Society of Saint Athanasius

Our first year seminarian and his wife, our fourth year seminarian and his wife, and our future seminarian and his wife?

Picture taken at. Rev. Dr. Arthur Just's home in Ft. Wayne, during a reception he hosted for those attending the symposia at the seminary this week. How neat to see them all together!

And if you want to know more about the Society of Saint Athanasius (SSA), click here and flip to page 28. Basically the SSA are pastors and congregations that pledge to support their seminary students and get them through seminary debt free. These seminarians then do the same for their seminarians, and on and on. I'll be happy to tell you more if you contact me. :-)

Just wish I was there enjoying the week with them . . .

One BIG Weekend!

This weekend we got one of our seminarians both ordained and married! Not sure I would advise that for others, but it made for both a busy and joyous weekend. Some pictures . . .

Me and my former seminarian!

A good group of pastors present. A great big THANKS! to Pastor Esget and the folks of Immanuel for allowing us to use their church for this day.

The happy couple with the pastors who participated in the service.

So as I said after the service . . . I have now catechized, baptized, ordained, and married George. There's only one thing left! Let's hope I do not have to do that one.  :-)

Ft. Wayne

Drove to Ft. Wayne today to attend the Theological Symposia at the Seminary here. I rented a car for the trip - got a Mazda 3. Not a bad car, it drove nice, but not the best mileage. That combined with a smallish gas tank meant I had to stop twice for gas. But, it's cheap in Ohio! I saw one place for $1.51/gal! Because today was a holiday, traffic was lighter than usual, which was nice. Drove through some snow squalls, but pretty easy overall. It's cold here, going down to near zero tonight. The symposia start tomorrow; looking forward it.

No Favorites

I received a very good piece of advice from the recently retired Kantor Resch when I was at seminary. He said, "do not talk about or take into account favorites." Favorite hymns, favorite liturgies, favorite anything. Do everything in the Church based on the Word and the Word alone.

This avoids a lot of potential problems. Whenever anyone asks "why don't we sing my favorite hymn?" I simply respond: I do not pick hymns because of likes or dislikes, but because of the Word. The hymns that best fit the readings and theme of the day is what we sing. (Note: Sometimes there are hymns that fit well and sometimes not, but that is the goal! To have all that is spoken and sung unite in a common confession of the Word that day.)

This is also true for our liturgy. I have some folks whose favorite liturgy is Divine Service 3, some like Divine Service 4, and my organists absolutely hate Divine Service 2! (They tell me it is the most difficult to play.) Fine. We do them all over the course of a year, rotating seasonally. Why? Well, I recognize there is benefit in using only one liturgy and getting to know it well, but I also want my people exposed to as much of the hymnal and liturgies as possible. That way, when they travel or move to another place and attend another church, they will feel at home with whatever liturgy the church is using that day. They've done it and know it. That is a great benefit.

Do I have favorite hymns? Sure I do! But I won't tell you what they are. (I have too many anyway!) But I do not pick my favorites, or anyone else's, just because they are favorites. All in service of the Word and the Word alone.

Seminary Ad

Above is the new ad that Concordia Seminary, St. Louis is placing in magazines now. I've seen it in several publications. Young, buff, millennial guy. Got it. That's fine. Cool little pictures in the margins - he reads his Bible. Check. Even categorizes what he reads by the pictures! Pastor material!

BUT . . .

Here's my question: Look at the Scriptures in the background (click on the picture to enlarge it). Look at all the passages that are underlined. What do they all have in common? All are Law. None of the Gospel passages (of which there are plenty) are underlined. Why not? It seems like a small thing, but small things are significant. We are training pastors to proclaim the Gospel. Yes, we need the Law, we're not antinomians. But all Law and no Gospel? Really?

Well, maybe the ad is trying to convey this fact: Like all of us, this young, buff, seminarian is drawn to the Law, but the Seminary is going to teach Him how to proclaim the Gospel and so in the future, it will be the Gospel passages that will be underlined! Not us, but Christ! But, it says he's a vicar already . . . so . . . uh . . .  

A Simple Proposal

The Concordia Seminary (St. Louis) magazine (Winter 2013) just arrived in my mailbox, the title emblazoned across the cover: "The Challenge of Student Debt." This has been an issue at both our seminaries for a while. It is an important topic for our church today, which needs good, well-trained pastors. I have a simple proposal: congregations, pay for your students.

Our young men who go to the seminary do so often with much sacrifice. It's time for pastors and congregations to step up to the plate. Some do, I know. But others do not. Some are so small they perhaps cannot. But is that an excuse not to try? I know of some large congregations who give their students a pittance. (Some large districts are like that with synod, too.) It is sad. We should consider the sending of our young men to the seminary as an important part of missions.

I was lucky. When I went to the seminary, my pastor made me a promise to get me through debt free. He didn't know quite how he and the congregation would do it (they weren't that big or wealthy), but they would. Somehow. God would provide. My pastor made sacrifices for me. Since then, I have made the same promise to the young men I send off to the seminary. I am now on my third student, whom we bid farewell and godspeed to just yesterday, and I made the same promise to him. Do I know how we will do it? Nope. We're a small church. We don't even have our own building! But we'll do it. God will provide. It is too important not to do this.

Saint Athanasius' newest seminarian

And I hope that my students who become pastors do the same for the students they send to the seminary, and that this has a ripple effect through the synod. Some students will still have undergraduate debt they carry with them to their parishes, but I think this kind of promise (or at least this kind of attitude and desire!) is important for us to have. If we did, I believe we'd have more residential students and less clamor for "alternate routes" that cost less and in the end (really) provide less preparation, formation, and training. We cannot just be negative and speak against those programs in our synod we would rather not have (SMP, Delto, lay ministers, etc.), we have to be positive and support and build up and make more possible the alternative - our full-time, residential students and seminaries.

So my advice: pastors, congregations, promise your students. We will pray for you and pay for you. You are important. We need you. And we'll show it.

Good Weekend

What a good weekend we had as Dr. Dean Wenthe from our Ft. Wayne seminary was with us for our annual Good Shepherd Seminar. Click here to go to our web page where the audio has been posted. This is always a most enjoyable weekend for me as I get a chance to sit back and be fed - first at the seminar and then in the Divine Service as I get to sit and listen to the sermon. What a treat. The weekend always flies by so fast, though! Now to begin the thought process for who to invite next year . . .

Litany Stories

A story about praying the litany . . .

In the late winter of my second year at seminary, a fourth year seminarian was killed in a horrible car accident right at the entrance to the seminary. The campus was stunned. Those of us who lived in the dorms with this man who was about to receive his call into the Holy Ministry were at a loss for words. We didn't know what to do.

The chapel bell began ringing, calling us to the chapel. We went and gathered in our stunned silence. The Dean of the Chapel came out and didn't try to console us or explain anything to us; he simply said we were going to pray the Litany. We did, and it was just what this sinner needed. It took our focus off ourselves and what had happened, and directed our eyes to the God of all grace and mercy as we prayed not just for ourselves, but for all people in every need.

When we didn't have the words to pray, the Litany gave us the words to pray. We concluded with the Lord's Prayer, strengthened by the Word and promise of God. From that day on, I have loved the Litany.

Do any of you have stories about the Litany?

And We're Back

Yes, back now from vacation. It was a nice two week break, but now catching up on everything that piled up for those two weeks! Picking hymns for the rest of the church year (always an arduous taks!), catching up on visits, household and family chores, getting the kids ready to start school, other new plans for the Fall - never a shortage! And then the never ending barrage from satan against the flock . . . yet I know he cannot win! Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief!

One more thing: many bloggers have already posted this, but I wanted to also. The following is a letter from Dr. Timothy Quill - the Lutheran Seminary in Siberia is facing dire straits and needs our financial assistance. Anything you would be able to do would be a great help. So much good work has been done there! Here's his letter:

In 1995 Concordia Theological Seminary began working extensively in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Under the oppressive Soviet government, Lutherans were persecuted, churches destroyed and most of the clergy killed, imprisoned or sent into exile. In 1997 CTS helped organize a new Lutheran Seminary in Novosibirsk, Siberia to train a new generation of Lutheran pastors. Following the dark era of communist oppression, the resurrection of a new, thriving Lutheran Church in the former Soviet Union is nothing short of miraculous. These new congregations and mission stations need pastors. Last year 25 students were enrolled in the LTS seminary and pre-seminary Bible School programs. The Seminary also holds regular seminars and conferences for pastors, church leaders and laity. In May of 2009 five seminarians graduated after completing a rigorous five years program of theological and practical preparation for the holy ministry. This was the third class to graduate.

Since its inception, the work of CTS in Russia has been financed entirely by the private charitable foundation whose founder had a great heart for the millions of Lutherans and other Christians who has suffered for so many years under atheistic communism. Due to recent economic problems in the United States, the foundation was forced to cut their support for Lutheran Theological Seminary in Novosibirsk last year by 50%. This year they will cut it 50% to 70%. CTS is also under considerable financial pressure. President Wenthe is doing a tremendous job keeping the institution afloat and healthy, however, CTS is not in a position to subsidize the Novosibirsk Seminary. Without a secure home base, foreign mission work is a mute question.

In short, the Seminary in Russia will receive no funds from the foundation until March of 2010. Thus we need to raise $150,000 to keep the Seminary in Novosibirsk from closing. The next nine months are crucial. We can not simply close the Seminary for a year and then reopen it. The lives and wellbeing of faculty, staff, students and their families can not be put on hold for a year. Furthermore, after years of legal battles with the bureaucracy in Moscow the Seminary recently received is registration as an official educational institution. To close the Seminary now will jeopardize registration and cause legal problems and suspicion with the authorities.

Rector Alexei Streltsov and I have prepared a drastically reduced budget which will not only enable the Seminary to survive the current crisis, but to keep its doors open, classes running, and send a positive message to those who desire to matriculate with the next new class in September of 2010.

Donations should be made out to Concordia Theological Seminary accompanied with a note that the gift is designated for the support of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Thanks for any support you are able to give - especially your prayers.

Call Night

Last night was "Call Night" at Concordia Theological Seminary - the night when those men who are completing the preparation and formation receive their call into the Office of the Holy Ministry. Many do not know where they will be going until they hear their name and assignment announced that night. Every Pastor remembers that night - it is the culmination of a lot of work, and the beginning of much more! It is a joyous time.

Last night two of my congregation's adopted seminarians should have received calls. One did, one (it appears) did not. I would like to put the best construction on this, and say that his call is pending, that there weren't enough calls for all the men, or something like that. But it seems that there may (again) be retribution behind this - that he is being penalized for activities that he has done in the past. You see, before he entered the seminary, this man was very active and vocal in synodical politics. Those who now hold positions of responsibility and authority in our synod (notice I did not say power) did not like his activities, and (it seems) are letting it be known. I hope I am wrong. If I am shown to be wrong, I will gladly issue a retraction here, with my repentance and request for forgiveness. But right now, my heart is heavy for this man and his family, and I fear the worst. And I am saddened that something like this would happen in our synod.