Archives for February 16, 2023

In this devotion, Robert Hansen ’72 M.Div. reflects on experiences of closeness to God. Read today’s God Pause.

The graduating students of Luther Seminary’s class of 2023 have nominated faculty to preach and lead worship for the commencement and baccalaureate ceremonies in May and I have affirmed their nominations. Professor Rolf Jacobson, Dean of the Faculty and the Alvin N Rogness Professor of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry will preach at commencement. Professor Jennifer Wojciechowski will give the charge to graduates. Professor Kathryn Schifferdecker, the Elva B. Lovell Chair of Old Testament, will preach at baccalaureate, and Professor David Fredrickson will preside at Holy Communion. Students and Faculty nominated students to share leadership. Dean of Students and VP for Inclusion and Belonging Dr. Leon Rodrigues and I have affirmed their nominations. Kristen Massa will be the student speaker, expressing the graduates’ gratitude to God and others for their formation at Luther Seminary. Many other students will also share leadership roles.

Please join me in thanking these leaders for saying yes to their nominations. And thanks to all who made nominations and were willing to be nominated.

Peace,

President Robin Steinke

With increased numbers on campus over the Spring RFS, overflow parking has been cleared in the lot between Stub and Northwestern Hall. Please adhere to any parking signs currently in place and familiarize yourself with the city of St. Paul snow emergency parking rules. Check out this link for a map to the main parking options on campus.

Welcome to the February RFS! We gather in the Chapel of the Incarnation and online for Chapel. On Thursday, we gather in the OCC Dining Room and on Zoom.

RFS I

• (Time TBD) Friday, February 17 in OCC Dining Room before evening RFS class—Root Beer, Pizza, and Hymns led by Andy Pokel and Hans Lundquist
• 11 a.m. Saturday, February 18—Service of the Word. Preacher: Mort Meyenburg, M.Div. senior
• No Sunday morning chapel service. For local services, please see our Ash Wednesday service document and follow the website links for worship information
• 11 a.m. Monday, February 20—Service of the Word. Preacher: Dwight Zscheile, Vice President of Innovation and Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership

RFS II

• 11 a.m. Wednesday, February 22—Service of Holy Communion x Ash Wednesday Service. Preacher: Jeni Grangaard, Seminary Pastor. For local Ash Wednesday service offerings, please see this document
• 11 a.m. Thursday, February 23—Lunch Church x Why Jesus. Speaker: Jeni Grangaard, Seminary Pastor
• 11 a.m. Friday, February 24—Lenten Morning Prayer. Leader: Hans Lundquist, M.Div. senior
• 11 a.m. Saturday, February 25—Service of the Word. Preacher: Mary Hess, Professor of Educational Leadership

On Friday, Feb. 17th, after chapel, there will be a gathering of people interested in small town and rural ministry in the Olson Campus Center cafeteria. Look for the tables in the back of the room. There will be a sign to help you find us. If you are interested in or curious about how to learn more about small town and rural ministry, join us for conversation. We will hold another gathering during RFS 2 in a room where we can also have a Zoom link to connect with distributed students who can not attend one of these gatherings. Contact Pr. Jon Anderson janderson008@luthersem.edu or Rural Ministry Fellow Nathan Adu-Gyamfi nadugyamfi001@luthersem.edu.

All students are invited to the Post-Evangelical Meet Up with Prof. Steve Thomason, Sunday, February 19th from 4:30-6:30pm. This event will offer a chance for students with experience in evangelical or fundamentalist faith traditions to share their experiences and to unpack together why we have moved away from those traditions and what things we might still cherish from them. The event will be held in person in Gullixson 102 (with free pizza!) and via Zoom (see email for link). Contact Lauren Mildahl (lmildahl001) with questions!