Mark Swanson finds joy in encounter On Mark Swanson’s office door is a quotation from Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, which says, “The call of God is very strange.” Swanson would agree: strange and joyful. “For the first two years that I was reading theology, I didn’t know what it was for,” recalls Swanson, […]
Peter Vethanayagamony’s guiding principles in practice “I’m so grateful for Christian missions and missionaries,” said Peter Vethanayagamony (2000, ThM; 2006, PhD), professor of Modern Church History. Vethanayagamony’s positive life-altering experience with services (i.e. education, health, discipleship) of Christian missionaries in India during his formative years stands in direct contrast to what he calls the American […]
Brooke Petersen on finding meaning in bivocational practice For Brooke Petersen (2006, MDiv), coming back to teach and serve as the director of the MDiv and MA programs and coordinator of candidacy at LSTC has been a full-circle experience. “There have long been questions deep in my heart that were made even more real in […]
Candace Kohli on Luther, empathy & critical context Candace Kohli, assistant professor of Lutheran Systematic Theology and Global Lutheranism, can clearly pinpoint what made Luther stand out amongst other theologians during her time in seminary: “There was something about the way he described things, the interventions he was making, and the boldness with which he […]
An Overflow of Abundance: Barbara Rossing and Lauren Johnson If you talk to Barbara Rossing about her call to theological education, you’ll hear a word often repeated: abundance. Rossing grew up in Northfield, Minn., with a current population of nearly 21,000. It’s the home of Carleton College, where Rossing studied geology as an undergraduate. She […]
Mirrors and windows: Saints are for Lutherans, too She’s now sainted,” Kurt Hendel said with love and a tear in his eye, indicating that the woman in the picture had died. He was presenting a digital memory book of former classmates, spouses of classmates, and friends all united by an experience with the Seminex tradition. […]
Alum reflects on the legacy of professors Klein and Krentz In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Hobbits Merry and Pippin, confused and a bit lost at having been separated from their party, find themselves in Fangorn Forest. There, these diminutive Hobbits (a bit under 5 feet, by Tolkien’s measure) are addressed […]
Wisconsin native turned Chicago dweller ready for her future in ministry Melissa Hrdlicka toured four seminaries/divinity schools before settling on LSTC, a school she didn’t visit until she arrived as a student four years ago. “LSTC was the best choice for me,” she says confidently. It’s a wonderful place. The first time I was on […]
Madagascar pastor returns home as a systematic theologian When the Malagasy Lutheran Church identified Hery Andrianotahina Naivoson as a trailblazer, he accepted the call to further his education in the United States, particularly LSTC. Naivoson is a pastor in Madagascar, a big island in the Indian Ocean separated from Africa by the Mozambique Channel, nearly […]
TEEM program provides bridge from Baptist to Lutheran It was a good Friday when Sean Ramsey was tapped to preach to a Lutheran audience. Actually, it was Good Friday. Yehiel Curry, now bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, had asked Ramsey to preach on one of the Seven Last Words when Curry was serving Shekinah […]
