed. Charles A. Hay and Henry E. Jacobs, trans. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1899. (https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schmid/theology.html)
• Post-Reformation Digital Library (http://prdl.org/)

Other Opportunities

A wide variety of educational opportunities for both clergy and laity are to be found on the WV-WMD Synod's Education for Clergy & Laity page.