2023 – Built on the Rock
The 13th Corpus Christi Conference
Liepaja, Latvia
24-28 July 2023
We have booked an entire hotel, which adds up to just under 200 beds! Plenty of room for all the conference attendees! Right next door to the hotel is a beautiful confessional Lutheran church, which we plan to use for the services and plenary sessions. Within walking distance of the hotel is a beautiful beach. The city is full of history as well. We will explain more in the coming months. Please pray for the board and the local working group as they work hard to make this year a success.
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2023 Conference Handbook
Corpus Christi Merch
Registration is Now Closed
Payment
Please send payment to our German account (shown below) as soon as possible after registering. This makes it so much easier for our registration team! Also please note that the last day to register for the conference will be 15th of June. Payment is also due by that date at the very latest! If payment is not received by the date above, we may not be able to hold your reservation for the hotel.
Schedule
The conference will start on Monday afternoon. Registration will likely start around 2pm and the Welcome will follow afterwards. We will follow a similar timetable as last year’s schedule, which can be found here.
In addition please note that on Friday the conference will end around noon, however there will be an optional tour or activity of some kind afterwards. Its a great way to get to know people better before saying good bye. Make sure to take that in account when booking your flight.
Please remember you will need to allow for some time to get to and form Liepaja to the airport or ferry port. Riga is about a 3 hour drive from Liepaja. More information about transportation options will be put on the website soon.
Transportation
We welcome you to get familiar with the transportation information below. Here is some information about the possibility of choosing the bus that will be organized for the event to and from the RIX airport:
The bus will depart to Liepaja from RIX airport at around 12:00-12:30 local time (UTC/GMT +3) on 24th of July. The bus will depart back to RIX airport on 28th of July at around 13:00-13:30 local time (UTC/GMT +3), and will be at the airport at around 17:00-17:30. Depending on how many people will want to use this opportunity, the price could vary, and email about that would come later, but the bus price would fall in the price range of 25EUR – 30EUR total for the round trip (if you choose to go by the local bus, it would take more time and be more complicated, but total to around 23-24 EUR total – 1.50 EUR to get to the bus station with the urban bus, and then 8.70EUR + baggage ticket, to get to Liepaja from the bus station, more about the public option below)
Please register yourself for the organized transportation here if you are certain, you will choose it: https://forms.gle/erRMK4A3zFrfLUZt7
Here are the unorganized options of transportation:
To get to Liepaja, first you need to get to the train station or the bus station, there is only 1 bus going from the airport to the center, and it is with the number “22” on it, luckily it is the only one that goes to the airport at all, therefore there is no way to take the wrong one. It is going many times per hour, every 10-15min. The best way to check how to get somewhere is to search for “Riga Bus Station” (or the street name “Prāgas iela 1”) in Google, and then press “directions” – it will show you step by step on how to get there. You would need to buy a ticket that is called “e-talons,” you can do that on the airport’s bus stop machine, it would cost you EUR 1.50 for a 1 time ticket. Or on the “Mobily” app on the phone, on the section “RĪGA.”
You can buy the bus ticket on the bus when you are boarding or in the station, where you would check the departing terminal for the bus. Current bus schedule could vary on summer, but here is the current one below:
Overall, we would encourage you to choose the organized option as it would be a great chance to meet new and fun people right away, and save up time and strength! And the more people will choose it, the price will be closer to 25EUR, which is basically the same as the local regular bus prices. We would appreciate to know your decision sooner rather than later to better the experience and plan ahead! Link to register for it: https://forms.gle/erRMK4A3zFrfLUZt7In case of any questions, be free to let us know! More information about the end price and the payment method will follow closer to the conference, in the meantime enjoy the spring and may God’s peace be with you!
Best wishes, Registration Team
Meet the Speaker
Rev. Jakob Appell
Pastor Jakob will be fresh back in Europe for the Corpus Christi conference after two years of studies in the US, the PhD-program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. He is a pastor in the Mission Province of Sweden and serves on the faculty of Lutheran School of Theology (Församlingsfakulteten) in Gothenburg. Jakob is married to Ingrid, and they have four children (age range 6-12). He has a history in Corpus Christi as well, as one of its founders, its first chairman, and as one of its biggest fans.
More on the Plenary Sessions
Jesus warns us that if our houses are not built on the rock, they will not stand the test of rain, floods, and winds (Matt. 7:24ff.). Many of us feel troubled and anxious about the things going on in Europe at the moment. The war in Ukraine is a nightmare, but the foundations of Western society have been crumbling for decades. The “flood” seems to be here already. It is alarming, but the good news is that it is not (yet) too late to have the house built on the rock (rebuilt, perhaps, for some).A renewed attention to the words of Jesus is the starting point. And it will be the starting point for the plenary sessions at Corpus Christi as well. We will attend to Jesus’ words, specifically through the lenses of the apostle Peter’s life. The name Peter means “rock” and Jesus referred to what Peter had just confessed when he said, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18)Can we see from Peter’s own life what it means to be built on the rock? He certainly had his ups and downs. And what does it mean for the Church to stand safe and protected from the gates of hell, “even when steeples are falling,” as we will be singing in this year’s theme hymn (LSB 645)? What is so important with the confession of Peter, and of all the apostles and prophets? Why is the Lutheran Confession important for us today?
Session 1: The Word
Session 2: The Cross
Session 3: The Church
Venue
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Lielā iela 9, Liepāja, LV-3401, Latvia
Venue
Liepaja University, Lielā iela 14, Liepāja, LV-3401, Latvia
Accommodation
This year we have booked an entire hotel so that everyone can be together. This hotel is close to Holy Trinity Cathedral, which will be used for our services and plenary sessions.
Come and Experience
- Solid, biblical teaching by excellent international speakers
- Rich, liturgical, Christ-centred worship
- Fellowship with an international group of Lutheran young adults
- The Gorgeous city of Liepaja, with its unique architecture and cultural flare
Stay in touch with Corpus Christi through our Facebook Page. Help our organization by becoming a member (annual fee of 10 euros). Additional contributions are always welcome! Send us a message through our contact page or sign up at the conference to become a member.
Presentations
There are three speakers, who will give presentations on individual topics related to our main theme “Built on the Rock – Confessing Christ.” Attendants can choose between three different topics on three different days. Our speakers are Rev. Nathaniel Jensen, Rev. Samuli Siikavirta, and Rev. Tapani Simojoki. At the same time the presentations occur, attendants can also choose to join one of the NYLT sessions, which are targeted at theologians and students of theology. They have a common thread and will be led by Rev. John Bombaro.
Nathaniel Jensen (USA / Germany)
Basic Lutheran Doctrine: Justification
Basic Lutheran Doctrine: The Lord´s Supper
Basic Lutheran Doctrine: Man and Woman
A little more about this series:
This series will give you insights about central Biblical teachings in a basic, yet thorough way. The topics are Justification, the Lord´s Supper, and Man and Woman. These presentations especially targeted at people who are new to the Lutheran faith, who have questions or doubts regarding Lutheran teachings compared with the teachings of other denominations, or who just want to brush up their knowledge and hear a good summary concerning the respective topic.
Samuli Siikavirta (Finland)
Confessing Christ in the Liturgy of the Divine Service
Confessing Christ in Baptism and after Baptism
Confessing Christ in the Prayer Life of the Home
A little more about this series:
Confessing Christ is not just an abstract idea of a ‘confession’ in the heart but something that becomes very concrete in church, at home and in the daily life as a baptised child of God. In these sessions, we shall focus on these three places of confessing Christ. How do we confess Christ in the liturgy of the Divine Service and what does the liturgy of the historic church service teach us every time we go to church? How does Martin Luther’s Small Catechism teach us to confess Christ in the prayer life of the home in the mornings, evenings and at mealtime? Finally, and more broadly, what does the Bible teach us about confessing Christ in our Baptism, when we remember our Baptism and when we return to our Baptism in Confession and Absolution?
Tapani Simojoki (England / Finland)
Confessing Christ to unbelievers and members of other religions
Confessing Christ to Evangelicals and Charismatics
Confessing Christ to Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox
A little more about this series:
Even though Europeans live in a culture profoundly shaped by Christianity, confessing Christians are a small minority in almost every corner of the continent. To many, Christian beliefs seem increasingly strange, and Christians encounter incomprehension and even open hostility. Among Christians, confessional Lutherans who want to remain faithful to the Word of God are a tiny minority of that tiny minority. How do we confess Christ faithfully in this situation? How do we encounter unbelievers, Muslims, and others who reject the Christian faith altogether? How far can we co-operate with other Christians in confessing Christ? How much do different denominations of Christianity matter? What does it mean to confess Christ to Christians from other churches?”
Network of Young Lutheran Theologians (John Bombaro, Czechia / USA)
First Session: “The Start of a Controversy.”
Second Session: “Clarification of Christification.”
Third Session: “Confessing Christification as Evangelical Catholics.”
CONFERENCE DATES
JULY 24TH – JULY 28TH, 2023
MONDAY – FRIDAY