As our term gets underway amidst a season of uncertainty, political polarization, and pandemic, we — a group of students, staff, and faculty — want to create multiple spaces in which we can invite intentional conversation and whole-bodied listening.
One such time will beat 11 a.m. Central every Thursday. We are planning on those days to convene a “holy conversation” of one kind or another. What is a “holy conversation”? We will learn as we go, but we want to begin in the commitments of this institution: our mission statement (Luther Seminary educates leaders for Christian communities, called and sent by the Holy Spirit, to witness to salvation through Jesus Christ, and to serve in God’s world) and our welcome statement.
In the weeks to come we’ll explore how this statement came to be and what we think it can mean. We will welcome different people, individually and in groups, to share some of what a “holy conversation” might mean to them. We will agree, we will disagree, there will be joy — and there may be pain. But we will do this trusting in the God who manifests love and hope for each and every one of us. Think about it — maybe you, yourself, want to be a catalyst for one such conversation?
Each week we’ll begin in prayer, we’ll remind ourselves of how we strive to be with each other, and then we’ll share — in large group, in breakout groups, and so on. Each week we’ll start at 11 a.m. Central and conclude at noon Central (although people are free to keep the conversation flowing beyond that).
This week on October 1 we will start by doing a form of lectio divina with our welcome statement.
The Zoom link will be included in the community announcements email.