{"id":482,"date":"2026-09-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/?p=482"},"modified":"2026-09-20T19:35:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T19:35:51","slug":"rfs-2-and-so-many-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/2026\/09\/21\/rfs-2-and-so-many-things\/","title":{"rendered":"RFS 2 and So Many Things!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is a big week in the life of Luther Seminary. We celebrate the 161 students that have been on campus all weekend for classes in RFS 1 and we look forward to 168 students being on campus Wednesday &#8211; Friday for RFS 2. We pray for safety in travel, stamina in mind, body and spirit for learning, and hospitality of heart to meet new people. I enjoy meeting our new students SO MUCH!!! WELCOME!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Here is what to expect in chapel this week:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Monday | Convocation (Hybrid)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Join us at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Incarnation and on YouTube to officially launch the 2026-27 academic year. Our faculty will arrive in full academic regalia. The Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Terri Elton, will preach. The Dean of the Faculty will bless new staff and faculty and officially pronounce the beginning of our academic year. Students, alumni, and staff are welcome to attend. Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LutherSeminary\/streams\">livestream<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wednesday | Service of Holy Communion (Hybrid)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We begin RFS 2 with a service of Holy Communion in an ELW liturgical style at 11:00am. Dr. Craig Koester is preaching. Dr. Rolf Jacobson is presiding. Community lunch follows. Watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LutherSeminary\/streams\">livestream<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thursday | Lunch Church (in Person only)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I will guide our RFS community through a simple lunch church experience. Lunch church is a fresh expression of the church that we practice every Thursday throughout the academic year. This week we will have an opportunity to reflect on Dr. Koester&#8217;s sermon around our tables and join in community prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Friday | Sending Service and Spiritual Direction (In person only)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The RFS community will gather one last time at 11:00am in the Chapel of the Incarnation for a service of the Word and prayer. The Fleshpots of Egypt will lead us in music. I will bring a short meditation on Romans 12:1-2 and introduce the student body to our spiritual directors. Many of our spiritual directors plan to join us in person. They will make themselves available to have lunch with any students who are interested in learning more about spiritual direction. These meetings will happen outside of the dining room, so those not interested will have the freedom to enjoy lunch together in an unstructured atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pastoral Note<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Please know that I am praying for you, the Luther Seminary Community, as we do this important work of equipping Christian Public Leaders. I pray for safety as our distributed learners travel home from RFS. I pray for strength, courage, and stamina as we all prepare to faithfully engage a Fall semester of learning and growing in community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a big week in the life of Luther Seminary. We celebrate the 161 students that have been on campus all weekend for classes in RFS 1 and we look forward to 168 students being on campus Wednesday &#8211; Friday for RFS 2. We pray for safety in travel, stamina in mind, body and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/deanofthechapel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}