The North American Luther Forum (also called the North American Forum for Luther Research) was called into existence by Professors James Kittelson of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, and Robert Rosin of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. It was patterned after the Nordic Luther Forum with the collaboration of Carl Axel Aurelius, who was a guest lecturer at Luther Seminary at the time.
The purpose was to provide a context for scholars in the United States and Canada who were engaged in Luther research (rather than the broader areas of research in SCSC and AAR, for example) to gather and discuss mutual interests, exchange research results, and collaborate in projects. A group met first at Luther Seminary in 1999 and then again at Concordia Seminary in 2002. It’s third meeting took place April 28-30, 2006 at Luther Seminary under the sponsorship of that institution.
The group of forty-six participants unanimously favored future meetings, in particular because it provided a welcome forum to develop and test papers in anticipation of other conferences like the International Luther Congress. Since then Concordia Seminary and Luther Seminary have coordinated the organization and hosting of the Forum. It was in St. Louis in 2008 and then in St. Paul in 2011 (in conjunction with the Calvin Studies Society). The subsequent dates were: April 25-27, 2014—St. Louis; April 8-10, 2016—St. Paul; April 5-7, 2019—St. Louis.
The North American Luther Forum 