The New Look of Seminary Ridge - Lutheran Theological Seminary

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Summer 2014
|
Gettysburg Seminary Newsletter
|
Volume 49, Issue 1
The New Look of Seminary Ridge
Seminary Ridge Museum Opens on Anniverary of the Battle, p. 2 | Dean Steinke
is New Luther Seminary President, p. 3 | Report to the Church 2014, p. 9 |
Alumni News, p. 18 | Faculty News, p. 19
Robin Steinke Tapped to
Lead Luther Seminary
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From the President’s Notebook
Grand Opening of Seminary
Ridge Museum
July 1, 2013 (150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg)
Excerpts from welcoming remarks by
The Rev. Michael Cooper-White, 12th President of Gettysburg Seminary
On behalf of Gettysburg Seminary, the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation, and all
the partners who have come together to create this Seminary Ridge Museum, I welcome you. On
behalf of the millions who will visit these hallowed halls in the years and decades to come, I thank
ALL the partners who have enabled us to offer this gift to the nation and the world. A number of
key leaders surround me today; had any one of the parties faltered along the way we would not be
celebrating this Grand Opening as the kickoff event of the Gettysburg 150th.
When this building was first opened 180 years ago, it was dedicated “to promote an enlightened
education of those who are to lead on the hosts of the Lord against the enemies of the truth.” It
was committed by the Seminary’s founders to be a place of “elevated contemplation and profound
thought, close investigation and patient study, which are so necessary to every student of theology.”
[Abdel Ross Wentz, Gettysburg Seminary History, p. 156]
When the Seminary building and campus were overrun by warring armies 150 years ago, this
place became a fierce battleground where the future of the nation was at stake. In the battle’s aftermath, it was a place of healing for hundreds, and a hospice where some 70 soldiers closed their eyes
for the final time. We can, we must ponder the meaning of those who, in the words of one, “have
come here to stay.”
One hundred years ago, the Seminary opened this building to house the children and grandchildren of the great Civil War generals and others of prominence. Within these walls surely echoed
some amazing reflective conversations between the Meades and Longstreets, the Heths and Grants.
Beginning some fifteen years ago, my predecessor and other Seminary leaders held a dream of
making a gift to our seminary students, and to the nation and the world. Leaders of our joint
venture partner, the Adams County Historical Society, crystallized that dream into a vision. Today
we rededicate Schmucker Hall as the Seminary Ridge Museum. It is not a museum whose primary
purpose is to preserve the past; rather, in opening this interpretive center we look to the future.
What was once a cloistered place of elevated contemplation for a few henceforth will be a public
space of reflection and learning, open to the entire global community. Its purpose remains education, the patient and persistent search for truth, for answers to the great questions of conflict and
reconciliation, freedom and human bondage, faith and doubt, which remain the same as they were
150 years ago.
The Luther Seminary
Board of Directors
has elected the Rev.
Dr. Robin J. Steinke to
be the St. Paul, Minn.,
Seminary’s next President. Steinke, who served
as the Dean of Gettysburg
Seminary since 2003, and as its
Professor of Ethics and Public
Life since 1999, is the first
woman in the 145-year history
of the seminary to be named
president.
Steinke began serving in
office on June 1, and her inauguration is planned for October 12, 2014. Established in
1869, Luther Seminary is the
largest of the eight Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) seminaries, the result
of six separate institutions consolidating through a series of
mergers, the first in 1917, into
a single seminary.
Speaking for the Gettysburg
Seminary community, President Michael Cooper-White
said, “For 15 years, Dr. Robin
Steinke has been an extraordinary member of the Gettysburg Seminary faculty, serving
the past dozen years as Dean of
the Seminary. Her leadership
has been outstanding as we
have undergone institutional
transformation in many ways,
and as she has embodied the
Gettysburg tradition in broad
circles nationally and internationally.”
During Steinke’s tenure as
Dean, the Seminary initiated
curricular changes, including a
Certificate of Theological Studies and concentration in Reli-
gion & Media. Her encouragement of and support for faculty
has enabled many professors
to enhance their teaching and
complete an impressive array
of widely acclaimed scholarly
publications.
Steinke is now in her last
year serving on the Association of Theological Schools
Board of Commissioners
(ATS) which is responsible
for accreditation of the 260
plus member schools in North
America. She also regularly
serves as chair of accreditation
visits for both ATS and the regional accreditor, Middle States
Commission on
Higher Education (MSCHE).
And currently,
she serves as an
ELCA representative to the
Lutheran World
Federation
Council and as
chair of the LWF
Endowment
Fund.
President
Steinke extended
her thoughts
Continued on p. 8
Seminary Presidents Visit the Ridge
Seminary Presidents gathered in April at Gettysburg Seminary with spouses and ELCA staff,
joined by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton (pictured right) for their annual spring gathering.
In the photograph, the group participates in a blessing of seven trees among the Seminary’s
planting, each dedicated to one of Gettysburg’s sister seminaries of the ELCA. President
Cooper-White led the blessing.
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4 www.Ltsg.edu/seminaryexplores
Lauren Muratore Accepts Call to Direct the
Office of Admissions and Coordinate Spiritual
Formation
“The Seminary Explores” Goes Global
Following more than four decades of anchoring early morning Sunday air time in Adams
county radio, the Seminary Explores went global this winter,
becoming a podcast available
24/7 to anyone with an internet connection.
The program continues in
its original issues oriented interview format, led by faculty
veterans Gerald Christianson
and Nelson Strobert, joined by
theologian Kristin Largen and
occasional guest interviewers
as well.
“The scope of topics is
changing” noted Christianson,
who with Strobert was used
to programming and conversing in ways that would be of
interest to a nearly local audience. The podcast provides
an opportunity to give church
leaders, students, and interested audiences a glimpse of
an even wider variety of people
who work, visit and lecture on
Seminary Ridge and whose
thoughts and activity touches
on the world of theology, politics, or a host of social issues.
Seminary Explores podcast
episodes are shorter than the
radio program, usually lasting
about 20 minutes.
Topics include the origins
of Christmas, prophetic Christian activism, Christian Interfaith perspectives, Irish poetry,
global Christianity, Apocalypticism in the New Testament
and American history, eco-theology and many more more.
Prime the pump for your
next adult education forum or
confirmation class, or listen
during your next long trip.
You can download them to
your iTunes library, play them
on your pc, or access them
from your iPod at any time.
Seminary Logo Wins Award
Graphic updates come only
occasionally in the life of an
institution, and Gettysburg
Seminary spotted 2013 as the
right moment to initiate new
graphic identity in its print and
electronic communication.
With the retirement of the
Crossroads Campaign graphic,
and the Seminary Ridge Museum coming online with its
own branding, the time for a
new logotype for the Seminary
was right.
A desired emphases on
brevity and simplicity called
for a change in design from the
1988 version of the Seminary
logo. The new logo broadens
the ecumenical appeal of the
Seminary by using the text
“Gettysburg Seminary” and
provides a clean, elegant de-
sign that works across media
formats in one-color and twocolor applications.
Where do the shapes in
the symbol come from? The
ground beneath our feet. Katy
Giebenhain’s concept follows
the arc of the famous road
(Seminary Ridge) from the
campus map, keeping a sense
of place as well as referencing openness and the commitment to the cross imagery of
Christian symbolism and Lutheran theology. Our campus
has been and continues to be a
crossroads of many kinds.
The logo earned a 2014
DeRose Hinkhouse award for
excellence in design from
the Religion Communicators
Council (RCC). The Communications Office will continue
to implement the logo in its
print and digital projects, including the new website, which
will launch this fall.
Stop by the Seminary Bookstore for a new sweatshirt or a
window cling for your car...
About the Cover “Luther Gets Buff”
Brian Griffith of the National Park Service puts wax on the Luther statue after giving the 67 year old statue its first deep cleaning in more than two decades. Wax has replaced varnish as the
state of the art protection. Gettysburg Seminary issued a deeply
appreciative word of thanks to the NPS staff Griffith and Lucas
Flickinger for their consultation and direct assistance in helping
the Seminary restore Martin to “buff ” condition. The only known
sitting statue of Martin Luther was installed in 1947 by Baltimore
artist Hans Schuler. Above: power washing before applying wax.
Gettysburg Seminary welcomes
Lauren Muratore as Director
of Admissions and Assistant
Dean of the Chapel/Coordinator of Spiritual Formation. She
will be installed at the Seminary’s Fall Opening Convocation. Muratore, newly graduated from Gettysburg Seminary
with an M.Div. in May, began
serving in June. She was ordained a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) by Bishop
Wolfgang Herz-Lane of the ELCA’s Delaware-Maryland Synod. While the ELCA normally
requires that a new minister’s
first call be in a parish, the
responsibilities of her office,
which include preaching, presiding at worship and offering
spiritual and pastoral guidance
to prospective students and
enrolled seminarians, qualifies
her for ordination.
Originally from Towson,
Md., Muratore found community in the Lutheran church as
a youth, and was confirmed at
Ascension Lutheran Church.
While a seminarian, she was a
student leader in the Eastern
Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries Project Connect program,
which focuses on encouraging young persons to consider
seminary and public ministry
as they make vocational choices.
“To join in this work at Gettysburg Seminary is a privilege –
one that I get to live into with a
deep sense of call and joy,” said
Muratore upon her acceptance
of the call. “It’s an exciting time
to be entering into this work,
as theological education, the
needs for leadership across the
church, and the broader culture are all evolving,”
Bidding Farewell and
Godspeed to “Queen
of the Staff”
Carol Troyer was feted by colleagues, students, family friends and board members July 16, marking her retirement following more than 24 years of service. Her service spanned 75 board meetings, support for three presidents, countless staff meetings, years of guiding various and widening
areas of seminary service, support for human services, encouragement of students, promoting
staff morale, staff well being, the occasional interesting costume days, and more. Those gathered
to express thanks and farewell in July told stories, remembered mostly fondly the foibles and creative breakthroughs in shared history of service. We can’t say it enough, thank you, Carol!
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Grant supports the Economic
Well-Being of Future Ministers
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The Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries received a major grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly
Endowment Inc. for $750,000, to be utilized over a three-year period, to support the Cluster’s initiative “The Abundant Life: Seminaries Address the Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers.”
Lilly Endowment Initiative Supports Theological Schools in
Their Practices and Research
Historic Pathway Proves Popular
What is New with Trees, Parking, the Pathway and the Public Entrance to Valentine Hall?
The historic, mile-long multipurpose path looping through
the campus was open and
ready for official activities July
1, 2013, and has proven itself
to be a popular experience.
Almost constantly in use
during daylight hours by
neighbors and visitors alike,
the 10-foot wide path features
18 waysides that tell Seminary, cultural and battle history of the place. The tan path,
installed in 1844 linking the
front of the old Seminary
building to the town to the
East, was restored as part of
the 1.04 mile pathway. Sidewalks are also utilized near
the Schmucker House and the
top of Seminary Ridge from
Springs Avenue north toward
the entrance to the parking
area at the center of campus.
The path and the trailhead
of parking on the west side
of campus was funded (more
than $1.7 million) through
transportation enhancement
grants through PennDot and
the federal Scenic Byways program of Journey Through Hallowed Ground organization.
The Seminary planted more
than two trees for every tree
removed on the western side
of the campus, setting the stage
for a future restoration of the
canopy of trees that graced
the area near where the Union
troops made their last historic
stand on the Ridge on the first
day of the Battle.
The parking lot, featuring
the addition of 100 spaces, was
fully used during the grand
opening week with thousands
visiting Seminary Ridge, its
encampment, seminary venues
and the museum. The improvements created eight compliant ADA handicapped parking spaces for the Refectory,
Chapel, Valentine and Library.
The trail is used at all hours
of the day on most days, and
it is observed that a high percentage of users stop at waysides. Visitors to campus will
be able to park in the blue area
for Valentine related business
and programs and the green
sections for public events on
days for major programs in the
chapel and other campus venues. Parking throughout the
campus has been color coded
to designate areas for campus
residents (yellow), faculty, staff
and commuting students (red)
visitors for events and museum
(green), and Valentine related
business, visitors and staff
(blue).
In order to better monitor
visitor traffic to Valentine Hall,
a public entrance for Valentine is the east side glass doors
nearest the fountain. This is
the only consistently unlocked
door during open hours at Valentine Hall, 8:00am to roughly
5:00pm, except when evening
events are scheduled.
If you haven’t been to campus in the last year, come see
the hospitable, green and safer
features.
Personal financial pressures are severely limiting the ability of seminary graduates to accept calls to
Christian ministry and undermining the effectiveness of too many pastoral leaders. Lilly Endowment created an initiative to address economic issues facing seminarians and future ministers. The
initiative’s aim is to encourage theological schools to examine and strengthen their financial and
educational practices to improve the economic well-being of future pastors.
An overarching component of The Abundant Life endeavor will be research to determine the
overall impact on Lutheran ministers beginning their careers with a heavy load of debt accrued
during undergraduate and theological studies. Five experimental initiatives envisioned at the three
schools will help reduce costs of theological education. All three
schools will strengthen courses in stewardship and expand financial coaching so that every student has access to personal counseling in managing money, minimizing expenses and becoming
stronger leaders in congregational stewardship. Each school will
use a portion of the grant to revise and streamline the educational
process; for many students, the time required to complete a Master of Divinity degree may be shortened by a semester or more,
thereby reducing their overall educational costs. The Rev. Dr.
Angela Zimmann will serve as the site director at Gettysburg,
Continued on p. 23
Gettysburg Seminary Fund
Advances in 2013-2014
On the heels of a very successful capital campaign known
as “Crossroads,” the Advancement Staff turned its attention to increasing the annual
unrestricted giving in an attempt to keep tuition and costs
down for students. Through
the new initiative of Leadership Giving Circles (see page
15), individuals and congregations increased their giving to
the Seminary by 37% this past
fiscal year to an record high of
$680,000. Two additional un-
restricted bequests increased
the Gettysburg Seminary Annual Fund to almost $785,000
for FY’14. It was a very fruitful
year made so by those who
continue to support our mission and ministry on the
Ridge.
Completing his first year
on the staff, Vice President for
Advancement Glenn Ludwig
praised the efforts of the Advancement team, including the
planning work of his predecessor, Kathleen Reed, in sowing
seeds for
the Giving Circles and
refocusing
the post
campaign
Advancement
work. He also expressed gratitude and excitement about welcoming the Rev. Dr. Angela W.
Zimmann, who adds to an already gifted advancement staff
as a new fiscal year begins.
Victoria Larson Receives Wentz Prize
The Lutheran Historical Society
of the Mid-Atlantic announced
Victoria Larson, recently
graduated, as a recipient of the
2013 Abdel Ross Wentz Prize
for Historical Writing, one of
two recipients of the prestigious $2,500 award. Abdel Ross
Wentz, for whom the award is
named, was a leading historian and institution builder in
mid-20th century Lutheranism. From 1916-1956 he was
a professor of Church History
and later President of Gettysburg Seminary. At the time of
his death, the prize was created in Wentz’s memory for the
best historical paper on North
American Lutheranism produced by Lutheran seminarians
or graduate students.
Larson’s “The Case of the
Last American Missionary in
China: The American Lutheran
Response to the Imprisonment
of Paul J. Mackensen, Jr., 19521957” is one of two recipients
in 2013. Kristofer Coffman of
Luther Seminary was the other
2013 winner.
Larson said the “seed of the
paper was research I performed
for Dr. Erling’s ‘History of Lutheranism’ and ‘World Christianity’ classes. The niece of the
missionary who inspired the
paper graduated from Gettysburg a few years ago and was
in one of those classes with
me: Mary Anne Kingsborough.
Her son David is a student at
our sister school in Philadelphia and is in my internship
class. The connections were
not only strikingly coincidental, but brought home for
me throughout my research a
sense of the continuing vitality
of Lutheran history.” Visit
www.lhsmidatlantic.com.
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Steinke continued from p. 3
Susan K. Hedahl, Professor
Emerita of Homiletics, Dies
Following Year-Long Illness
Professor Emerita and teacher
for more than two decades
of the art of preaching at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, the Rev.
Dr. Susan K. Hedahl died July
7, 2013 following her retirement in 2012 and more than a
year-long treatment for cancer.
A memorial service followed at
Christ Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, on July 13th.
Hedahl was a pioneer in the
Lutheran Church, serving in
varied leadership roles and as
one of the Lutheran church’s
first generation of women to be
ordained in the Americas. “It
has been a privilege knowing
and serving with Dr. Hedahl
for over a quarter century,” said
Seminary President Michael
Cooper-White, “first as pastoral colleagues in California
and then here at the Seminary,
where she was among our distinguished senior faculty members.”
The author of nine books
and numerous scholarly publications, Hedahl was the first
recipient of the Seminary’s
distinguished Herman G.
Stuempfle Chair of the Proclamation of the Word. Known
for initiatives within the seminary faculty, she served for
several years as the editor of
Seminary Ridge Review, leading its 1998 renaming from
the Seminary Bulletin and relaunch
in 1998. Other
initiatives included
Preaching Perspectives (sermon preparation resource
sessions) and the
Seminary’s Fine
Arts Council.
Born October
8, 1946 in Minot,
North Dakota, Susan Karen Hedahl
grew up in Wilmar,
Minnesota as the
oldest of four children of Stanford
and Marion Mosvick. Hedahl
received her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1968. She
taught English as a missionary
in Tanzania, East Africa from
1969-1972, after which she
studied and received the Master of Divinity degree at Luther
Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
Ordained to the Lutheran ministry in 1975, she was among
the first Lutheran women pastors in this country. She served
in campus and parish ministry at University Lutheran
Church of Hope, Minneapolis,
and with two other Minnesota
congregations. While engaged
in graduate study for her Ph.D.
in rhetoric and homiletics
from the Graduate Theologi-
cal Union in Berkeley, Calif.,
Hedahl served eleven Lutheran congregations as interim
pastor. From 1992 until her
retirement in 2012, she taught
preaching at Gettysburg Seminary serving as the first ordained Lutheran woman in the
faculty.
Hedahl was committed to
issues related to the Middle
East, in particular Palestine,
and travelled there periodically. Her interests included
language study – Swahili and
Arabic, and as a voracious
reader, she kept up a discipline
of reviewing books in a personal blog.
President Cooper-White
added: “She found particular joy, as word spread of her
about the Gettysburg Seminary community: “I am deeply
grateful to the Gettysburg
community, faculty, administration, staff, students, board
and alumni for their trust, patience, and encouragement as I
learned how to be a contributing member of this lively community of learning. I shall miss
the close working relationship
with students in class, faculty
colleagues, staff, and dedicated
board members. I am especially grateful for the leadership of
President Cooper-White and
the Board of Directors who
have been instrumental in creating the institutional space for
me to flourish. I look forward
to this new call where we can
continue to collaborate as we
all live into new ways of serving the mission of the Gospel
through theological education
with many audiences, through
innovative modalities, and in
long-term sustainable ways.”
Endowment Fund
Honors Steinke
The board of Directors initiated an endowment fund in
honor of Dean Steinke’s service
to support faculty development
and the office of the Dean. Call
717-338-3011 for more information.
cancer diagnosis, in hearing
from so many former students
who expressed appreciation for
her mentoring. The final stage
of her life’s journey this past
year, during which she gracefully witnessed to her deep and
abiding faith in God’s promises, is an inspiration to us all.”
2014
Report to the Church
8 In Memoriam
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Gettysburg Seminary:
A Certain Trumpet
It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp.
If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played? And if the bugle gives an
indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that
is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.
– St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 14: 7-9
page 10-11
such dramatic changes – to the
campus and in leadership – as
we have experienced during
the past year. Campus life has
been transformed as we now
welcome visitors who come by
the busloads to engage the
award-winning Seminary Ridge
Museum. The rededication of
Schmucker Hall (“Old Dorm”)
and Grand Opening of this
world-class interpretive center
was the centerpiece of Gettyschanging seminary for a
changing church: that’s one way burg’s and the nation’s observance of the 150th anniversary
to describe Gettysburg Seminary as we near the midpoint of of the great battle fought on our
turf. To date, more than 50,000
the second decade in the 21st
visitors have passed through
century. Another phrase by
the museum, which presents
which to characterize our current status and stature would be: not only highlights from the
campus warfare and post-battle
A place for outstanding theological education and leadership mission of mercy (the building
formation. Still a third descrip- was a hospital for several
months in 1863), but also the
tor of the seminary supported
role of religion and fierce faith
by your synod is: The place to
which you need to send the next struggles waged before and
during the American Civil War.
generation of church leaders!
Complementing the museum
Seldom in the Seminary’s nearly is a mile-long walking pathway
installed to provide a place of
two centuries have there been
A
pilgrimage and reflection atop
Seminary Ridge. The complex
funding structure that enabled
the flow of over $11 million in
public funds for project development has brought national
recognition to a seminary that
is unique in the world of theological education.
Lest any imagine that we have
shifted our primary mission
focus, however, I hasten to
add that the Seminary’s most
important work still occurs in
our chapel and classrooms. Our
lively worship incorporates a
broader spectrum of liturgical and musical resources than
in the past. And the pedagogy
(teaching approach) fielded by
a first-rate faculty has evolved
to become more “learner-centered” and is focused on developing the multiple competencies required of today’s rostered
and lay leaders. Innovation
abounds as professors offer
more online and web-based resources to supplement the tradi-
Age of Ordination for Active ELCA Ordained Ministers
500
Age when Ordained
70-79 years
60-69
50-59
40-49
30-39
20-29
28
Current Age
65 years
91
Source: ELCA Roster Database,
N-9, 128. Original graphic created
by Research and Evaluation, ELCA
Office of the Presiding Bishop,
3/2013
of another great
school of the
church, Luther
1,200
Seminary in Min1,000
nesota. For the
800
coming academic
600
year, Dr. Kristin
400
Largen will be
200
our Interim Dean;
0
09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14
we won’t lose a
Academic Year
beat in moving
forward with the
strongest possible
ELCA Clergy Retiring per Year
academic life. One
400
who graduated in
350
May will remain
300
on campus to
250
200
lead our student
150
recruitment and
100
further enhance
50
spiritual forma0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
tion: Pr. Lauren
Calendar Year
Muratore has
accepted the
tional books, journals and other Seminary’s call to serve as
tools found in our outstanding
Director of Admissions and Aslibrary. As financial constraints sistant Dean of the Chapel. We
have caused us to reduce faculty will be richly blessed by these
numbers in some areas, partnew leaders who join others in
nering with others enables
our competent and committed
Gettysburg to continue offering cadre of faculty and staff.
a rich “menu” of courses. Historic ties to our sister schools of But while we can and will conthe Washington Consortium,
tinue doing great things at the
and our nearest ELCA neighELCA’s oldest yet ever-renewing
bor at Philadelphia, are being
seminary, some of the most
strengthened to offer even more important work falls to you!
The data should set off alarms;
courses taught by diverse core
enrollment downturn in all our
faculty members and adjunct
seminaries comes just as we
teachers.
are on the cusp of a big wave
As our students graduate and go of retirements from the ranks
on to calls in a variety of minis- of ordained ministers. The
tries throughout this nation and primary encouragers of “vocations,” those best-positioned to
internationally, so those who
encourage gifted women and
serve as faculty and staff are
sometimes called to new fields
men to consider seminary and
of service. As the academic year public ministry are pastors,
ended, we bid farewell to the
other rostered leaders, and
Seminary’s Dean of the past
moreover, the lay people in our
dozen years; Dr. Robin Steinke
congregations. While seminary
now serves as the President
means “seedbed,” where faith
Number of Enrollments
Change is Coming: Calls Waiting
ELCA Lutheran M.Div. Enrollment at ELCA Seminaries
can blossom in new directions,
it is in congregations where the
seedlings of Christian service
must first be tended and nurtured. If the church of tomorrow
is to continue having superb,
well-prepared pastoral and diaconal leaders, as well as theologians, we simply MUST turn
around this decline in numbers.
And we must be about it today!
A final word: THANKS. Region
8 synods lead the entire ELCA
Number of Retirements
Report to the Church
2014
Notes on the State of the Seminary by Michael Cooper-White, President
Number of Ordained Ministers
10
in seminary financial support. 11
This past year, dozens of congregations and even more individuals have joined our donor
“leadership circles.” Most important of all, we at your seminary
know that day by day and week
after week there are thousands
of you prayer partners who beseech God’s continuing blessing
on a changing yet always-faithful school, to which you need
to send the next generation of
leaders for the church!
Innovative Edges in
the Gettysburg
Seminary Experience
Gettysburg Seminary offers a “certain trumpet” in the changing
landscape of theological education. Over the last two years,
the Seminary has strengthened its financial aid, begun a curricular redesign and expanded certificate study. This July, Gettysburg Seminary’s Lay School will observe its 50th anniversary.
Gettysburg Seminary:
◗
Offered the first ever MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) by a Lutheran
Seminary
◗
Welcomed “Scholars of Abundance” in which the last year or semester
of study, depending on the degree program, is tuition-free, decreasing
the debt students incur through federal loans and creating the strongest
overall financial assistance among ELCA seminaries;
◗
Is increasing its use of online and hybrid (online with residential component) course offerings following accreditation authorizing comprehensive distance education program;
◗
Expanded its fall colloquy and spring convocation to week-long “Academies” with group rates for congregations bringing six or more persons;
◗
Created “Advanced-Practice in Ministry Certificate” program for pastors
seeking a vital, invigorating continuing education program;
◗
Is planning a creative, competency based curriculum alternative to the
traditional path to ordination;
◗
Hosts an award-winning, state-of-the-art Seminary Ridge Museum
that offers theological education to the nation, in the Seminary’s iconic
Schmucker Hall.
page 12-13
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13
Report to the Church
2014
150 Years Later
page 14-15
Has Your Congregation Joined A
“Leadership Circle?”
“We must build a strong financial base for Gettysburg Seminary through unrestricted giving to
our Gettysburg Seminary Fund. The initiation of
our Leadership Circles has clearly set us on the
LEADERSHIP
right path. We have experienced a decided inCIRCLES
crease in donors, and an increase in the amount
of their gifts. All of this sets us on solid financial
ground as we seek to provide quality theological education for the
church.” – Rev. Glenn E. Ludwig
For details on the week visit:
www.Ltsg.edu/fallacademy
Gettysburg Seminary Fund (Individual and
Congregational Giving)
3rd Quarter
Annual Fund
Tracking
$ 1,000,000.00
Massive Open Online Course
$ 800,000.00
$ 600,000.00
$ 400,000.00
You can take a repeat of the
first MOOC offered by a
Lutheran Seminary. Mark
Vitalis Hoffman will offer his
“Survey of the Lands of the
Bible” this fall, September to
December. In the comfort
of your home. On your own
time; at your own pace.
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Beginning of
Leadership Circles**
20
14
3
01
4*
*
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2
FY
FY
20
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$ 200,000.00
Ad
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Among the most efficient energy features added to
the building is the installation of a geothermal heating
and cooling system employing 40 wells 450 feet deep
within the shale of Seminary Ridge.
The Seminary is recognizing
Leadership Circle participants
with lapel Circle Pins which
identifies them as Leadership Givers and congregations
receive a banner (at the $ 5,000
Level) and certificates for the
Silver and Bronze Levels.
and Brooks Schramm.
20
The Seminary Ridge Museum achieved LEED certification for implementing practical and measurable
strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high
performance in sustainable site development and rehabilitation, water savings, energy efficiency, materials
selection and indoor environmental quality.
On the eve of the anniversary, Sunday June 30, the Seminary held a candlelight
Evening Prayer at the Peace Portico to honor the wounded and dead of Gettysburg
led by Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson. Public
programs of speakers and presentations were
scheduled throughout the week in the Seminary
Chapel. The entire museum and Seminary staff
as well as volunteers and staff of the Historical Society were involved in welcoming record
numbers of visitors to the campus throughout
the opening week.
Goals were established for the
year in each of the giving levels
with the total raised from Circle
participants anticipated being
$ 462,500. As of the end of
March (the 3rd quarter of fiscal
year 2013-14), we have raised
$ 375,975 and have 142 circle
donors. The goal is 180.
Christine Helmer, Kirsi Stjerna
FY
in the nation and perhaps the most recognizable
structure in Gettysburg is a joint venture of the Seminary and the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS)
to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the building as a
state of the art museum.
Circle participants include
individuals who give at a Circle
Level (Gold Circle = $ 5,000;
Silver = $ 2,500-4,999; Bronze
= $ 2,499-1,000) and congregations who support the Gettysburg Seminary Fund at similar
levels.
Susan Wood, Elina Vuola,
20
10
“Some artifacts you can hold in your hand, others you can walk inside,” said the Rev. John Spangler,
Executive Assistant to the Seminary President and President of the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation, as he declared the new Museum open, 150 years to the day after
the Civil War engulfed the Lutheran Seminary grounds in battle. As the ribbon
was cut by President Michael Cooper-White and Governor Tom Corbett, Spangler
LEED Certification
added, “it is with great pleasure that I can say, ‘you can now walk inside the SemiRecognizes Seminary’s
nary Ridge Museum’.” The museum, which interprets the events that focused on the
Green Commitment
building during the battle, its role as the largest fixed field hospital, and the issues
of faith and freedom that tore both nation and its church bodies apart over issues
The Schmucker Hall rehabilitation project not only won
of slavery, has received international, national and regional awards for the way it
awards for excellence in construction and exhibit and
as a destination, but became the first LEED Certified
preserves Schmucker Hall and provides the public with a deeper understanding of
construction project in ELCA Seminary history.
the causes and consequences of the civil war. Awards include the British Guild of
LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design)
Travel Writers second prize for its Best Wider World Project award, the national
certification status is based on a rating system develAward of Excellence (Eagle Award) for the rehabilitation from the Association of
oped by the U.S. Green Building Council. The rehabilitaBuilders and Contractors, and the Directors Award for PA Museum Association.
tion of one of the most important Civil War structures
Fall
Academy
2014
Gettysburg
Featuring Eero Huovinen,
09
After multiple years of construction, land development, and final preparations, the Seminary Ridge
Museum opened July 1, 2013, with more than 1,300 people visiting the museum on its first day.
Among the visitors were the ELCA Presiding Bishop, the Governor of Pennsylvania, Pulitzer-winning
historians, the Director of the National Park Service, a U.S. Senator, the Secretary of the ELCA, NPR
and scores of media representatives, and many others.
15
October 27-November 1
FY
Seminary Ridge Museum Opens,
Draws Recognition, Thousands
of Visitors
Launched in the Fall of 2013,
the Gettysburg Seminary
Leadership Circles were created
to assist in increasing our Gettysburg Seminary Fund which
gives direct support to students
and assists in keeping tuition
costs down for them. “We have
a growing list of individual and
congregation givers who are
making a huge difference with
their Gettysburg Seminary (annual) Fund contributions,” said
Glenn Ludwig, Vice President
of Advancement, “and I can’t
say enough about how important this is in strengthening the
overall financial health of this
Seminary.”
20
Report to the Church
2014
FY
14
Free
Details and info for signing up
www.Ltsg.edu/BibleMOOC
page 16
16
Report to the Church
2014
www.Ltsg.edu
61 Seminary Ridge
Gettysburg, PA 17325
717-334-6286
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
Core Budget Summary (Excludes Seminary Ridge Museum)
I. Unrestricted Revenue
2012-13
Net tuition & fees 1 718,313
ELCA Churchwide Grants
417,146
Region 8 Synods
570,996
Gifts & Grants 21,161,061
Auxiliary enterprises 3 711,391
Other sources
1,403,570
Assets released from restriction
1,519,258
6,501,735
Total
%
11.0 %
6.4 %
8.8 %
17.9 %
10.9 %
21.6 %
23.4 %
100.0 %
II. Unrestricted Expenses
2012-13
%
2,713,327
Instruction, academic & student services
42.8 %
1,616,335
Institutional support & advancement
25.5 %
753,481
Auxiliary enterprises
11.9 %
1,257,572
Special programs & other expenses
19.8 %
6,340,715
Total 4 100.0 %
IIIAssets
2012-13
2011-12
44,576,636
Net Assets
36,617,879
IVInvestments
2012-13
2011-12
Seminary Endowment
14,734,935
17,370,845
Funds held in trust by others
6,608,123
6,945,370
Other investments
11,932
12,106
Total investments
21,354,990
24,328,321
1
Tuition and fees received less Seminary scholarships totaling $445,340.
2
Excludes $5,581,000 in Seminary Ridge Museum grant revenue.
3
Includes student housing, food service and bookstore operations.
4
Expenses excludes depreciation (non-cash).
Largen Serves as
Interim Dean
The Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston
Largen Largen steps into the
role of Interim Dean, caused
by the departure of the Rev. Dr.
Robin Steinke, who was elected
to serve as President of Luther
Seminary. Largen, who joined
the faculty in 2006, currently
serves as Associate Professor of
Systematic Theology.
The announcement was
made by President Michael
Cooper-White following the
spring meeting of the Seminary’s Board of Directors, who
acted on the President’s recommendation. “I am delighted
that Dr. Largen agreed to serve
as Interim Dean of the Seminary, and that my nomination
was so enthusiastically endorsed as the Board of Directors appointed her to succeed
Dean Robin Steinke,” he said.
“Her passionate commitment
to theological education, dedication to our students and high
regard for faculty colleagues
will ensure continuing strong
momentum in our academic
and community life.”
Largen is working at the
center of a faculty project to
develop forms of curriculum
for ministry preparation at a
time when seminaries across
North America are rethinking
theological education. “I am
confident in our ability to move
forward in creative new ways,”
she continued, “to successfully meet new challenges with
nimble and novel responses.”
She will continue to teach a
theological loci courses, with a
particular focus on soteriology.
She also teaches comparative
theology, and specializes in
Buddhism and Hinduism.
Before coming to Gettysburg Seminary she taught at
Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C. Largen is ordained
in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, her theological training is from Wartburg Theological Seminary,
the Augustana Hochschule in
Neuendettelsau, Germany, and
the Graduate Theological
Union in Berkeley, Calif. She
is the editor of Dialog: a Journal of Theology, and author of
What Christians Can Learn
from Buddhism: Rethinking
Salvation; Baby Krishna, Infant
Christ: A Comparative Theology
of Salvation and her landmark
Finding God among Our Neighbors: An Interfaith Systematic
Theology.
Cupola
Message
for the
ELCA
Presiding
Bishop Mark
S. Hanson issued a pastoral
video message
for Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America
(ELCA) members and for
the public
that reflected on his visit to the cupola and the exhibit in the Seminary
Ridge Museum. Hanson said the freedoms we celebrate today
came with great sacrifice and continue to generate controversy. He contextualized recent Supreme Court decisions and
Congressional actions, as well as the 50th anniversary of the
civil rights movement and the 150th anniversary of the Battle
of Gettysburg by asking, “What does all of this mean in the
work of freedom and justice that has now been bequeathed to
us?” See the video at http://bit.ly/17TLD7b.
Stjerna Given Docent Status at
University of Helsinki
The Rev. Dr. Kirsi Stjerna, Professor of Reformation Church
History and Director of the
Institute for Luther Studies, has
received international recognition by Helsinki University,
which appointed her as a Docent February 11, 2014. Helsinki University Chancellor,
Thomas Wilhelmsson, signed
the appointment upon the recommendation of the university’s Faculty of Theology. This
followed an extensive review
of Stjerna’s academic research,
publication, teaching skills and
pedagogical vision. Stjerna’s
dual institutional status allows
her to teach at Helsinki University and to continue to supervise and examine Master’s
theses and doctoral dissertations for university students.
She is an ordained Lutheran
pastor in both the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America
and the Church of Finland. She
became a U.S. citizen in 2013.
In European universities, a
docenture is a lifelong appointment analogous to an associate
professorship. “Being a citizen
of two worlds, as a European
and as a new U.S. citizen,” said
Stjerna, “I have benefitted from
first-class theological education
in both continents. For many
reasons, the title of docent
at the University of Helsinki,
my alma mater, is not only an
enormous privilege, but also
a chance to give back a little. I
look forward to teaching and
continuing international collaborating in the broad spectrum of theological/historical
and gender studies.”
17
Faculty News
Folkemer’s Revised, Updated Setting of
Of the Lands and Seasons Published
Of the Lands and Seasons, a setting for worship that responds
to the imagery of the agrarian
and environmentally conscious
rhythms of creation, has been
updated and enhanced and republished by Augsburg Fortress
Press.
The updated setting, composed and compiled by Gettysburg Seminary Cantor Stephen
P. Folkemer, features new texts
to conform to Evangelical Lutheran Worship texts and language patterns, more inclusive
pronouns, four new Eucharistic
prayers and new options for canticles. According to Folkemer,
the enhancements include “friendlier key signatures more friendly to folk/traditional instruments” and new option for the Canticle of Praise, making it familiar for those who regularly employ
Evangelical Lutheran Worship resources.
The original Of the Land and Seasons, published in 1989, was
created to be a companion liturgy to the Lutheran Book of Worship, published in 1978. Folkemer was assisted in his compilation
by the writing of Herman G. Stuempfle and Beth Folkemer. Eucharistic prayers from the Seminary’s Professor of Worship, Mark
Oldenburg are included in the revised edition.
Kirsi Stjerna, Professor of
Congratulations Class of 2014
Delivering “Joyful Ministry in Challenging
Times” to the graduating seminarians at
the 188th commencement of the Seminary,
President Cooper-White said “Your theological perspective – grounded in the scriptures,
lifted God-ward through your studies and
performance in the pastoral arts, has also
been sharpened through your historical studies. And it is with a few glimpses backward
that I will conclude this hopefully forwardcharging reflection upon the occasion of your
commencing the next chapters of your lives
and ministries.”
Reformation Church History
and Director of the Institute
for Luther Studies, gave the
keynote lecture “Women and
the Reformation” at Emory
University’s Reformation Day,
October 24, 2013, at Pitts Theology Library. At the So Much
Great Fruit: Lutheran Perspectives on Contemporary Legal
Issues, conference in Chicago,
March 27-28, 2014, Stjerna
presented “A Lutheran Feminist Critique of American
Child Protection Laws: Sins of
Sexual Nature.” In Uppsala,
Sweden, October 8-10, 2013,
at Remembering the Past and
Living the Future: Lutheran
Tradition in Transition she
presented “For Future’s Sake:
Rekindling Lutheran Theology
on Spirituality, Equality, and
Inclusivity.” At the Lutheran
Women in Theological and Religious Studies meeting (at the
American Academy of Religion
annual meeting in Baltimore,
Md., November 23-26, 2013)
she presented “The Finnish
Luther Study and Feminism.”
Stjerna was a co-chair for the
Martin Luther and Global Lu-
theran Traditions Group event,
and organizer of two sessions.
Recent publications include
“Seeking for Hospitable Discourse on the Sacrament of
Baptism” in the spring 2014
issue of Dialogue: A Journal of
Theology; “Demons of Violence: Searching for Theological Responses with Luther.” The
Journal of Lutheran Ethics, November, 2013; “Luther and his
Jewish conversation partners:
Insights for thinking about
conversion, baptism, and saving faith”, Currents Fall 2013;
and “Elisabeth von Braunschweig and the Augsburg Confession,” Lutheran Quarterly,
Summer 2013.
Kristin Johnston Largen, Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Systematic
Theology served as general
editor for the interactive online
ebook version of the Introduction to World Religions textbook published by Fortress
Press and Inkling, Spring 2014.
She presented a paper at the
American Academy of Religion Meeting: “Whose Buddhism? Whose Identity?
Presenting [and/or Misrepresenting] Shin Buddhism for a
Christian Audience,” November, 2013. Largen gave a public
lecture at Incarnate Word University: “Finding God Among
our Neighbors: A Christian
Rationale for Interreligious
Dialogue” in January 2014,
and she presented a paper at
the Lutheran College Presidents’ Meeting titled “Beyond
Tolerance [through Dialogue]
to Transformation,” February,
continued on p. 20
19
Faculty News
Alumni News
18
Faculty News
20
Journal of Bible and Theology.
He published installments for
WorkingPreacher.org connected to the Narrative Lectionary
(John 9.1-41 and John 10.1-18).
2014. She presented a fourpart series on Interreligious
Dialogue for the Sojourners
Group, Mar Lu Ridge, Spring
2014 and participated in the
Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue,
Rockville, Md. March 2014.
Largen preached at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in
York, Pa. on Good Friday 2014.
Gilson Waldkoenig,
Professor of Church in Society
in the B.B. Maurer Chair in
Town and Country Ministry,
is in workshops and an online
course for Theological Faculty
Teaching Online hosted by the
Wabash Center for Teaching
and Learning in Theology and
Religion. There was an ELCA
Appalachian Ministry Consultation on January 29-30, 2014
in Pittsburgh at which Waldkoenig gave the opening presentation and represented Gettysburg Seminary’s continued
attention to ministry in the
Appalachian region through
the Town and Country Church
Institute. He used his sabbatical to research environmental
restoration at ELCA-related
institutions ranging from the
Cascade Mountains to Midwestern Prairie to Appalachia.
Marty Stevens, Associate
Professor in The Arthur L.
Larson position of Stewardship
and Parish Ministry and Registrar attended Board meetings
August 1-3, 2013, October 31November 3, 2013, and February 20-23, 2014 for the Portico
Benefit Services Board as a
member of the Board Development and Products & Services
Committees, and Chair of the
Appeals Committee. Stevens
Leonard Hummel, Pro-
Payne Seminary Honors Strobert as Doctor of Humane Letters
On Payne Theological Seminary’s Founder’s Day, October 28, 2013, the Rev. Dr. Nelson T. Strobert.
Ph.D., Professor emeritus of Religious Education received an honorary degree of Humane Letters.
Strobert (3rd from the left) displays the degree as he stands among leaders of the AME Church,
including President Leah Gaskin Fitchue (left), Bishop DeVeaux (2nd from right) and the Rev. Dr.
Charles Brown (3rd from right) who has taught two courses at Gettysburg Seminary. Payne Seminary was named for Daniel Alexander Payne, who attended Gettysburg Seminary 1835-1837.
was the keynote speaker for
the Stewardship Best Practices
event in Pittsburgh, October
19, 2013. She taught at the Lay
School for Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northwestern
Pennsylvania Synods at Thiel
College, June 20-22, 2014. She
preached at three services for
Stewardship Weekend at St.
James Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, October 12-13, 2013;
she preached and presided at
St. James March 1-2, 2014, and
May 3-4, 2014; she presided
Ash Wednesday 2014, and she
preached at the installation
service for Gettysburg Seminary alumna Jeanette Leisk
at Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church in Alexandria, Va., on
April 7, 2014.
Gerald Christianson,
Emeritus Professor of Church
History published Reform,
Representation and Theology in
Nicholas of Cusa and His Age
with H. Lawrence Bond. He
contributed “Church, Bible,
and Reform in the Hussite
Debates at the Council of Basel,” to Reassessing Reform: A
Historical Investigation into
Church Renewal, a book that
arose out of the Gettysburg
Conference in 2008. He performed Aaron Copland’s “A
Lincoln Portrait” with the
United States Army Band
(“Pershing’s Own”) during the
opening events of the Seminary
Ridge Museum. Christianson
narrated “Voices from the Hill”
by John William “Buzz” Jones,
which featured Wayne Hill,
baritone, Michael Matsinko,
pianist, and the Sunderman
Wind Quintet. The work was
commissioned by Music, Gettysburg! for the Sesquicentennial and the opening of the
Museum.
Mark Vitalis Hoffmann, Professor of Biblical
Studies was presenter at Zion
Lutheran in Middletown, Md.
on “God’s Positioning System
– A Geography of Christ-
mas” (Advent I, II and III).
He preached at Zion Lutheran
on December 29. In December, 2013 Hoffmann was also
interviewed for The Seminary
Explores Podcast Series. Hoffmann was the 2014 Wednesday Lenten Series “Come and
See” presenter, Zion Lutheran,
Middletown on the topics “The
Gospel of John,” “Small Talk
and God Talk,” “Spirit and
Truth – The Right Way to Worship,” “How can we know the
way? Love Among Friends,”
“What Jesus’ Death Accomplishes for Us,” “Unless I see:
Believing and Life in Christ”
His review of Donald H. Juel’s
Shaping the Scriptural Imagination appeared in the April
2014 issue of Interpretation: A
Not all faculty news fit
within this issue. Watch
the next issue for a
fuller report on faculty
member’s extra activity.
fessor of Pastoral Theology and
Pastoral Care and Director of
Supervised Clinical Ministry,
joined three other scholars as a
panelist for the Wildcard Session “The Rebirth of Entheogens: New Medical Research on
Drug-Related Mystical Experience and its Implications for
Religious Studies” at the November 2013 Annual Meeting
of the AAR with the presentation “Mystical & Visionary
States of Consciousness Occasioned by Entheogens: Implications for the Psychology of
Religion & the Psychology of
Religious Communities.” Hummel was the keynote speaker
for the Zion XV Conference at
the Lutheridge Conference
Center in Arden, N.C. October
24-27. Zion conferences focus
on ELCA and LCMS ministry
of chaplaincy, pastoral counseling and clinical pastoral education. He presented “Luther’s
Theology of Consolation and
Pastoral Care” and “A Lutheran
Theology of Conversation in
Community.” On May 6 he presented “Chance, Necessity,
Love: An Evolutionary Theology of Cancer,” at Bern Evangelical Lutheran Church, in
Leesport, Pa. At the Society of
Pastoral Theology in Atlanta,
June 18-21 he presented the
paper, “Pastoral Formation
Amidst War and Peace: Teaching and Learning Theology in
the Battlefield and Borough of
Gettysburg.”
Staff Welcomes and Farewells
Jennifer Byers Assumes Controller Role
Jennifer C. Byers brings extensive experience in non-profit accounting to the
Seminary’s Financial Services Office. Byers’ background has spanned health
care to human services, and she is a graduate of Millersville University following her study of accounting and business administration. She lives in York
with her husband Carl and their twin children, Ashley and Joshua. She joins
colleagues Chance Miner and Amy Myers in the Financial Services Office.
Julie Stecker Transitions to Delaware-Maryland Synod
Associate Director of Admissions Julie Stecker, AiM, who has ably served as vocational guide to
discerning seminarians will begin working for the synod as Administrative Assistant for Call Process and Roster Concerns and Director for Communications on July 1st. In order to provide for an
orderly transition time in Admissions, Stecker will continue working half-time for the Seminary
through December of 2014. As her work with us concludes in December, we will also announce a
special time of recognition and thanksgiving for Julie’s many important contributions during her
years of service to Gettysburg Seminary.
Elizabeth Karsteter Meighan Receives Baton
The Seminary welcomed Elizabeth Karsteter Meighan, Assistant to the President and Personnel Manager and Carol Troyer’s successor July 1. A Gettysburg
resident and Gettysburg College graduate, Meighan overlapped with Carol
Troyer in a transition time during which Carol offered orientation to the many
dimensions of this important role. She comes to the Seminary from the Letterkenny Army Depot in a position that included personnel responsibilities.
Marta Spangler, Lindsay Hann Conclude Service
Marta Spangler, who has served the Seminary so well as a deployed member of the Advancement
team, first in greater Pittsburgh and more recently in Metro D.C., concluded her part-time service
with the Seminary in order to accept a one-year position in the Geneva-based office of advocacy
for the Lutheran World Federation. Lindsay Hann served as a staff accountant and assisted in the
reorganization of Financial Services for the last two years. Her relocation out of state brought her
much-appreciated service to an end in May.
Zimmann (’98) Returns from Jerusalem to Gettysburg
The Rev. Dr. Angela Zimmann joins the Seminary staff this August as Advancement & Communication Executive. She will also teach homiletics courses and lead Gettysburg Seminary’s Abundant Life components (research, and
development of competency-based assessment). An area of Advancement-related focus for Zimmann will be in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod,
where her work will build on that of Marta Spangler. Angela and her family are returning to the United States this summer upon completion of their
service as ELCA global missionaries in Jerusalem. In addition to her pastoral experience, doctoral
completion and recognized teaching competency, Angela’s recent run for Congress demonstrated
her passion for fundraising. “The time I spent as a student within the community of the Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg had a profoundly positive influence on my life and ministry”
said Zimmann, “It is with great enthusiasm and joy that I return to Gettysburg Seminary. I pray
that I am enabled to give back a small portion of the many rich blessings received from this holy
institution.”
21
Alumni News
22 Vivian S. Roberts (’76)
and Eric A. Roberts (’75) are
moving to New Amsterdam,
Guyana, where Vivian will
serve as the Pastor of the Ebenezer Lutheran Parish for the
next two years. They expect to
serve be there for two years before retiring in Saskatchewan,
Canada.
Karen Minnich-Sadler
(’91) has accepted a new call to
serve as chaplain for Hospice
& Community Care in Lancaster, Pa.
Alumnus Ambele
Mwaipopo Elected
Bishop in Tanzanian
Diocese
Pastor Ambele Mwaipopo (’94)
was elected to serve as the first
bishop of the new Lake Tanganyika Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). This soon-to-be
diocese was formerly the Rukwa Mission Area of the ELCT.
Bishop-elect Mwaipopo served
as the deputy general secretary
of mission and evangelism for
the ELCT. Mwaipopo received
the Master of Sacred Theology
degree (S.T.M.) from Gettysburg Seminary. Mwaipopo’s
election took place in March,
in Sumbawanga, Tanzania.
Bill Boldin (’87) has begun
a call, as of July 1, 2013, as
Chaplain to two communities
in the National Lutheran Communities and Services, Inc.
system. The two communities are The Village at Orchard
Ridge in Winchester, Va. and
The Legacy at North Augusta,
in Staunton, Va.
David Yeago (’84) has
been appointed to the faculty
of Trinity School for Ministry,
an evangelical seminary in the
Anglican tradition based in
Ambridge, Penna., as part of
the Seminary’s new relationship with the North American
Lutheran Seminary (NALS) of
the North American Lutheran
Church (NALC).
Hill in Winchester, Va., in the
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.
Danny Hammons (’05)
has been called to St. Luke Lutheran Church in Gales Ferry,
Conn.
Maria Hammons (’06)
was awarded The Dr. Lorenzo
Handy Ecumenical Service
Award by the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council.
William Karns (’35) Get-
tysburg Seminary’s longestserving alumnus died at 104
years of age on December 29,
2013 at York Hospital. Karns
was the oldest living graduate
of both Gettsyburg Seminary
and Gettysburg College. He is
shown below visiting the Seminary Ridge Museum under
construction in 2012.
Alumni/ae Association Names Garretson
Honorary Alumna
As the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Alumni Association honored three of its distinguished graduates,
it also named Nina Garretson to be an honorary alumna of
the 188-year old institution.
Garretson, who is Director of Alumni and Congregational Relations, has worked with seminary constituents since
1999, and has been recognized as a communication hub for
keeping up with the wide span of alumni news and relationships. The award was announced by the Rev. Jeremiah Sassaman, Pastor of St. Paul, Mertztown, Pa., who has served as
the Alumni Association’s president for the last three years.
Susan MacDonald (’11)
has been called as Priest-inCharge for St. Paul’s on-the-
been called to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Beaver, Pa.
Claudia Bergmann (’94)
received a grant from Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft to
finish her second book Endzeit
als Mahl-Zeit: Imaginierte endzeitliche Mahlrituale in der
jüdischen Apokalyptik.
William Bogholtz (’85)
has accepted a call to Christ
Lutheran Church in Cape
Coral, Fla.
Ronald Hartman (’09)
has accepted a call to Trinity
Lutheran Church in Georgetown, S.C.
Richard Reichard (’63)
and his wife Melba received
the Association of Lutheran
Development Executives “Spirit of Giving” Award in Jacksonville, Fla.
John Pearson (’75) retired as Senior Pastor from
St. John’s Lutheran Church in
Boyerstown, Pa. after 22 years.
Nancy Gable (’79) re-
Ron Valadez (‘13) spoke
to the American Dream and
HB-56 State Action Alert. Read
an interview on the Lutheran
Immigration and Refugee Service blog. He also has a chapter
in Love Has No Borders - How
Faith Leaders Resisted Alabama’s Harsh Immigration Law
published by Greater Birmingham Ministries.
continued from p. 7
Freda Snyder (’06) has
has been called to First Lutheran Church in New Oxford, Pa.
from active ministry but he
continues to teach in the Religion and Philosophy Departments of Mount Aloysius
College, Cresson Pa. and Saint
Francis University in Loretto
Pa. He is also interim Pastor
at Good shepherd Lutheran
Church in Windber, Pa.
ceived her Doctor of Education from Penn State in May.
Her dissertation title was “We
Make This Road by Walking:
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America Diaconal Ministers
as Emancipatory Educators of
Adults.”
called to Trinity Lutheran
Church, Olney, Ill.
Elizabeth George (’04)
Ken Diable (’73) is retired
Lilly Grant
April Daily (’87) has been
Lauren Caywood
Miller (’06) has been called
to Peace Lutheran Church in
Charlottsville, Va.
Meheret Yonas Caruthers (’11) has been
called to St. John Lutheran
Church in Linthicum Heights,
Md.
Awards Presented to Roper, Hagedorn and
Pile at Spring Academy
The Seminary honored graduates the Rev. David Roper for
distinguished pastoral ministry, Bishop Gregory Pile for
distinguished special service, and the Rev. Dr. John Hagedorn for lifetime service in its annual banquet Tuesday, April
29th. The awards are determined by the Seminary’s Alumni
Association. Applications are available on the website’s
Alumni page.
building upon research undertaken by the Rev. Dr. Gil Waldkoenig and multiple faculty
groups.
The schools will also develop
new grant-supported fundraising efforts to build their scholarship pools and offer greater
financial aid to students with
need. Philadelphia will pioneer
a F.A.R. (Flexible, Affordable,
Relevant) curricular approach;
Gettysburg Seminary is exploring a competencies-based approach to theological education and a compressed time
frame for the M.Div. degree.
Southern Seminary will pilot
test an “articulation” agreement
with Lenoir-Rhyne University
through which some students
may shorten their years spent
in undergraduate and theological education.
The Board Welcomes Robert King
Robert J. King joined the Seminary’s Board of Directors earlier this year, following his election by the Upper Susquehanna Synod. King is a retired financial planner, graduate of Susquehanna University as well as Bucknell, and is a
member of Trinity Lutheran Church, McAlisterville, Pa. He fills a vacancy left
by Mr. Michael Hartman, who moved out of the region.
We love hearing from all alumni and alumnae
Although we don’t have room to publish all that we are receiving, please continue to share updates, new callings, ordination information and other news
with us through the form on the alumni pages of the website. We also include
more news in the Alumnews electronic newsletter. If you are not subscribed,
please contact Nina Garretson at ngarretson@Ltsg.edu or 717-338-3011. We
value knowing what is happening in the lives of our alums!
Be a “Champion of Call”
Share your joy of ministry. Recommend a prospective student to Gettysburg
Seminary. As a graduate, you are in a unique position to know what Gettysburg Seminary offers and expects and to recognize infividuals who have gifts
to be future leaders of the church.
23
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA 17325
www.Ltsg.edu 1-800 MLUTHER
Seminary Views is a Gettysburg Seminary publication.
Questions or comments may be sent to the editor, the Rev. John R. Spangler, at Gettysburg Seminary, 61 Seminary Ridge,
Gettysburg, PA 17325, or e-mail jspangler@Ltsg.edu. Send news items to Katy Giebenhain, e-mail kgiebenhain@Ltsg.edu.
ISSN: 0098-3101
Summer 2014
|
Gettysburg Seminary Newsletter
|
Volume 49, Issue 1
24
Upcoming
Deadline for Advent
Star Bulk Orders
October 1
Birds of Longing
Exhibit Opening
October 13 at 7:00pm with
artist Laurie Wohl
Fall Academy 2014
October 27-30
Includes the dedication of
the Bell Tower
Luther Bowl
November 1
Music, Gettysburg!
Advent Vespers
November 30, 2014 7:30pm
Visit the website for details:
www.musicgettysburg.org
Non-Profit
U.S. Postage
PAID
Gettysburg, PA
Permit No. 219