Archives for March 9, 2022

We gather at 11 a.m. Central in the Chapel of the Incarnation for a service of Holy Communion.
Jennie Wojchiechowski, assistant professor of church history, is preaching.

Join online.

Submit prayers.

Please come to the Dining Room after Chapel on Wednesday, March 9, to say goodbye to
Dean of Students David Fenrick.

I am delighted to recognize Ashley Wheeler for her promotion from candidacy coordinator to associate director of candidacy and vocational formation.

Ashley has brought tremendous gifts to the contextual learning team over these past three years: developing a robust formation pathway for all first-degree students (whether from the ELCA or our other denominational partners), serving as a point person for internships, serving as key candidacy lead for both standard internship students and MDivX students, as well as serving students in the Word and Service roster and chaplaincy tracks.

She will continue in her primary role overseeing all candidacy and judicatory pathways for Luther students, while also increasing her role with MDivX internship teams. We are grateful for Ashley’s continued service at Luther. Please join me in thanking and congratulating her!

Heidi Albers will be leaving her position in the Office of Technology at Luther Seminary. Her last day will be Friday, March 18. Heidi has accepted the position of assistant registrar at St. Olaf College.

Heidi has been with Luther Seminary since April 1997. She has held several positions at the seminary during that time including in the Registrar’s Office, in the Office of Technology, as a member of the Campus Vision team, and, most recently, as interim registrar. Heidi has contributed across the seminary not just with her work, but also with the relationships she has built as colleague, mentor, and friend.

Please join me in thanking Heidi for her long service to Luther Seminary and wishing her well on her new adventure at St. Olaf.

Dismantling racism, living into beloved community (DR:BC) gets going again!

Begun in 2014, this group has existed off and on since then. The pandemic put a lot of our organizing into abeyance, as we found it hard to gather in person and DR:BC was always an embodied practice. But now is the time to pull it off the shelf and get going again!

Here’s how we introduced ourselves in the Facebook group:

“This is the FB group for the Luther Seminary group DR:BC. We are students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others who are actively engaging in dismantling racism and creating beloved community.”

What does this mean?

We work together to identify and take apart the systems and structures that are defined by the apparatus of race. It’s a big goal. But we are passionate that living together means recognizing our race and the ways the systems of race work on us to limit us.

In the words of “Paul” to the people of Ephesus: “Finally, my friends, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of God’s might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12, KJV-ish)

Join us after chapel Friday, March 11, in the OCC dining room or via Zoom for our first “get together” in years. The Zoom link will be included in the community announcements email.

Here is a brief recap of the February meeting of the DEIB Committee. Take a moment to learn what we are up to!