All Christian theology and film aficionados should mark their calendars for the inaugural Faith and Film Festival presented by Concordia Seminary, St. Louis Jan. 23-25, 2020.

The festival will feature 40 hours of enthralling screenings and challenging discussions led by theologians and film experts. Throughout the festival, attendees will ponder and explore Christian themes in contemporary cinema and develop eyes to see film in new ways.

Festival attendees will get to view up to five films out of a total of 11 presented, each with its own discussion moderator. Film titles will be revealed on the event’s first day. Continuing Education credits are available.

“The Faith and Film Festival, or as I like to call it, ‘Sundance meets Symposium,’ is the kind of annual offering that I hope will be a game changer for how we think about lifelong learning,” said Erika Bennett, the Seminary’s director of Continuing Education. “Together, we’ll hunker down for 40 wintery hours, watch back-to-back-to-back movies, and engage in rich, sometimes challenging, conversation with professors, subject matter experts and others who are ready to tear down the wall between the church and the culture in perfect trust that the Creator of all our stories will be in our midst to guide us.”
Presenters and speakers include:

• Heather Choate Davis, L.A.-based writer, speaker and Master of Arts in theology graduate from Concordia University, Irvine, Calif.
• Dr. Philip Hohle, author of The Filmmaker’s Prayer and Lenses and co-creator of the course “Cinema and Religion” at Concordia University Texas, Austin
• Rev. Joel Kurz, essayist and poet who serves as pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Warrensburg, Mo.
• Rev. David Lewis, assistant professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary and author of the essay “Cinema and the American Mind”
• Abby Olcese, Kansas City-based writer and film critic
• Dr. Timothy Saleska, professor of Exegetical Theology and the dean of Ministerial Formation at Concordia Seminary
• Dr. Travis Scholl, managing editor of theological publications at Concordia Seminary and author of Walking the Labyrinth
• Rev. Jacob Wampfler, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Topeka, Kan., and co-host of the Cinema Bros podcast
• Dr. Michael Zeigler, The Lutheran Hour Speaker

The festival hours are 6 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23; 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24; and 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.

The festival is an adult-only, limited-seating event. Registration is $100 and includes Friday lunch and dinner. The deadline to register is Jan. 10, 2020. On-campus housing is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Learn more and register at csl.edu/faith-and-film. For more information, contact Continuing Education at 314-505-7286 or [email protected].

About Concordia Seminary

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.