The annual Festival Choral Eucharist for Reformation Service will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28, in Weaver Chapel, featuring The Rev. Dr. Craig Alan Satterlee, Bishop of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as the 2018-2019 Wittenberg Series continues. Music for the event begins at 7 p.m. with performances by the Wittenberg Choir and the Wittenberg Handbell Choir.

A liturgical scholar, homiletician, and teacher of preaching and worship, Satterlee was installed as bishop of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in September 2013.

Following his ordination in 1987, Satterlee served congregations in New York, Michigan, and Illinois. For the last 14 years, he has taught theology at numerous seminaries and at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, and the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg. From 2009-2013, he served as the Axel Jacob and Gerda Maria (Swanson) Carlson Professor of Homiletics at LSTC.

A prolific writer, Satterlee is the author of eight books and dozens of articles in scholarly and ecclesiastical journals. His academic interests include the relationship of preaching and areas of congregational life and mission, including liturgy, spirituality, stewardship, mission, and leadership. Legally blind, he also has a special interest in ministry to persons with disabilities.

Two of Satterlee’s books, Preaching and Stewardship: Proclaiming God’s Invitation to Grow and When God Speaks through Change, have been recognized by the Congregational Resource Guide as best resources for congregations. According to his biography, his books have been described as “superb examples of practical theology, remaining fully theological while engaging on-the-ground realities in the life of the church.”

Committed to sharing his expertise in homiletics, as well as his unique perspective as a legally blind member of the Church, Satterlee regularly presents at conferences and continuing education events around the country. A past president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, he is also a member of the Academy of Homiletics, Societas Liturgica, and Societas Homiletica.

Satterlee holds a doctorate in liturgical history and homiletics and an M.A. in liturgical studies and homiletics from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) and M.Div. from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and a B.A. in political science and rhetoric from the University of Michigan.

Now in its 36th year, the Wittenberg Series brings distinguished lecturers and performing artists of national and international prominence to the Wittenberg campus and Springfield community. To make special arrangements, request a Series poster, or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact Lisa Watson at WatsonL4@wittenberg.edu. All Wittenberg Series events are free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each lecture or performance. Below are further details related to this year’s Series.

2018-2019 Wittenberg Series Events:

• Wednesday, Nov. 7: Fred R. Leventhal Family Lecture, 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel featuring Seth M. Siegel, New York Times best-selling author of Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution to a Water-Starved World. Q & A, 4 p.m., Bayley Auditorium.
• Friday, Dec. 7: Lessons and Carols, 7:30 p.m. (pre-service music begins at 7 p.m.), Weaver Chapel.
• Monday, Jan. 21, 2019: Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, 11:15 a.m., Weaver Chapel, featuring Adam Foss, criminal justice reform advocate. Q & A, 2:45 p.m., 105 Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning.
• Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019: Vocal concert featuring South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, 7:30 p.m., Weaver Chapel.
• Wednesday, March 13, 2019: William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture in History, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Fenn on “Sacagawea’s Capture and the History of the Early West.”
• Wednesday, March 27, 2019: IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium, featuring John Dovidio, author, Yale psychology professor, and leading researcher on aversive racism. Colloquium, 4 p.m., Bayley Auditorium.

For more information on the Wittenberg Series, click here.