Returning in 2027
Following an inaugural year met with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, Preaching the Paradox: A Festival of Lutheran Proclamation returns for a second year. We invite returning participants and new voices to step away from the weekly grind and into a week shaped by worship, conversation, and shared reflection on the strange and life-giving work of proclaiming the gospel.
Daily worship and preaching in the seminary chapel anchor our time together, grounding us again in the paradox we preach: law and gospel, death and resurrection, despair and promise. Practical workshops and conversations with fellow preachers offer space to wrestle with challenging texts, explore fresh approaches, and bring new questions to a shared calling.
Whether you joined us last year or are discovering the festival for the first time, whether you’re preparing your first sermons or have preached for decades, there’s a place for you here. Come to renew your imagination, deepen your trust in the gospel, and hear the promise you’re so often called to proclaim. God is still at work through the proclamation of the Gospel, and preachers need to hear that good news, too.
2026 Preachers
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Vandiver
Senior Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Capitol Hill, DC
The Rev. Heidi Neumark
Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Kingston. NY
The Rev. Leila M. Ortiz
Pastoral Theologian in Residence at Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan
The Rev. Carrie Ballenger
Pastor at University Lutheran Church, Cambridge, MA and Lutheran chaplain at Harvard University
The Rev. Henry J. Langknecht, Th.D.
Retired ELCA Pastor and Teaching Theologian
Dean Teresa Smallwood
Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Public Theology at ULS
The Rev. Sarah Garrett Krey
Pastor of Gloria Dei! Lutheran Church, Arnold, MD
Deacon Julie Stecker
Director of Youth and Family Ministry at First Lutheran Church in Ellicott City, MD
2026 Workshop Leaders
Professor of Theology & Ethics, United Lutheran Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Nelson Rivera
Preaching Creation
Digital Pastor/ Curator of Anam Cara Digital Community, North Carolina
The Rev. Tuhina Verma Rasche
Preaching Paradox: Conflict, Resolution, and Reconciliation
Gladfelter Professor of Biblical Studies at United Lutheran Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Mark Vitalis Hoffman
Words Matter Translation, Theology, Preaching
ELCA Director for Theological Diversity and Ecumenical & Inter-Religious Engagement
The Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos
Topic: Welcome the Stranger
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Manager for Academics for the Sankofa Theological Center for African Studies of the ELCA
The Rev. Dr. Beverly R. Wallace, Ph.D.
“When Bodies and Unimaginative Practices Collide” - Understanding the Praxis of Proclamation for a Womanist Perspective
Doctoral candidate at Duke Divinity School, Durham NC
The Rev. Victoria Larson
Preaching the Whole Liturgy
Pastor at The Table: Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry in Baltimore
The Rev. Kelsey Green
Topic: How to reach the next generation
The Stuempfle-Folkemer Professor of Homiletics and Pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Conshohocken, PA
The Rev. Dr. Karyn L. Wiseman
The Sermon Pivot
Asst. Prof. of Old Testament / Hebrew Bible, Sewanee: The University of the South, School of Theology
The Rev. Reed Carlson, Th.D.
Preaching Spirits and Demons in the Lectionary
Senior Pastor at St. Martin's Lutheran Church, Annapolis, MD
The Rev. Micah Krey
Preaching the Narrative Context