Augustana College, Nov. 14

I met with the Koinonia group on the campus of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD yesterday (see photo). This group gathers to explore the topic of vocations in ministry and I was invited to share the “top ten things every first year seminarian at Luther Seminary should know.” This is my list (drum roll please):

#10. Discernment of a person’s call does not end when they step foot on the campus of the seminary for study.

#9. Luther Seminary offers the following degrees:
- Master of Divinity (MDiv)
- Master of Arts (MA)
- Master of Sacred Music (MSM)
- Master of Theology (MTh)
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

#8. Candidacy: The churchwide process of formation and preparation for professional “rostered” leadership in the ELCA. There are four rosters:
- Ministry of Word and Sacrament: ordained to serve in parish ministry as a pastor.
- Diaconal Ministry: consecrated for ministry of word and service.
- Deaconess: a community of women consecrated for a ministry of word and service.
- Associate in Ministry: commissioned to nurture the whole people of God by providing ministries of leadership and support.

#7. Studies at Luther Seminary are academically rigorous.

#6. Studies at Luther Seminary are theologically challenging.

#5. You will read and write A LOT.

#4. Luther Seminary is a “laboratory” for Lutheranism. You will find all expressions of ELCA congregational life represented. Also, Luther Seminary has a large and diverse faculty.

#3. Technology: Our campus is entirely wireless, communications from faculty and staff to student through this medium is highly used and classrooms are multimedia ready.

#2. You will create colleagues for life among your classmates and relationships with staff and faculty that will continue to be of support when you leave campus.

#1. The Finish Bistro located in the village near the seminary has the best snicker-doodle cookies in all the Twin Cities.

My thanks to Pastor Paul Rohde, campus pastor, for the "top ten" idea and the opportunity to meet and share with this wonderful group; it was a delight.

Tri-Ota, Nov. 10-11

Tri-Ota is the name of the Lutheran Student Movement (LSM) organization for Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) programs in MinnesOTA, North DakOTA and South DakOTA. This past weekend I attended their annual fall retreat in Aberdeen, SD sponsored by the LCM of Northern State University (NSU).

The theme of the event was “Taking Sunday to Monday.” And one of the ways that theme was played out for participants was through round table discussions. Professors and staff from NSU met with young adults in two 45-minute sessions to discuss how they lives out their faith in their professional and daily lives. I, too, was asked to participate in these discussions, and enjoyed sharing my own story as well as hearing about ways others feel they are living out their faith, and what challenges they face (see photo). These are remarkable young people and just by them being at this retreat gives testimony to the priority their faith has in their lives.

Many of the students participated in my small group because they are discerning whether or not seminary study is in their future. Three young people in particular shared the common experience of having others affirm for them that a vocation in ministry is something they should consider and they didn’t dismiss the suggestion. Good for them! And thank you to those who spoke to these young people and let them know that “God could use someone like them.”

Below are some random photos I took of the retreat so you can see the fine young people I spent part of my weekend with. You will notice a number of the young people have swords in a few of the pictures. Let me explain this inside joke: One of the former retreats adopted a "pirate" theme and it stuck. So everytime someone says "Tri-Ota" everyone says "Arrr!" And whichever school brings the most young people to a retreat gets to keep the swords for the year. Bemidji State (home of the Mighty Beavers) has wielded the swords for two retreats now--Arrr!

View from Vining, Voting Festivities

There are 47 registered voters in the town of Vining and at 10:30 AM on Nov. 7th I was #10. After picking up the mail at the post office my husband, John, the dog, Allie and I headed over to the Vining Community Center to cast our vote (Allie had to wait outside).

We were met by three of our neighbors Mabel, Addy, and Brian who are the election officials and after following due process got our ballot.

I headed over to the electronic voting machine, while my husband chose to do his by hand. Though voting electronically takes a bit more time, it was a lot more fun. After completing our civic duties Allie and I dropped John off at the church, to go back to work and we headed home, so I could get back to work.

That evening we were on the road to Staples, MN for the annual Election Day Lutefisk and Meatball Supper held at Faith Lutheran Church. Lutefisk, in case you don’t know, is stockfish (air-dried whitefish) prepared in lye. Some people refer to it as a “Scandinavian delicacy.” I am sure many of you who are familiar with lutefisk will find that description rather funny. I do not eat it (even though it was served at every Christmas Eve meal), but my husband does and apparently 700+ others attending the supper that night do as well.Because it has a rather strong odor when being cooked, the good folks at Faith Lutheran decided to fix it in a fish house (how appropriate) behind the church. They will cook 500 lbs. of lutefisk that night; amazing. All-in-all it was a good Voting Day and today I found out that most of those I voted for got elected.

Western Washington University, Nov. 1

Our last stop in our Washington State visits was Western Washington University in Bellingham. My colleagues and I had opportunity to share a meal, worship and fellowship with the Lutheran Campus Ministry group and their campus pastor Chris Berry (see photo).



We met with two young men who are strongly feeling the call to ordained ministry, one of those being a former youth of my husbands. My husband served his internship in Mt. Vernon, WA and this young man was a member of his parish.

The students we met at W. WA U were just a delight. Their commitment to their faith was genuine and their hospitability outstanding. Thanks Pastor Chris and the group for welcoming us into your midst; it was truly a pleasure.

Seattle University (SU), Oct. 31

Because the closest ELCA seminary to Seattle is either Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) in Berkeley, CA or Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN many students choose to study at Seattle University, especially those students who need to remain in the Seattle area for family or career reasons.

Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry offers a variety of degrees in Christian ministry including a Master of Divinity. My colleagues (Heather McClintock, Wartburg Seminary and Greg Schaefer, PLTS) and I met with ELCA students studying at SU in the Master of Divinity degree program and prospective students wishing to do the same thing at Faith Lutheran Church in Seattle. Pastor Nancy Winder, a pastor at Faith, is working with these students and with the candidacy committees of SW and NW Washington synods to help facilitate these students' progress toward ordination. (See photo of my colleagues and me with Pastor Nancy and one of nine students we met, Gretchen, outside of Faith.)

ELCA policy states that students who obtain their Master of Divinity degree at an institution that is not an ELCA seminary must do one year of study, their “Lutheran year,” at an ELCA seminary. So my colleagues and I met with these students to discuss the option of doing their “Lutheran year” at ours or any of the ELCA seminaries.

I am grateful for the educational option that Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry provides for these students and the commitment of these institutions to train ministry leaders of all Christian denominations. My colleagues and I had the opportunity to meet with Mark Taylor, the Acting Dean of the School of Theology and Ministry, and also Jack Olive, the Interim Associate Dean for Ecumenical Relations and to speak with them about this important partnership.

My hat goes off to the students we met and their desire to heed God’s call to ministry. They often have to seek more creative ways to answer that call than many students who live closer to, or are able to relocate to one of the ELCA seminaries. As one student put it, “It is hard to keep momentum sometimes.” And I pray that the ELCA, candidacy committees and the seminaries work as hard as they can to assist them in this process.

Puget Sound Luther Volunteer Corps, Oct. 30

Once again it was a privilege to meet some of the young adults serving in Lutheran Volunteer Corps (www.lutheranvolunteercorps.org) in the Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. (I was with last year's volunteers as well, see post for Nov. 2, 2005.) These young people choose to spend an entire year, following college, working as volunteers in a whole host of ministries.



For example one young lady I met does art with homeless teens at various shelters around the city of Seattle. A young man is working with Lutheran Public Policy of Washington State (www.lppow.org) lobbying on behalf of the ELCA on state wide initiatives. He also happens to be working with an intern from Luther Seminary as well. A young lady is with a newly formed group (many of whom are ELCA clergy) called Kairos (www.kairosaction.org) who, as the information on their web sight declares “were drawn together by a common concern: to explore how we might respond to the anguish we each felt regarding the direction our nation has been pursuing in recent years.” This organization just had their public launching on Nov. 1. Others I met are working with a “meals-on-wheels” program for people suffering from AIDS, and a men’s homeless shelter.

The ministry these young people are doing embodies Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Every day they go out and meet the needs of those on the margins of society and in so doing become the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus to others.

Lord God, I give thanks for these young people and their commitment to the ministry of which you have called them. Give them and the organizations of which they work the resources and wisdom they need to fulfill their purpose. I pray for their leader, Lisa Bakke, as she cares for them. May they truly know that what they are doing does and is making a difference in this world for the better. Amen.