Public church is something we're still in the process of defining at LSTC.

Yesterday I received the ELCA World Hunger's 2014 Year in Review. It reminded me of how LSTC  alumni have been leaders for a public church for a long time.

 

On page 11, there's a story about a man who had a difficult time finding a job because he had been incarcerated. Pastor Michelle Townsend de Lopez, (2009, MDiv) talks about what he was up against and how the Jobs Program at her congregation, Cross Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wis., helped him find work. That's public church.

 

On page 15, Bishop D. Jensen Seyenkulo (1992, ThM; 1999, PhD) tells of the role the Lutheran Church in Liberia played in responding to the Ebola epidemic. When people wouldn't accept the country's medical teams, they were able to listen to their bishop who assured them that the medical help was trustworthy. That's public church.

 

There are also LSTC alumni whose ministries are evident in the pages of the report, but who are not listed or quoted there. Two that come to mind are Jessica Nipp Hacker (2002, MDiv), who has been a key fundraiser for the ELCA Malaria Campaign, and Robin Brown (2003, MDiv; 2010, DMin), who works with congregations that support ELCA World Hunger. They, too, are public church.

 

They all are signs of compassion, action, bringing hope, health and healing to the world. You know, the things you try to do each day in your ministry. That's public church.

 

 

Kurt K. Hendel, Bernard, Fischer, Westberg Distinguished Ministry Professor Emeritus of Reformation History at LSTC, is planning a travel seminar to Luther sites in 2016 as part of the seminary's three-year commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

 

The dates are May 30-June 9, 2016, to be there before the crowds of 2017. Hendel anticipates visiting visit Berlin, Wittenberg, Torgau, Halle, Leipzig, Eisleben, Buchenwald, Erfurt, Eisenach, and the Wartburg. Cost and other details will be available in November.

Don't miss this opportunity to commemorate the Reformation anniversary. If you would like to join this tour, please indicate your interest* by responding to Kurt Hendel khendel@lstc.edu by October 31.

 

*Your response will not imply a definite commitment to or registration for the tour.

On "God's Work. Our Hands" day of service, 57 members of Grace Lutheran Church, Woodstock, Ill., partnered with Lutheran World Relief and agencies in McHenry County, Ill., Turning Point, a domestic violence agency; Pioneer Center for Human Services; and Home of the Sparrow, which offers support for homeless women and children. They served lunch, prepared 100 school kits, organized a large beauty product donation, cleaned windows, fixed a fence, and scraped and stained a picnic table and playset. Amanda Bergstrom (2011, MDiv) has served as associate pastor at Grace, since 2011. Becca Gordon (2002, MDiv)  has a call to interim and supply ministry through the Northern Illinois Synod and served as sabbatical coverage pastor at Grace from July-October 2015.

Those discerning a call to ministry or to theological studies can get a taste of life at LSTC at the two-day Seminary Sampler, Oct. 25-27, or Sampler Night, Nov. 17. Both events allow time to sit in on classes, share a meal, talk with faculty and students, and talk about how afford seminary. For more information go here or contact Scott Chalmers, director of admissions, at schalmers@lstc.edu or 773-256-0726.