October 4, 2004

CHICAGO - About 45 scientists and pastors, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, studied the links between their Christian faith and their vocations and avocations in science and technology. They gathered here Sept. 17-19 for a "Sunday Scientists! Symposium" sponsored by the ELCA Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology.

"The aim was twofold," said Dr. Kevin Powell, a member of the Alliance, symposium organizer and a pediatrician, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "One was to improve how Lutheran congregations relate to science, and the other was on a more personal level," he said.

"For many of these people there's been a conflict between science and religion, and they are people who really want to integrate the two. They feel that what they are doing with their vocation is what God has called them to do," Powell said.

"The symposium was to give people cognitive tools, emotional support and some affirmation from the institutional church that yes, what they are doing is in fact God's calling," he said.

"This was a great opportunity for people to come together to think about what it means to be a scientist and a Christian and how to live this out in their daily lives," said Gail Bucher, retired pharmacologist and chair, ELCA Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology, Belmont, Mass. "It met all of our expectations and probably exceeded them," she said.

The symposium attracted Lutheran pastors, scientists, retired scientists and students, Bucher said. Some pastors were trained in the sciences as well as Christian ethics and congregational dynamics. The scientists represented such fields as astronomy, atomic physics, biochemistry, biotechnology, chemistry, computer science, environmental chemistry, mathematics, meteorology, molecular biology, neuroscience, nuclear chemistry, organizational biology, physics and public health.

Participants came from California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Their ages ranged from early 20s to 80s.

"If nothing else happened, we have now a great network of folks from within the ELCA" who can be a resource for the church and a support system for each other, Bucher said.

The symposium's agenda included worship, lectures, discussions and activities. Speakers included:

. Sarah Fredericks, a doctoral student in science, philosophy and religion, Boston University, Mass.

. Dr. Theodore Hiebert, professor of Old Testament, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago

. The Rev. Antje Jackelen, associate professor of systematic theology, religion and science, and director, Zygon Center for Religion and Science, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

. The Rev. George L. Murphy, ELCA pastor and trained physicist, pastoral associate, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Akron, Ohio, and adjunct faculty, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio

. Dr. Scott Nichols, scientist, Dupont, West Chester, Pa.

. The Rev. Patrick Russell, associate pastor, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Lafayette, Pa.

. Roger Willer, part-time associate for studies, ELCA Division for Church in Society, and doctoral candidate in theology, University of Chicago

Presentation topics included a history of the interaction between science and religion, neuroscience and theology, and genetically modified organisms. Small group discussions dealt with the minimum scientific and theological understandings the modern Christian needs, a Bible of the book of Genesis, and the United Methodist Church's position on science and creation theology.

"George Murphy and Antje Jackelen handled the topic of evolution and creation," Bucher said. "These are very difficult issues for Christians who are scientists to get their heads around" and to explain how creation and evolution can co-exist in the faith life of a Lutheran scientist, she said.

Some of the most interesting speakers were the participants, Powell said. They discussed their experiences in ELCA congregations and gave the Alliance some ideas on how to proceed, he said.

"Our aim is to make congregations friendlier to science so they can understand the world they are living in, which is so profoundly influenced by science," Powell said. "People in the congregations, especially the non-scientists, recognize how much their lives are affected by science, but they can be very frustrated trying to figure out how to impact that change," he said.

Information about the ELCA Alliance for Faith, Science & Technology is at http://www.elca.org/faithandscience/ on the Web.

ELCA News Service