DOXOLOGY Anniversary Conference
Concordia University, Wisconsin
November 17-18, 2023
In a post-Christian world, the intersection of Christian sexuality and contemporary culture requires well-informed and vital discussion. This conference, Courageous Conversations: Christian Responses to the Cultural Wreckage of Sexuality, will examine how Christians can effectively understand, affirm, and lead a life of faithful sexuality in the face of an increasingly hostile sexual revolution culture. Biblical and Natural Law perspectives will be offered, equipping Christians to confidently address modern misconceptions and challenges with colleagues, family, and friends.
Dr. Brian German, Assistant Professor of Theology at CUW, will present through Song of Solomon God’s beautiful design of human sexuality. Renowned author and speaker Dr. Ryan T. Anderson will demonstrate through natural law the necessity of male-female marriage and the cultural challenges that face us so that we might be better equipped to speak truth courageously and winsomely in these gray and latter days. Dr. Beverly Yahnke, DOXOLOGY’s Executive Director for Christian Counsel, will address what we need to know to respond knowledgeably to assist children who are considering becoming transgender. Pastor Matthew Wurm, a DOXOLOGY Collegium Fellow, will speak from his experience meeting with and providing care to the families of LGBT souls. Dr. Beverly Yahnke will equip attendees with communication and interpersonal insights for engaging in difficult conversations with family, friends, and congregants.
1. Dr. Brian German — The Song of Songs
Dr. Brian German, Associate Professor of Theology at Concordia University Wisconsin, reads the Song of Songs as a scriptural resource for confessional engagement with sexuality and marriage, arguing the book operates simultaneously as a depiction of Christ and the church, a theology of Christian marriage, and pastoral instruction for those entering either estate. The lecture moves through three sections: a confession of what marriage is (grounded in Solomon and the Shulamite’s dialogue, the centrality of vows, and the bracketing of physical intimacy by pledges), a defense of marriage against cultural opposition (the watchmen and daughters of Jerusalem as figures for ongoing hostility), and instruction about sexual order (the Shulamite’s adjuration not to awaken love before its time). German draws on the history of biblical interpretation, Hebrew wordplay, tabernacle allusions, and Luther’s wedding sermon throughout. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
2. Dr. Ryan T. Anderson — Making the Case for Man-Woman Marriage
Dr. Ryan T. Anderson makes the philosophical case for man-woman marriage after Obergefell, arguing that Christians have no more reason to treat that ruling as settled law than Roe, which the Supreme Court reversed in Dobbs. He develops the conjugal account of marriage as a comprehensive union — of bodies, minds, and souls, ordered to the procreation and rearing of children, and calling for permanent and sexually exclusive commitment — over against the revisionist view that grounds marriage in emotional intensity alone. He then argues why the state has any interest in marriage at all, tracing the social costs of fatherlessness and the ways a redefinition connects to non-marital childbearing, abortion, and the reproductive technologies used to create “a child of our own.” Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
3. Dr. Ryan T. Anderson — Beyond Religious Liberty Being Heard Today
Ryan Anderson argues that “religious liberty” is an insufficient frame for Christians engaged in cultural and legal disputes over sexuality, marriage, and the unborn. The lecture traces why religious liberty matters but cannot address unjust laws themselves, non-religious victims of the sexual revolution, or the deeper anthropological disagreements at stake. Anderson identifies three historical causes of the current moment, the marginalization of institutional religion, the expansion of the regulatory state, and the displacement of a chastity ethic by consent-only sexual morality, and closes by calling Christians to advocate for just laws grounded in natural law, drawing on Madison, King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Pope Benedict’s remark that holiness and beauty win converts where arguments alone cannot. The session includes an audience Q&A covering transgender litigation prospects, the Finland Päivi Räsänen case, and free speech culture on university campuses. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
4. Dr. Beverly Yahnke — Caring for the Transgender Child
Dr. Beverly Yahnke addresses pastoral workers and educators on gender dysphoria in children, drawing on research by Dr. Michelle Cretella and Dr. Lisa Littman to argue that gender dysphoria is pathology, that affirming care causes harm, and that 88-98% of gender-confused children accept their biological sex after puberty without intervention. The session covers the three-stage medical transition pathway (puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgery), the social contagion pattern among adolescent girls, and the theological grounding in creation and baptism. Practical guidance focuses on watchful waiting, Lutheran Family and Children’s Services referrals, and pastoral care for parents under pressure to affirm. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
5. Rev. Matthew Wurm — Care for Families with LGBT Members
Rev. Matthew Wurm of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Brookings, South Dakota, describes practical parish soul care for families with LGBT members, drawing on cases from his own ministry. He grounds care in the divine service as the place where God gives identity and forgiveness, works through resources from Christopher Yuan and Preston Sprinkle, and traces the Gnostic roots of contemporary gender ideology from Peter Jones. He closes with a model for a congregational support group he calls STILL (Speaking Truth in Love). Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
6. Dr. Beverly Yahnke — GPS Essentials for Travel through Demanding Conversations
Dr. Beverly Yahnke walks through the anatomy of difficult conversations about sexuality, gender, and transgender issues, addressing parents, pastors, teachers, and administrators. The session covers post-COVID relational hostility, the ego-driven derailment of conversation, how to set realistic goals, and how to build trust before speaking. Concrete guidance covers what to ask school principals about curriculum and what to say to medical providers operating under gender-affirming care mandates. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
7. Courageous Conversations, Friday
This is a Vespers service opening the Courageous Conversations 2023 conference on sexuality. The service includes two lessons, Genesis 1:26-28 and Revelation 12:7-17, followed by a sermon that argues the devil’s assault on marriage, fertility, and children is not a cultural novelty but the continuation of his enmity against the seed of the woman announced in Genesis 3:15. The sermon traces the devil’s hatred of human procreation from the sixth day of creation through Herod’s slaughter, abortion, and gender-transition interventions, locating all of it in Satan’s failure to devour the Christ child. The congregation is assured of victory over the devil through three means drawn from Revelation 12: the Word of God, the blood of the Lamb, and not loving one’s life unto death. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →
8. Courageous Conversations, Saturday
A Saturday evening vespers service from the Courageous Conversations 2023 conference, with a sermon on John 20:24-29. The preacher argues that Thomas is not a doubter but the courageous disciple who, unlike the ten locked inside for fear, was outside searching for the risen Christ. Two applications follow: the eight-day standoff among the disciples models staying together across disagreement, and Jesus showing Thomas his wounded body grounds the church’s engagement with sexuality in the resurrection of the flesh, not in any evasion of embodiment. Watch the lecture and read the transcript →