St. Olaf with the President

On October 10th Luther Seminary President Rick Bliese and I visited St. Olaf College (one of the 28 colleges of the ELCA) in Northfield, MN. The history shared between St. Olaf and Luther Seminary goes back since the beginnings of both institutions. Not only has there been a steady stream of students from St. Olaf to Luther over the years (my father being one), but a few professors as well, especially in the area of missions. President Bliese and I went to celebrate and strengthen this partnership.

We arrived on campus a little early so decided to take a walk around the campus. St. Olaf sits "ooup on a hill" with buildings made of beautiful stone and trees galore. On a fall day the view of campus and beyond is gorgeous; it was a great way to begin our visit—UM YA YA!

The rest of our visit was filled with conversations with a variety of groups in which we shared information about Luther Seminary. We met with the President of the college, David R. Anderson, with students and with faculty. Each conversation was a lively discussion of answering questions and giving a fresh view of a dynamic seminary. President Bliese also had a chance to preach in chapel.

It always feels good to reconnect with old friendships and when we left St. Olaf that is what it felt like. It is the seminary's desire to do more of this reconnecting with other ELCA colleges in the year ahead.

One striking new addition to the St. Olaf campus was a wind turbine. When you first see it you can't help but wonder, "what in the world were they thinking?" But in this day and age of exploring alternative energy sources, what better place to educate future minds of the possibilities than a college campus. This wind turbine (see photo) generates 1/3 of the energy for the campus; it was a gift from Xcel energy. Now that's what I call good stewardship!