Then, von Trebra will participate in several Sunday events April 28 at the church, 621 N. Lincoln Ave. These events include an adult Sunday school panel discussion from 9:15-10:15 a.m., then a worship service at 10:30 a.m., and finally a public lecture in the sanctuary from 3-4 p.m. Von Trebra will preach at the morning worship service.

All events are free and open to the public.

The symposium is inspired and funded by Clyde Sachtleben, Hastings College emeritus professor of physics, and is named after Sachtleben and his colleague, the late Carl Throckmorton, who taught mathematics and physics at the college from 1963-95.

According to a news release from Hastings College announcing the upcoming events, Sachtleben taught about the big bang theory and the origins of the universe in his physics and astronomy courses at the college.

Students at the private liberal arts college, which has been affiliated with Presbyterian Church bodies since its inception in 1882, sometimes would question how the scientific consensus that Earth is 4.5 billion years old can be reconciled with the biblical story of creation.

Sachtleben said he took great joy in explaining how he perceives that faith and science are complementary, and how the hand of God could be at work not only in the unfolding of the cosmos, but also in the study of science by humanity on a planet just the right distance from the sun to sustain human life.

“Stemming from those delightful conversations as a professor, Dr. Sachtleben has established the Sachtleben/Throckmorton Faith and Science Symposium,” said the Rev. Greg Allen-Pickett, senior pastor at FPC, a member of the Hastings College Board of Trustees, and a member of the symposium steering committee. “The hope is that this will be an annual event that will bring in a speaker that can reflect on the positive intersection of faith and science.”

Sachtleben taught at Hastings College full time from 1960-2001, most of that time as chairman of the physics department. He continued to teach part time until 2017, when he was 80 years old. The Hastings College Sachtleben Observatory is named in his honor.

Throckmorton, who came to Hastings College after teaching at Hastings High School, collaborated with Sachtleben in building the physics department over more than three decades. He died in 2013 at age 83.

Von Trebra, originally from Wisconsin, earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1984. He worked as a research scientist at Hoechst Celanese Corp. before entering Chicago Theological Seminary.

He was ordained to the ministry for the United Church of Christ in 1996, then served as pastor of a suburban Chicago congregation for 19 years before beginning interim ministry.

Allen-Pickett said von Trebra is known for bringing warmth and compassion to his ministry through contemplative prayer.

“In his lectures at the symposium, Dr. von Trebra will share his own journey that led him to careers in both science and the church, and will talk about how God has woven together faith and science in beautiful and creative ways in our lives and the world,” Allen-Pickett said.

Symposium steering committee members in addition to Sachtleben and Allen-Pickett include Amanda Solem, HC professor of biology; Dorothy Dean, HC professor of religion; the Rev. Damen Jensen-Heitmann, associate pastor of FPC; Dan Deffenbaugh, associate dean of arts and sciences at Central Community College and scholar in residence at FPC; and Rich Lloyd, president of Hastings College.