TheoRush, 3-30-2007
The Western Mission Cluster (WMC) which is a partnership between Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) and Luther Seminary (LS) was recently given a million dollar grant from the Lilly Foundation. The grant covers a myriad of initiatives to enhance the recruitment of prospective students, for both seminaries, covering a full range of demographics: high school age, college age, second career, all ethic groups, new Americans and persons whose primary language is other than English. The target geography is regions one, two and three of the ELCA.
TheoRush is one such initiative for high school age students and was held this past weekend on the campus of Luther Seminary in conjunction with a multisynodical Sr. High Youth Gathering taking place in downtown St. Paul. A total of 65 youth attended.
The intent of TheoRush is, over a three hour period of time, to allow high schoolers to dive deeply into the scriptures in a way they have never experienced before and by so giving them the experience and skills to be young theologians. It was to be a "theological rush" like one gets not from doing something quickly but from doing something extreme, edgy, powerful. And it was. I overheard one youth say, "It was the best part of the whole weekend."
Once on campus the high schoolers were introduced to the primary teacher for TheoRush, Rolf Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at LS, who lead them through a text from the book of Amos.
After Prof. Jacobson's introduction to the text, the students moved into small groups lead by seminarians. Together the group learned how to research a text and then was given individual time and resources to do so.
Snack break!
Then back to the text with Prof. Jacobson, unpacking what the students had learned in their small groups and what that contributed to interpreting the text from Amos.
Our time together ended with worship lead by seminarians, one of whom preached on the text for the day.
Before loading the buses and heading back to the hotel for the rest of the Youth Gathering, the participants entered a drawing to win a study Bible, a gift and resource for future engagement in the scriptures.
TheoRush was a great success and I am excited about leading other events like this across regions one, two and three of the ELCA. So if you are a high school student, a youth minister or pastor and would like more information on where events like this will be taking place, please contact me. One such event might be coming to an area near you.
TheoRush is one such initiative for high school age students and was held this past weekend on the campus of Luther Seminary in conjunction with a multisynodical Sr. High Youth Gathering taking place in downtown St. Paul. A total of 65 youth attended.
The intent of TheoRush is, over a three hour period of time, to allow high schoolers to dive deeply into the scriptures in a way they have never experienced before and by so giving them the experience and skills to be young theologians. It was to be a "theological rush" like one gets not from doing something quickly but from doing something extreme, edgy, powerful. And it was. I overheard one youth say, "It was the best part of the whole weekend."
Once on campus the high schoolers were introduced to the primary teacher for TheoRush, Rolf Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at LS, who lead them through a text from the book of Amos.
After Prof. Jacobson's introduction to the text, the students moved into small groups lead by seminarians. Together the group learned how to research a text and then was given individual time and resources to do so.Snack break!
Then back to the text with Prof. Jacobson, unpacking what the students had learned in their small groups and what that contributed to interpreting the text from Amos.
Our time together ended with worship lead by seminarians, one of whom preached on the text for the day.Before loading the buses and heading back to the hotel for the rest of the Youth Gathering, the participants entered a drawing to win a study Bible, a gift and resource for future engagement in the scriptures.
TheoRush was a great success and I am excited about leading other events like this across regions one, two and three of the ELCA. So if you are a high school student, a youth minister or pastor and would like more information on where events like this will be taking place, please contact me. One such event might be coming to an area near you.
posted by Liza at 1:37 PM
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