Archives for December 1, 2022

In this Advent devotion, Dawn Alitz ’09 Ph.D. reflects on slowing down to focus on how Jesus draws near in our daily lives. Read today’s God Pause.

Rolf Jacobson, Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Old Testament, and the Alvin N. Rogness Chair of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry will lead us in a hymn sing. 11 a.m.—12 p.m. Free Lunch in the OCC Dining Room! Join in person or by Zoom (see email for link).

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Dynna Castillo-Portugal to campus on Friday as a candidate in the CCCL faculty search. Dr. Castillo-Portugal has degrees from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Bethel Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Luther Seminary. She comes to us from Mexico City, Mexico. Please see the community announcements email for Zoom links.

• Candidate Class for Students (OCC 10)—9 a.m. central
  
• Public Presentation (OCC 10)—10 a.m. central
  
• Division and Faculty Meetings—12:30 p.m. central

Fania Davis defines restorative justice in this way: “restorative justice is a proactive relational strategy to create a culture of connectivity where all members of a community thrive and feel valued. It includes: (1) storytelling and relationship building, (2) truth-telling and accountability, and (3) reparative action” (based on Fania Davis, The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice, loc 309 and loc 412)”

Recently the INVITE group at Luther (integrating nonviolence into theological education) and Interfaith Action (a St. Paul nonprofit) held a lunch time webinar introducing restorative justice. We highlighted Brenda Burnside (Let’s Circle Up Restorative Services), Annie Kahn (Ramsey County Attorney’s Office), and Randi Ilyse Roth (Interfaith Action). You can view the recording here.

We hope that these brief notes make you curious! And now, the ABIDE committee at Luther is pleased to invite you to join in a three day in-person training led by Kay Pranis, a nationally recognized restorative justice educator based here in the Twin Cities. The goal of this training is to begin to learn something of restorative justice practices, particularly Peacemaking Circle practices, and then to start to find ways to implement them in your own settings. 

The Peacemaking Circle is used to build community, promote healing and transform conflict in educational settings both as a prevention practice and an intervention practice when relationships are disrupted. In a time of deep division and increasing isolation the Restorative Justice vision and the Peacemaking Circle process provide both a profound conceptual foundation and pragmatic process illuminating a path towards a society in which everyone belongs and everyone is valued for their gifts.

The training will take place from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day from January 31st to February 2nd  and you must commit to attending all three days.  All fees for the training will be paid by Luther Seminary, and in addition we will provide snacks and food during the event.

Faculty and staff will be given first priority in this training, but as room permits we will also welcome students. Please register here.

Questions can be directed to Mary Hess (mhess@luthersem.edu).

Congratulations to our colleagues celebrating work anniversaries in December!

• Randy Kyle – 1 year – Chief Human Resources Officer
• Sandy Olson – 1 year – Academic Affairs Executive Assistant
• Bethany Riethmeier – 3 years – Seminary Relations
• Alison Roberts – 3 years – Seminary Relations
• Tess Pinkstaff 4 years – Faith+Lead
• Ashley Wheeler 4 years – Contextual Learning
• Katie Langston – 5 years – Director of Digital Strategy
• Jeni Mullenix – 8 years – Advanced Theological Education
• Jake Ratkovich – 11 years – Maintenance
• Sarah Ludtke-Jones – 11 years – Student Affairs

The Qualtrics User Group for faculty and staff will meet for 30 minutes today from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. central on Zoom. Get updates on how to use this tool for data collection, analysis, surveys, assessments, and more. Bring your questions and get help with your current data projects.

Qualtrics User Group

12:15–12:45 p.m. central

Thursday, December 1

Online via Zoom

Contact Tessa Pinkstaff at tpinkstaff001@luthersem.edu with questions or to be added to the monthly user group meeting invitation, which includes the Zoom link.