On The Line

Join us at St. John's Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, as we rediscover the treasures of confessional Lutheranism, explore why beauty, truth, and order still matter, and confront what’s lost when the Church trades her birthright for the fashions of the age. About Today’s Guest Rev. Evan Scamman is the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Greenwich, Conn, and a leading voice for the reco...

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we recover a biblical vision of politics, family, and freedom—exploring how God orders nations and households, why secular neutrality is a myth, and how Christians can live publicly and courageously in the world without compromising their faith. About Today’s Guest Dr. Jared Longshore is a pastor and theologian whose teaching focuses on political theology, covenant, an...

Join us at Concordia University Wisconsin as we wrestle with the philosophy of mind, the challenge of materialism, and the promise and peril of new technologies—from AI to transhumanism—and ask what it means to be truly human in light of God’s design. About Today’s Guest Dr. Angus Menuge is a professor of philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he has taught for over three decades. Bor...

Join us at St. John's Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin, as we talk about resilience in the pastoral life, the discipline of daily habits, and the courage to face adversity—not as exceptions to the Christian life, but as God’s very means of shaping His people for faithfulness and strength. About Today’s Guest: Rev. Jason Braaten is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tuscola, Illinois, a...

Join us at Concordia University Wisconsin as we enter a conversation that refuses to leave Christ as a vague center-point, but insists on Him as the very logic of theology, worship, and the Church itself. From liturgy to sacrament, from ontology to imagination, Dr. John Bombaro calls us to see Christ not as an idea, but as the living One who gives Himself wholly to His bride. About Today’s Guest D...

Join us in Moscow, Idaho, as we confront the shifting ground of culture and politics, consider what it means for Christ to be Lord over nations, and ask how households, churches, and schools can stand firm against the forces unraveling our common life. About Today’s Guest Pastor Doug Wilson has served Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, for over four decades and is a leading voice in classical Christi...

Join us at the long table as we trace the story of education from the Reformation to today, uncover how classical models form character and cultivate virtue, and ask what it means to recover wisdom, truth, and beauty in a modern age of confusion. About Today’s Guest Dr. Susan Mobley is a professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin, where she has taught since 1998. A historian of educati...

Join us at the long table as we open our debate series with a pressing question for the Church: What does it mean to speak of “Christian nationalism,” and how should Lutherans think about Christendom, the state, and our public witness in a fractured world? About Today’s Guests Dr. Joel Biermann has served for over two decades as professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, wh...

Join us at the long table as we reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing confessional Lutheranism today, from sustaining faithful congregations in rural America to building institutions that serve future generations of the Church. About Today’s Guest Rev. John Hill is president of the Wyoming District of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a longtime parish pastor. With decades of pas...

Join us at the long table as we explore the Lutheran confessional revival of the nineteenth century, uncover the lives and thought of its key theologians, and consider what their witness offers the Church today in an age of doctrinal confusion and historical amnesia About Today’s Guest: Dr. James Ambrose Lee II is a church historian and theologian specializing in the nineteenth-century confessiona...

Join us at the long table as we take an unflinching look at the numbers shaping the future of Lutheranism—and consider how honesty, clarity, and confessional faithfulness can guide the Church through challenge and change. About Today’s Guest Rev. Tim Wood is a pastor and data analyst serving the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with a rare blend of theological conviction and statistical insight. Wit...

Join us at the long table as we question the official story, explore the rise of conspiracy thinking, and ask how Christians can remain anchored in truth and humility while navigating a world of collapsing narratives and contested realities. About Today’s Guest Rev. Willie Grills is an LCMS pastor and co-host of A Brief History of Power, where he brings historical insight and pastoral clarity to b...

Join us at the long table as we recover the moral imagination, rediscover the wisdom of the ancients, and explore how story—rooted in truth, beauty, and goodness—forms the heart and mind for Christian living in an age of fragmentation. About Today’s Guest Dr. Louis Markos is a professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University, where he teaches classical literature, Chri...

Join us at the long table as we explore how stories shape the Christian imagination, from the parables of Christ to the poetry of Tolkien, where beauty, suffering, virtue, and vocation meet in the narrative of redemption. About Today’s Guest Rev. Jacob Benson is director of admissions and assistant professor of humanities at Luther Classical College in Casper, Wyoming. Ordained in 2019, he previou...

Join us at the long table as we dig into what it means to be wholly citizens of both heaven and earth, recover a robust Lutheran ethic, and consider how virtue, identity, and vocation shape Christian witness in a fragmented age. About Today’s Guest Rev. Dr. Joel Biermann is professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and one of the LCMS’s leading voices on vocation, virtue...

Join us at the long table as we trace the roots of Christian tradition, wrestle with the legacy of the Church Fathers, and recover a vision of doctrine, discipline, and ministry shaped by the clarity and strangeness of the early Church. Dr. James Lee is a scholar of historical theology and teaches Church History and Religious Studies at Concordia University Chicago, where his courses range from Ch...

Join us at the long table as we confront the seven deadly sins not just as abstract categories, but as real spiritual threats—and explore how humility, gratitude, and daily repentance lead us toward the virtues that shape faithful Christian life. Rev. Dr. David H. Petersen has served as Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since 2000. A graduate of Central Michigan University...

Rev. Dr. David H. Petersen has served as Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, since 2000. A graduate of Central Michigan University and Concordia Theological Seminary (M.Div., S.T.M., D.Min.), he is known for his deep commitment to the Church’s liturgical and theological heritage. Dr. Petersen is a contributing editor for Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy, teaches...

Rev. Dr. Christian Preus is pastor of Mount Hope Lutheran Church in Casper, Wyoming, and Chairman of the Board of Regents for Luther Classical College. He holds a Ph. D. in Classics from the University of Iowa and an M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. A scholar and translator, his works include Philip Melanchthon’s Loci Communes 1521 and contributions to Luther’s Works. Dr....

Rev. Dr. Jamison J. Hardy is a former district president in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and a member of the President of the Concordia University System. A lifelong Lutheran, Hardy was born in Bay City, Michigan, and attended Lutheran schools before earning his bachelor’s degree from Concordia University Wisconsin and his M.Div. from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. He brings p...

About Today’s Guest Dr. Joel P. Okamoto is the Waldemar and Mary Griesbach Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he has served on the faculty since 1998. A former MIT graduate turned theologian, he brings rigorous thought to questions of truth, Christian witness, and systematic theology in a post-Christian world. His writing explores the intersection of faith, Am...

Caleb Keith is a Lutheran theologian and podcast producer at 1517, where he serves as the voice behind The Thinking Fellows and Outlaw God podcasts and oversees the 1517 Podcast Network. He graduated summa cum laude as an Honors Scholar from Concordia University Irvine and holds an MA in systematic and philosophical theology from the University of Nottingham. In 2018, he published a translation of...

Rev. Dr. Joel C. Elowsky is Professor of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he also directs the Center for the Study of Early Christian Texts. A leading scholar of the early church, African Christianity, and patristic exegesis, Elowsky has edited and authored numerous works, including volumes in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and Ancient Christian Texts seri...

Dr. Larry Sanger is a philosopher, technologist, and co-founder of Wikipedia, one of the world's most widely used reference platforms. He holds a Ph. D. in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and has spent his career shaping the landscape of online knowledge and advocating for decentralization, transparency, and intellectual freedom. In recent years, Sanger experienced a profound shift...

Dr. Larry Sanger is a philosopher, technologist, and co-founder of Wikipedia, one of the world's most widely used reference platforms. He holds a Ph. D. in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and has spent his career shaping the landscape of online knowledge and advocating for decentralization, transparency, and intellectual freedom. In recent years, Sanger experienced a profound shift...