Active rostered ministers, synod authorized ministers (SAMs), interns, and lay professionals from the three Iowa ELCA synods are invited to the 2025 Tri-Synod Fall Theological Conference set for Sept. 29-30 at Faith Lutheran in Clive.
The conference begins 1:30 p.m. Monday and concludes Tuesday afternoon, with opportunities for worship, learning, fellowship, and connection with ministry partners across the three Iowa synods. An optional pre-gathering time is available beginning the evening of Sept. 28.
The Rev. Dr. Tamás Fabiny, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH), will be the keynote speaker. Fabiny was elected bishop of the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary in 2005 and in 2017 was elected presiding bishop of the ELCH. He also serves as a vice president for Central and Eastern Europe of the Lutheran World Federation and is a New Testament scholar with eight published books.
Bishop Fabiny will share how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary has adapted through three distinct periods in its history in order to speak and live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
- The Counter-Reformation
- Under two different dictatorships (Nazi and Soviet occupations)
- The Present Day — defined by populism, intolerance, and refugee crisis around the world
