TEEM Members Share Their Call Stories
 This summer, students working to ordination through the TEEM program spent a week on the Luther Seminary campus for one of their tri-annual rounds of intensive courses. While in St. Paul, a few of these students shared stories of their diverse calls to ministry.
TEEM, or Theological Education for Emerging Ministries, is a non-degree program for lay leaders who have significant congregational leadership and life experience and are already established as spiritual leaders in their communities. The program, which typically takes three years to complete, leads to ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
- Having grown up in an Oromo Lutheran community in Ethiopia, Africa, Tsena Dinssa's story offers an alternative understanding of what most people consider "traditional Lutheran" to mean. "I was born and raised Lutheran, but the TEEM program has allowed me to learn more about who I am and what my mission is," said Dinssa.
- Norma Trimble's ministry is an invaluable resource to the Native American community of Portland, Ore., which numbers more than 38,000 people. "My favorite thing in ministry is spreading the word and educating people of Christ's teachings, his grace, how it's similar [to Native American beliefs]," said Trimble.
- Bill Miller has served Peace Lutheran Church in New London, Minn., with his musical gifts as the lay minister of music and prayer for 17 years and has now finished his first year as a TEEM student. "I'm a lifelong learner," he said.
- As a woman who has seen more heartache than most, Mari Nyberg's enthusiasm is as contagious as it is baffling. After losing a partner to cancer and surviving cancer herself, Nyberg reevaluated her life and decided, "My main regret was that I didn't go to seminary."
- When Diane Krauszer received her Master of Divinity from a seminary in the Reformed Church of America, she likely never imagined that she would return to seminary almost 30 years later. "There were many times in my life when I asked God, 'Why am I here? What am I doing?'" said Krauszer. "God does not always take straight lines and that's the bottom line."
For more information about the TEEM program, visit plts.luthersem.edu/teem.
|
|
|
Featured ArticlesWalking Together on the Road to Emmaus
Exploring God's Call to Ministry at Ventures in Vocation!
Luther Seminary Alum Grateful for Financial Coaching, Scholarship Money
TEEM Members Share Their Call Stories
Register Now for Created and Led by the Spirit—Planting Missional Congregations
More News...From Repentance to Joy: Singing the Faith, Oct. 25
Mark Your Calendar for Annual Fall Lectures
Christian Boyd Finds Exactly What He's Looking For in D.Min. CML Program
Sign Up For the Trip of a Lifetime to Sacred Spaces!
Sign Up for Lay School Classes Today!
Register Today for the Celebration of Biblical Preaching!
Faculty Book Recommendation
E-lert Archives
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
|
