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“Always being made new,” the Campaign for the ELCA to increase the impact of the church in our communities and world, takes on a literal meaning every time a new semester starts at PLTS. Spring semester 2015 has just started. New classes to take, new classes to teach, new worship services to plan, new events to organize, and even new students to meet in the middle of the academic year! And all that newness meant to form and prepare new church leaders of all kinds to impact the new church of the future.
Some may be skeptical of that future. Declining statistics of church membership can certainly contribute to that skepticism. Around here at PLTS, in the classrooms, in the hallways, in the chapel, and in the field where students serve and learn, that skepticism is met face-to-face with the energy, creativity, passion and lived hope of our students, faculty, administrators and staff and partners in ministry.
To contribute to our newness, PLTS is now fully engaged in the new Evangelism and Justice concentration to prepare students to re-new congregations and start new ones, and the faculty has started a process of curricular revision to go even farther to faithfully respond to the new needs of the church. Three faculty searches are underway this semester for new faculty. The search committee and the entire PLTS community are looking for those servants of God who are oriented to the newness to which we’re being called by our church. After all, the church is “always being made new". Thanks be to God for that newness!
 Rev. Dr. Alicia Vargas
Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Multicultural and Contextual Studies
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Norman Kettner
May 22, 1928 to December 29, 2014
 Norm Kettner was born in Wentworth, South Dakota, and spent most of his youth in Buckley, Illinois. When he was considering college (and how he would afford it), he unexpectedly received a full scholarship for Valparaiso University from the Lutheran Laymen’s League, as the representative from west of the Mississippi River. He remained ever grateful for this support, and attempted to pass it on many-fold during his lifetime.
Norm married Joanne Dehmlow of Algonquin, Illinois, in 1951, who became the intended of his heart from their initial meeting. They moved to Salt Lake City thereafter, where they would remain for the rest of their days. Norm received a law degree from the University of Utah. He then served as a clerk for the Utah Supreme Court, becoming assistant Salt Lake City Attorney not too long after. He came to know where all the bodies were buried.
In 1965, Norman went to work for Union Pacific Railroad, where he spent a proud 30-year career representing the railroad’s interests from coast to coast.
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ELCA Dean's Response Letter
On January 17th, 2015, the African-American Presidents and Deans in Theological Education in this country issued in the Huffington Post an "Open letter to Presidents and Deans of Theological Schools in the US".
The Deans of the eight seminaries of the ELCA responded with the following statement:
Our colleagues’ statement was a “call for action in light of the current state of social justice” in the United States, a recognition that even as many things have changed, many things still remain the same: racial oppression and injustice still exist, only in different forms—a prison industrial complex, not plantation slavery, for example—and wearing different masks. The call was broad, and extended to civic leaders, government officials, and indeed “all freedom loving Americans,” asking us to recommit ourselves to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of a beloved community where all citizens experience liberty and justice, not just some.
Our African American sisters and brothers also issued a very particular call to theological school presidents and deans. They wrote, “We invite our colleagues— presidents, deans and leaders of all divinity and theological schools—to arise from the embers of silence and speak up and speak out as the prophet of old, ‘let justice run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream’ (Amos 5:24). We encourage you to endorse this statement by responding in your own particular context to our theological call to action with curricular programs, public forums, teach-ins, calls to your congressional leaders, writing op-ed pieces, and more.”
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Maria Anderson, '14
Article on recent PLTS alum Maria Anderson. Printed in New England Synod Newsletter and excerpted with permission.
 By Andrew Merritt
It isn’t easy for Maria Anderson to explain what she’s doing in Portland, Maine. Brand new ideas are rarely easy to define.
“I’m working on a way to figure out how to describe what this is,” Anderson said. “Part of what I envision it to be is also a place for people who maybe don’t think they believe in God, but want to talk about or find a space with people who care about each other, and then together care about their community. It’s a community of faith, but there’s no prerequisite about what you believe or how you understand your faith in your life."
“That’s where it gets tricky and messy. I’ve been calling it an intentional community, that there will be some intention around their time together. It’s really meant to be a place to ask questions and dig deep, and get to know and support each other in ways, that it’s not about the group but about the larger community. Being important actors or parts of making Portland an even better city. Living the Gospel outside of that tiny community.”
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Celebration of staff member Kyle Schiefelbein successfully defending his doctoral thesis. (Kyle is in the back row left in the teal shirt)
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June 22th-26th, 2015
You are invited to join new and old colleagues in ministry for a Week of Renewal on the PLTS campus in Berkeley. Enjoy classes, worship, stimulating conversation, theological reflection, and restorative time. Most evenings are free and make a perfect opportunity to explore the greater San Francisco Bay area.
Courses offered:
Preaching as a Ministry of the Whole Congregation
Dr. Shauna Hannan, Associate Professor of Homiletics
The Prophetic Ministry: Choice or Imperative?
Dr. Steed Davidson, Associate Professor of Old Testament
Leadership for the Parish: Learning from the World of Management
Instructors from the California Lutheran University’s School of Management: Kapp Johnson, Bonnie Johnson, Bruce Gillies, Veronica Guerrero, and William Gartner
Sin Boldly! Justifying Faith for Fragile and Broken Souls
Dr. Ted Peters, Distinguished Research Professor of Systematic Theology
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February 11, 2015
Special envoy of the Protestant churches in Germany (EKD) with regard to 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.
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March 18, 2015
"Indians, Lutherans, and Decolonizing Creation: Postcolonial Salvation" a presentation by Rev. Dr. George Tinker.
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Rev. Jean Lebbert, MDiv.’92, has written a book with her sister, Janet Venerella. Janet is a licensed practitioner of Religious Sciences. The book is called A Positive Approach: Freeing the Ten Commandments from Negative Language. According to Jean: “In the book we discuss the negative effects of negative language, and then we explore how those effects have affected the interpretation of our cherished moral code, the Decalogue, and how removing the 'nots' from the 'thou shalts' reveals wisdom most relevant for a fulfilling spiritual journey. The book is useful as a teaching text and is also a devotional tool.”
Rev. Paul Nelson, MDiv.’82, is retiring from active parish ministry. He served St. Mark in San Fernando, California, from 1982 to 1987 and Celebration Lutheran in Peoria, Arizona from 1987 to the present.
Rev. Emily Frances Truby-Weller, MDiv. ’14, was ordained on January 31, 2015 at her home congregation, St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Lima, Ohio. She will be serving St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Hicksville, New York (Long Island).
Rev. Todd LaGrange, TEEM ’14, was ordained on January 25, 2015 at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Metairie, Louisiana, where he will serve.
Rev. David Beard, MDiv ’79, has been called to be pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Palm Desert, California.
Rev. Carlton Monroe, MDiv 2011, has been called to be Director of Evangelical Mission in the Sierra Pacific Synod.
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The Prayer Garden of Founders Hall features a statue of St. Francis.
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