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INVITE: Integrating nonviolence into theological education
Are you curious about what nonviolence can mean in Christian community? Do you wonder about constructive ways to engage public conflict? Have you found yourself drawn to nonviolent civil protests?
INVITE is a group that was begun as a student-faculty-staff-alumni movement in the spring of 2004. In the last few years it has lain somewhat dormant, but we are reviving it this spring in the wake of all that is happening. We plan to meet on the following Tuesdays at 4 p.m. CT on zoom, alternating between simply checking in with each other and reading the book ‘The Quaking of America’ by Resmaa Menakem.

• March 4 – check in
• March 18 – share about the book
• April 1 – check in
• April 22 – share about the book

For more information please sign up to be on our contact list. Details about past work are available on the INVITE website.

Bingo, fellowship, fun, and prizes! What could be better? The Student Council is sponsoring bingo events for students. Join in-person this Thursday, February 27 in the OCC cafeteria (4:30-7:00-ish p.m.) to enjoy bingo and a Chipotle nacho bar (including beverages). Students are encouraged to carpool if at all possible. We hope to offer a Fairfield hotel shuttle at the end of the event. Questions? Contact Linda Davies (ldavies001@luthersem.edu, virtual event) or Ruth Ibrahim (ribrahim001@luthersem.edu, in-person event). We hope to see you there!

For those interested in small-town and rural ministry, there is an opportunity to attend the 44th Annual Rural Ministry Conference at Wartburg Seminary, scheduled from March 9-11, 2025. This event, held in Dubuque, Iowa, and online will explore the theme of “Form Follows Mission: Creative Ways STaR Congregations are Adapting for the Sake of Vitality and Sustainability in Mission and Ministry.” Pastor Nancy Nyland and others will guide us through large group presentations. There are multiple workshops. Thanks to donor generosity, most of the expenses for this experience will be covered for up to three students. Please express your interest promptly to secure your place by emailing Jon Anderson, Rural Ministry Director, janderson008@luthersem.edu. Pr. Anderson will be attending as well.

In this devotion, Mindy Ehrke ’85 M. Div., thinks about the places and spaces where we encounter God. Read today’s God Pause.

We’re excited to have so many of our distance learners on campus for these Residential Focus Sessions. The chapel staff is in need of several volunteers for our service of Holy Communion on Wednesday, February 26 (RFS 2). If you’re willing to help, please fill out this online form. We’ll reach out to you by email to confirm your role. Thank you and blessings!
—Chapel Staff

Over the past two decades, the Church of England and other church bodies in the U.K. have responded to the realities of a post-Christian society by cultivating forms of Christian community that meet neighbors where they are. Through fresh expressions of church, church planting, and other creative experiments, they have learned how to develop a “mixed ecology” where new contextualized churches thrive alongside time-honored congregations. Dave Male has been at the heart of this work as a church starter, educator, and senior denominational executive and will share with ussome of what they have learned in the U.K. along this journey. Learn more here.
The Rise of the Mixed Ecology, New Worshipping Communities, and Church in Everyday Life: Lessons From the U.K. with Dave Male, Co-Director of Vision and Strategy for the Church of England and Visiting Instructor, Luther Seminary
February 25, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Olson Campus Center, Luther Seminary