2026 Creation Conference

Registration

This year's conference has no registration fee, but we request that you indicate your plans to attend. Registration includes a place to sign up for a box lunch on Saturday, for which the cost is $10.00. While we are offering the conference at no cost to you, there is a cost to us of several thousand dollars. Therefore, we are making it optional for you to make a donation to the conference to cover speaker honoraria and travel, website editing, refreshments during breaks, and other incidental expenses. If more is donated than is needed, we will contribute that overage to the Society of Creation Endowment Fund at Concordia University Wisconsin. The earnings from that fund make it possible for us to offer this conference at no charge. If you choose to make a donation or to order a box lunch (sub buffet), 

Click on the link below with www.signupgenius.com to indicate your intention to attend the conference:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044BAEAD22AAFACF8-63234427-conference

Link here to the 2026 Registration Form.

2026 Creation Conference Speakers

Dr. Joel Heck, President, Emeritus, Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Topic: Welcome, "About the Society of Creation"

Dr. Angus Menuge, Professor of Philosophy

Topic: "In Whose Image? The Human Mind Versus AI"

Dr. Michael Young, Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences, Concordia University Wisconsin

Topic: "My Reason and Senses: Creation, Incarnation, and the Image of God"

Dr. Gary Locklair, Professor of Computer Science, Concordia University Wisconsin

Topic: "Positive Creation Evidences"

Mr. Joshua Nelson, Science Department, Wisconsin Lutheran High School

Topics: "Speaking the Truth in Love" and "When Creation is Inverted: Creation, Christianity, and Gender Identity"

Dr. Jeff Tompkins, Research Scientist, Institute for Creation Research

Topics: "Monkey Business in the Chimp Genome" and "Jesus Loves the Little Childrden: Explaining, Red, Yellow, Black and White"

2026 Creation Conference Abstracts

Angus Menuge, Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University Wisconsin

In Whose Image? The Human Mind versus AI

Human beings are created in the image of a triune God.  In the fall, they lost original righteousness, but still retain a special dignity and worth beyond other creatures (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9).  However, materialists argue that there is nothing special about human beings, claiming that human rights are “species-ist” and that human beings are merely organic machines.  They think that recent advances in AI support their claim, and some even argue that it would be better if human beings were replaced by inorganic technology.   In this presentation, I argue that five powers of the human mind show that we are not merely machines.  These powers only make sense if human beings have an immaterial dimension which computers do not possess.  Thus, the materialist view of human beings is false.

Michael Young, PhD

Professor and Chair of Natural Science, Concordia University Wisconsin

“My Reason and Senses: Creation, Incarnation, and the Image of God”

God intentionally created not just the atoms and molecules of our human bodies, but also our reason and all our senses.  Moreover, in the person of Jesus, God himself became an incarnate human, observable by the very human senses he created.  This session will include a case study of senses in the book of Genesis with application to how a Christian understanding of our senses illuminates our relationships with God and the rest of creation and also shapes the vocation of scientist. 

Jeff Tomkins, PhD

Research Scientist, Institute for Creation Research

Monkey Business in the Chimp Genome

Evolutionary scientists say human DNA is 98 to 99% similar to chimpanzee DNA, and they claim this is evidence for human evolution. But is it true? Dr. Tomkins debunks this popular myth and reveals evolution-refuting evidence from his ten-plus years of intensive study directly comparing human and chimpanzee DNA. The DNA evidence clearly shows that humans are not descended from apes and the DNA similarity is much less than evolutionists claim. Instead, we can clearly affirm that humans are fearfully and wonderfully created in God’s image just as Genesis proclaims.

Jesus Loves the Little Children: Explaining Red, Yellow, Black and White

Where do all the people groups come from and are there really different human races? This talk debunks the evolutionary idea of human races started by Charles Darwin and shows how modern genetics and the Bible prove that human diversity connects directly to the Biblical accounts of the creation of man, the global flood, and the confusion of languages and dispersal at the tower of Babel.

Joshua Nelson, MA

Chemistry instructor, Wisconsin Lutheran High School

Gender Identity and Its Feminist Roots: Should Christians Embrace Feminism?

Is Feminism a concept that Christians should embrace? In this presentation, I will argue that feminism and gender identity are related because both challenge the biblical confession of God’s created order, though they do so in different ways. Feminism typically redefines sex-based roles and authority, while gender identity theory separates a person’s inner sense of self from the body God created, and LCMS materials frame both as departures from the “male and female” creational gift. In this presentation, speaker Joshua Nelson will outline the history of feminism, explain the interplay between feminism and gender identity, and seek to discern whether or not Bible-believing Christians should embrace Feminism.  (This presentation is the first in what is intended to be a two part lecture series). 

When Science Is Bent: Speaking the Truth in Love to the Gender Identity Movement 

Throughout the past three decades, an intentional cultural shift has taken place. In this talk, we will address: 

• The importance of discussing current events as Christians

• The roots of the LGBTQ movement and their relationship with God's creation ordinances

• Are Lutheran schools immune? (Can we insulate our children from the world?)

• How we are being attacked (rhetorically/theologically) 

• How might we respond? 

This keynote is structured as an hour-long talk followed by the opportunity for a live Q and A. An additional (optional) sectional will follow to discuss practical applications of God's Word to situations that our young people will find themselves facing. 

Gary Locklair, PhD

Professor of Computer Science, Concordia University Wisconsin

Positive Creation Evidences: Origin of Human Beings

How should we present the evidence for creation to the honest skeptic? The apostle Peter wrote, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). The apostle Paul added, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone” (Phil 4:5). The Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal advised us that in order to show someone his error, you must first acknowledge the aspects of their argument that are correct. While the flaws in evolution are many and easy to share, a sound approach when discussing origins with the honest skeptic is to present positive evidences that affirm God as the creator of human life. When discussing origins, we stive to follow CPR – clarify, present positive evidences, and then refute errors. We will discuss some positive evidences for the creation of human life.