Ministry in Context

With a Bachelor of Arts in Educational Psychology from Addis Ababa University in Ethopia, first-year Children Youth and Family MA student Dilame Atebo has come to Luther seminary with noble goals. Her work in Ethiopia has ranged from volunteering as a gender specialist through the United Nations Development Program, to the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse as a project officer.

Dilame’s passion for the dignity and rights of the most vulnerable in society …

Thank you all for coming out to meet Tim Coltvet and the MA community at our Open House on Tuesday April 1! In the words of Contextual Learning director Chris Scharen, "The best dish in the mix was the happy students filling our space, eating the delicious mix of treats, beginning to feel at home in the new space where Tim is hanging out. But close behind was the joy of launching our newly gained partnership with a unified contextual education team, learning from Tim and all the CYF wisdom, and sharing …

Thank you all for your patience over these weeks of interviewing, submitting preferences, and now waiting as we work and pray through the process of matching our internship students with an internship supervisor and congregation. Internship placements for 2014 - 2015 are coming soon! The office of Contextual Learning will send these out on or before April 15.

The Native Ministries Consortium Summer School 2014 will be held at the Indigenous Studies Centre at Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, British Columbia from July 7, 2014 - July 18, 2014. The goal of the program is "to empower and facilitate leadership, spiritual expression, and justice to enable Indigenous people to exercise self-determination within the Christian church and in society." To apply, contact nmp@vst.edu and visit www.vst.edu by July 6.

The Caring for Creation Shalom …

In the Teaching Congregations program as per the distributive curriculum, please remember that all Student and Mentor Pastor Reflection Questions are due on Monday May 5 for graduating seniors and Monday May 12 for non-graduating students. Students may find more information on their coursepages. Please contact the office of Contextual Learning if you would like help accessing or completing these.

In the Christian Public Leader program as per the portfolio curriculum, watch this space for updates …

The office of Contextual Learning would like to share an update to the CPE registration and payment procedure, effective immediately:

1. As soon as you know where you will be doing CPE, please send Contextual Learning a copy of your acceptance paperwork. Be sure it includes information about the site, the supervisor, and the start and end dates.

2. When this acceptance paperwork is on file, Contextual Learning will contact the Registrar's office to register you for either a full-time or part-time …

On Tuesday April 1 from 11:30am to 1:00pm, the office of Contextual Learning is excited to host an Open House for Tim Coltvet and for all of the MA professional degree-seeking students in Congregational Mission and Leadership, Children Youth and Family, and Congregation and Community Care concentrations.

It will be a brief yet festive opportunity to help welcome Tim to the office and familiarize MA students with the work and support we do here.

Lunch food and drink will be provided. See you there! …

Internship Orientation for students is running smoothly. Future Interns, if you are not attending the sessions on Thursday afternoons, please make sure to check your email for the recordings and handouts. Pastors, your trainings will occur in May.

Internship Interviews are now complete, with the exception of interviews that were rescheduled to after inclement weather. Future Interns, if you need to reschedule and have not reached out to your interviewees, please attend to this immediately. Pastors, …

Teaching Congregations in Spring 2014 is already underway! Students, if you do not need a new placement and have already submitted your Learning Agreement for 2013 - 2014, no further action is required. You may begin your contextual work.

If you do not need a new placement but did not submit your Learning Agreement last semester, please submit that as soon as possible; they were due March 1.

If you need a new placement, please begin by reviewing the Site List . If no site works for you, your chosen …

"Becoming Buddhist When Jesus Isn’t Enough: A Third Wave Womanist Negotiation of Race, Gender and Religion": The 2014 Mahle Lecture at the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice at Hamline University features the absolutely fantastic Black womanist process theologian Dr. Monica Coleman . Dr. Coleman will be giving a lecture entitled: "Becoming Buddhist When Jesus Isn’t Enough: A Third Wave Womanist Negotiation of Race, Gender and Religion"

This lecture examines the …