Concordia launches Two Kingdoms Network, names Moulds first director

Concordia University, Nebraska has launched the Two Kingdoms Network, a think tank and course content source updated weekly at twokingdoms.cune.edu. The Network’s focus is on exploring the distinctively Lutheran paradigm of the two kingdoms in ways applicable to Christian teaching where the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the world’s institutions of higher education intersect.

The Network is intended to assist with prompting positive and engaging reflection and discussion about Lutheran higher education in the context of the two kingdoms themes framed by Martin Luther and the other Wittenberg Reformers in the 16th century.

Concordia Professor of Education and Psychology Dr. Russell Moulds, the Two Kingdoms Network’s first director, has been researching, analyzing and writing about the two kingdoms doctrine for 15 years. He says learning about the two kingdoms doctrine is central to effectively providing a Lutheran, Christ-centered education.

Moulds explains that God is running not one but two kingdoms: “This essential Biblical theme is, at first, puzzling. We are familiar with thinking about Christ's coming kingdom of grace as the kingdom of God (His right-hand kingdom). But Scripture also affirms creation as God's realm, a kingdom which is His province and in which he is doing His work (His left-hand kingdom).”

In a summary essay available on the website, Moulds notes that the doctrine “provides a powerful analytic tool. It enables the church’s teaching ministry to consider simultaneously the world and its current conditions as well as the impact of the Gospel's promises not just for us personally but for all creation—and not just for the future but for the world's conditions now.”

The Network provides an assortment of current news items, examples for teaching, essays, Biblical texts, online articles and other resources that promote and discuss Lutheran identity and the teaching heritage of the Lutheran church. The resources assist with strategies for curriculum development and apply Reformation insights to education for the church and world. They also provide course content examples and cases for a two kingdoms analysis and other theological intersections.

Several examples of online resources include:

• Key Reformation insights and applications with several bibliographies, both introductory and advanced, are on the Lutheran Tradition page.
• Examples specific to subject areas and disciplines are available on the Content Areas page.
• A Resources page includes access to more than 20 standard religion-and-culture sources. Issues in Christian Education, Concordia’s publication that explores questions of interest related to the educational mission of the church, is one resource available on that page, as well as at issues.cune.edu.

There is no cost to access materials on the website. In addition, a number of Concordia faculty members are available to serve as speakers on the above and related topics.

Since 2013, Moulds has led Table Talks at Concordia University, Nebraska. At these interactive faculty and staff gatherings, Moulds focuses the conversation on practices and policies addressing various aspects of Lutheran and Christian higher education. Under Moulds’ guidance, faculty and staff discuss and deliberate the Reformation’s practical insights about the Gospel, such as the doctrine of vocation, the ethics of Christian liberty and the theology of the cross and the application of those insights to the church’s teaching ministry in the framework of both God’s left-hand and right-hand kingdoms.

“The doctrine of the two kingdoms provides a distinct and practical understanding of the Gospel that can inform instruction and education across all topics and disciplines,” said Concordia President Rev. Dr. Brian Friedrich. “Our prayer is that the Two Kingdoms Network becomes a valuable resource for all who seek to better understand our Lutheran doctrine and practice and how it intersects with higher education and instructional opportunities within the Lutheran church.”

The Two Kingdoms Network is made possible thanks to an initial funding grant from the Wayne J. and Wanda M. Lillich Charitable Foundation of Lincoln, Nebraska.

“My parents, Wayne and Wanda Lillich, supported Lutheran education for as long as I can remember. During their lives they chose to support Concordia University in ways that directly impacted the lives of the school’s students, faculty and staff,” said Jeanné M. Lillich, current president of foundation. “The Foundation trustees considered the Two Kingdoms Network an extension of Wayne’s and Wanda’s charitable goals, as well as an opportunity to support the creation of models that will help sustain the Lutheran tradition in education for Concordia University along with other educational institutions.”

Moulds and Concordia University, Nebraska express deep appreciation for the support of this foundation.