Luther Seminary’s annual Mid-Winter Convocation, which was just held two weeks ago, was a powerful witness to the gift of coming together to think about what God is up to in the world. The theme, Religious but Not Spiritual, was a playful turn on the familiar “spiritual but not religious” label. The term often refers to the growing number of people who do not find gathering together around word and sacrament on a Sunday morning a very meaningful use of time. More than 450 friends from across the country gathered to give attention to this critical aspect of the mission of the church. Simply gathering together to listen, pray, worship, eat and be in community with folks who are thinking about the same issues is a way we live into the strength of community.
The board of directors and the trustees, who have final responsibility for the whole of the institution, gathered last weekend to listen, pray, worship, eat, be in community and tend to the strategic vision and legislative matters before the school. The board elected Craig Koester, current academic dean, to another three-year term; elected Carla Dahl as a tenured faculty member in congregational and community care; elected Guillermo Hansen, associate professor of systematic theology, as tenured in global Christianity; and promoted to full professor both Matt Skinner (New Testament) and Rolf Jacobson (Old Testament).
The community also gathered to give sustained attention to racial justice and ponder the unfinished work of freedom for all during Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.
It makes a difference when we come together to wonder about what God is up to and share stories about both our personal journeys and our institutional journey as together we seek to bear faithful witness to what God is doing in the world.
As we come into the season of Lent, may your community be blessed by the chance to gather midweek to listen, pray, worship, eat and be in community.