Gettysburg, PA

I am in Gettysburg, PA for the annual meeting of the ELCA Seminary Admissions staff people. The location of the meeting rotates from seminary to seminary and this year it is being held at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, PA of all things. Whose claim to fame, by the way, is that more people have died on the campus of this seminary then any other ELCA seminary (probably ANY seminary for that matter, let’s hope). For those of you who are a little concerned at the moment and have just temporary forgotten your American history, a major Civil War battle (more men died here than in any other battle fought in North America) was fought in Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) and the seminary sits on a portion of that field.



Speaking of the battle field, I had an opportunity this afternoon to visit there. It is a National Park. My visit was a fascinating and yet very humbling experience. But before I get to that I did began the morning by going to church.

Two of my colleagues and I attended St. James Lutheran and had the opportunity to celebrate with them through the preached Word and through Holy Communion. After worship we had the pleasure of meeting the two pastors of the congregation as well as two members who are professors at Gettysburg Seminary (see picture: back row left to right: Prof. Nelson Strobert, Christian Education; Pastor Michael Allwein; Pastor Lois Van Orden; Prof. Gerald Christianson, Church History; front row left to right: Me, Shelley Allen, Associate Director of Admissions Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary; Louise Johnson, Associate Director of Admissions at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia). It was a wonderful worshiping experience.

Back to the battlefield: I did the self-guided auto tour that took almost two hours to complete. The tour takes you geographically day by day through the battle allowing you to stop at key areas along the way. One of the things that fascinated me the most is how much of a role geography played in the executing of this battle. It was basically fought between two ridges (Seminary Ridge & Cemetery Ridge) with the killing taking place in the valley between as each army advanced. There are also all kinds of monuments along the tour, most honoring brigades from different states. I was hoping to find the Minnesota monument, and I did.



The Minnesota contingent, though small (262 men), played a key role in holding back the Confederate Army so the Union Army could regroup and reinforce, but it was also at a huge sacrifice (only 47 survived).

The tour ended at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, which was dedicated on November 19, 1863. President Abraham Lincoln was asked to attend the dedication and to make "a few appropriate remarks." What was spoken by him that day later became known as the Gettysburg Address. Powerful stuff!

Our annual meeting began this evening, and will continue through Tuesday. I look forward to our collaborative work and also cherish time with colleagues.

I want to end on a personal note. The day before leaving on this trip (Friday, September 30 at 10 PM), I got engaged. Yes, I know it is hard to believe with all this traveling I do that I find time to date. His name is John Okan. He is a recent graduate of Luther Seminary and on September 1st began his first call in Northern Minnesota; he was ordained on September 17th (see picture). And in case you are wondering, yes he did indeed get down on one knee and even got prior permission from my father. Isn’t that sweet?!