CONCORDIA SEMINARY, ADOPT-A-STUDENT!
The Finance Committee has estab-lished an account for the Adopt-A-Student program. Anyone may contribute any amount at any time. When the account reaches $500, we will adopt a student as a congregation. We can then work toward another student, and so on. There is a bulletin board next to Classroom 107 in the CMC with all the information on this program. Check it out, and see what this is all about. Folders are also available in the narthex. The seminarians hope to welcome you to the program. For more information, contact the Church Office and visit the website atwww.csl.edu/friends/adopt-A-Student.
SUPPORT OUR LCMS—St. Louis and Ft. Wayne Seminaries! In today’s culture, strong pastors and church leaders are more important than ever. The Seminaries have been empowering men and women to fulfill God’s call to ministry in the U.S. and worldwide. As Christians, we can all play a role in creating effective church leaders. Pray for God’s blessings on the Seminary’s students, faculty and staff. Participate with a gift to support the future of the LCMS. One way could be to Adopt-a-Student (see John Smith for details). For more information, call 1-800-822-5287, or visit the Seminary website, www.csl.edu.
In today’s culture, strong pastors and church leaders are more important than ever. The Seminary has been empowering men and women to fulfill God’s call to ministry in the U.S. and worldwide. As Christians, we can all play a role in creating effective church leaders. Pray for God’s blessings on the Seminary’s students, faculty and staff. Participate with a gift to support the future of the LCMS. One way could be to Adopt-a-Student. For more information, call 1-800-822-5287, or visit the Seminary website, www.csl.edu.
Standing together, students and sponsors overcome the single greatest obstacle to students coming to the Seminary — affording it! By overcoming this challenge you are making an eternal difference as the students you prepare now will proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ today and for decades to come. In faith, these seminarians have come to Concordia Seminary. Now you can encourage them with your prayers and make their preparation financially possible.
"IT ‘S A GREAT TIME TO BE IN THE CHURCH, AND IT ‘S AN EXCITING TIME TO BE A PASTOR"
SEMINARY CALL NEWS ~ On Tuesday, April 25, Fort Wayne Theological Seminary held their Call Day. At that time, Jeremy Mac Donald received a call to serve dual parishes in Arkansas; one at Zion Lutheran Church in Ulm and the other at Our Savior in Brinkley. Our other sponsored student received an assignment to serve as a vicar at St. John Lutheran Church in Columbia, Indiana. St. Louis Seminary followed on Wednesday, April 26. Joel Werner will serve as Associate Pastor at Christ Our Savior in Livonia, Michigan. Michael Ewert is assigned to St. Paul in St. Joseph, Missouri as a vicar. These young men will now be serving our Synod with what they have learned in their seminary education. Keep them in your prayers as they begin this new service to God and their congregations.
A letter of Thanks from a Student
Dear friends at Christ Our Savior,
I pray things are going well for you in Loudon, TN!
This has been a whirlwind of a time for my family and me. Last month, I was called to be the associate pastor at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church in Livonia, Ml. We are so excited about this opportunity to serve in Christ's church. This next chapter is what we have been preparing for the past eight years or more. Yesterday, I officially graduated Seminary with my Master's of Divinity degree. Now, it's time to put the books down and pick up the boxes as we will be moving in about two weeks up to Michigan.
As we are at the end of our time here at the Seminary, I wanted to take another chance to thank you for all that you have done for us. Your generosity and prayers have been a blessing to me and my family, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to being partners in the ministry of serving God's kingdom!
As I prepare to enter into the pastoral ministry, I am reminded of the words of my confirmation verse, 2 Corinthians 9:8, which says, "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." I am grateful for your partnership in this work, and I pray that God will continue to bless and guide you in all that you do.
Your brother and sister in Christ,
Joel and Adele Werner
The Christian Life
Given all of this, how should we think about our Christian lives in this world? How should the professors think about what they do here at the Seminary? And how should students think about what they do - all the papers and tests and classes and field work?
What we should not do is set up a separate category of deeds under the heading "faith into action," as if there are certain tasks that qualify and certain ones that do not, or certain vocations that qualify and certain ones that do not. And this means that we should not put "coming to the Seminary to become a deaconess or pastor" as a holier action than studying to be a doctor, carpenter, teacher or anything else. Students are not holier or closer to God by virtue of their vocation than anyone else. Neither are pastors.
A better way to think about "faith into action" is to realize that since God does all the work to save us, and since our future is utterly secure in Christ, until Jesus returns, every one of us is called to carry out the vocations in which we have been placed. And in carrying out our vocations, in the nitty-gritty details of our relationships, we ask God for strength to put on the qualities and deeds of the flesh that war against us- -the anger, wrath, malice, slander and lies—that hurt those around us. And we ask Him for strength to put on the qualities and deeds of Jesus, who lives in us - -compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness (Col. 3:10) -that uplift and nurture those around us. ln other words, we ask God for the strength to live each day and each moment as the kind of people we really are. This is no different for students, staff and Seminary professors, We have all been put here at the Seminary to do the work that God has given us to do. And in the "nitty-gritty" of doing our work together, we pray that the Holy Spirit produce His fruits in us and in our lives, and that He gives us the strength to live as the justified and sanctified people we are because of the grace that He gives us.
I will close with a lovely prayer that is relevant to all that I have been saying. Very relaxing:
May Your work become visible to Your servants,
and Your glory to their children.
And may the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
and the work of our hands establish upon us.
Yes, the work of our hands, establish it.
Moses, Psalm 90
Dr Timothy Saleska is professor of Exegetical Theology, dean of Ministerial Formation, and the Gustav and Sophie Butterbach Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St Louis.
