The Revd Dr Robin Steinke, of Selwyn College, President of Luther Seminary, St Paul Minnesota, will preach the Hulsean Sermon on 'Faith Formation with a Fragmented, Fearful World' in Great St Mary's, the University Church, at 11.15 a.m. on Sunday, 24 February.
Focussed on 'The Truth and Excellence of Revealed Religion, or the Evidence of Christianity' the Hulsean Sermon originates in the will of John Hulse, of St John's College, who died in 1790.
A native of Minnesota, Robin Steinke has been President and Professor of Systematic Theology at Luther since 2014 and is the first woman to hold the post. After undergraduate study at Augustana University, majoring in music, she was a Middle School Band Director before working in finance with American Express. Recommencing study at the Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio, she obtained Masters degrees in Divinity and Sacred Theology before working for her doctorate in Cambridge and writing on the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In 1999 she received her PhD and was ordained as an Associate Pastor in Annandale, Virginia. That year she joined the staff of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, first as a Lecturer in Ethics and ultimately as Dean and Professor of Theological Ethics and Public Life before her move to St Paul and Luther.
Representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on the Lutheran World Federation Council, Robin Steinke chairs the Committee on Theology and Ecumenical Relations of the Federation Executive and is President of the World Federation Endowment Fund. She has published and lectured widely on church leadership, on vision, principles and strategies in mission, on the Gospels and creeds, on public conversation about ethics and theology and on formation. She retains an active interest in music as a brass-player.
All are welcome and there will be a drinks reception afterwards. Members of the University attending should wear their gowns.