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At our most recent All Hands meeting, we announced that teams for the Give Day faculty/staff prize are going to be a little different this year. Instead of departments competing against one another, we have randomly assigned all faculty and staff members to teams of about 20. The team assignments have been emailed out, so check your inbox for an email from semrel@luthersem.edu with your team assignment. If you did not receive an email with your team assignment, please reach out to the Seminary Relations team at semrel@luthersem.edu and we will add you to a team. The first team to reach 100% participation will win the faculty/staff prize! Go to giveday.luthersem.edu to find out more and make your gift early starting on September 11.

How can we live well in community even when our ideas differ? The political climate in the United States seems to have shifted in recent years, with political tensions and divisions intensifying more regularly. One outcome of these divisions is the “othering” of individuals, which can hinder efforts to build just and equitable communities.

At Luther Seminary, we are committed to educating Christian public leaders who can effectively guide congregations in a diverse, interconnected world. In line with this commitment, we are pleased to be partnering this year with Braver Angels, an organization dedicated to reducing political and social polarization across the US. Their bipartisan campaign “Reduce the Rancor in Minnesota” aims to foster a more inclusive and cooperative society. Braver Angels promotes social relational skills and processes that avoid stereotypes and encourage the humanization of those around us. Staff trainers teach communication skills that reframe discussions away from confrontation toward understanding. Through training and dialogue, Braver Angels encourages the recognition of the finite nature of personal experiences and the importance of articulating perspectives while listening to others.

Our collaboration with Braver Angels will help Luther Seminary develop proactive approaches to conflict, should tensions rise on campus and in our broader communities. The Office of Inclusion and Belonging is developing programming around this partnership. So stay tuned for training sessions and other opportunities to engage. For more information, please contact Samuel Zalanga, szalanga001@luthersem.edu.

Starting the week of September 3, we will be moving our accounts payable deadline from noon on Wednesdays to noon on Tuesdays. This change is designed to enhance our operational efficiency, ensure timely processing, and create a more balanced workflow for the business office team. We understand that this change may require some adjustments in your routines, and we appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we implement this improvement. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Brief headshot sessions with a professional photographer are available free of charge to students, faculty, and staff on Friday, September 13 and Monday, September 16. Sign up for a time slot on this Google sheet (you must be logged into your luthersem.edu email account to access).

Repairs to the area around the west entrance of Olson Campus Center continued this week. Our partners at G5 Construction have removed masonry in more areas of the outer walls and in the tunnel to expose more of the damaged supports and further assess the extent of structural deficiencies. As work progressed, it was discovered that the ramp/chapel wall mortar joints were degraded more severely than initially assessed. This additional brick has been removed and will be replaced.  

Like last week, this week includes work that is at times noisy and will produce some dust. We appreciate your patience and flexibility in utilizing (or not) the areas of OCC not directly related to the construction work.

For reminders about safety, project impacts, and communication, see my introductory message about the project.

As always, thank you for your support of our operations team and their work,
Rob Verke
Director of Operations
Luther Seminary

In this devotion, O. Wayne Shelksohn ’81 M.Div., invites us to look in the mirror and to see our lives as God is calling us to live them. Read today’s God Pause.