Posted by Contextual Learning on 5/26/2016 1:30 AM
Without question, ending well is essential to one’s ministry practice and ongoing leadership formation. In fact, you’ve possibly heard the phrase “stick the landing” once or twice. It’s a gymnastics metaphor that punctuates the importance of finishing up one’s internship year, or ministry chapter, in any given community of faith. The fact of that matter is that ending well (or not ending well!) can make or break the ministry context for the incoming minister. We …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 5/26/2016 1:20 AM
The days, weeks, and months of this year of work and learning have been impactful in ways you could not have imagined. And yet, there is more to come! You aren’t finished yet! You have realize how much has already been learned, and how much more is yet to come. The phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” is sometimes used to describe the unfolding of contextual learning opportunities, such as CPE, CPL, or Internship, and now that phrase has new meaning for you.
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Posted by Contextual Learning on 5/26/2016 1:10 AM
Each year, we create special space in Ministry in Context to shine a spotlight on current internship projects. This month, we are profiling the adult faith formation project of Intern Pastor Miriam Samuelson-Roberts, serving at Augustana Lutheran Church in St. Paul, MN with Rev. Mark Aune. As you read about and learn from Miriam's internship project work, we'd like to invite you to share your own internship project learning with the community! Email Karen Gieseke (kgieseke002@luthersem.edu) if you …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 5/26/2016 1:00 AM
In the Fall and Spring, all internship supervisors and pastoral interns around the country are hosted by the nearest ELCA seminary for a special cluster event. Luther Seminary facilitates the retreats for Region 1 and Region 3, and we are thrilled to share the dates and locations for the Fall 2016 cluster retreats.
"It was refreshing to be in room full of classmates and to learn and share together again. Being able to observe the level of learning and growth in my classmates over the course of their …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 4/6/2016 1:20 AM
What does it mean for you to refuel? How do you stay not only healthy and whole for one or two years of internship, but balanced for ten to twenty years? Many of our current CPL, CPE, or internship students are walking alongside a supervisor who has found a way to strike a balance. It won’t be perfect, but it will be a model. And we want you to see it, because we know that discovering this rhythm for your life will give you the greatest longevity and joy in serving in the church.
Personally, …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 2/9/2016 12:50 AM
Director Tim Coltvet's father, Rev. Sherman P. Coltvet, passed away on January 30 2016. In lieu of Tim's monthly Director's Word column, the Contextual Learning team would like to share a short interlude in memory of Sherman's life and ministry.
Rev. Sherman P. Coltvet, 75, of Rochester, Minnesota died at home surrounded by family on Saturday January 30, 2016. He was born on April 5, 1940 in Bottineau, North Dakota to Rev. Benjamin and Hattie (Hanson) Coltvet. During his childhood, he lived in Fertile, …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 2/9/2016 12:40 AM
Let's talk a little bit about school science fairs. Recalling back to your childhood, do you remember your school science fair projects? Did you have a special interest or passion you pursued? Or was it the finish-it-the-night-before-it's-due kind of project? Did your family help or were you the solo scientist on the project? A little "scientific" research about school science fair projects unearths a couple interesting items:
- Pinterest offers an elaborate section on Science Fair Projects.
- According …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 1/14/2016 12:35 PM
Star Wars is a part of my story, beginning in a galaxy far, far away when I was in high school, and has continued into later chapters of my life as I got married and had kids. Today I have the good fortune of living with family members who embrace Star Wars, and as such have learned enough to potentially answer through the $400 round if I was on Jeopardy. Yoda’s words, “Much to learn, you still have,” would apply to my depth of knowledge, but I do see the value in this epic tale, …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 1/14/2016 12:30 PM
“There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Letter from a Birmingham Jail)[1]
Days after the Jamar Clark shooting, my heart was aching as my city was boiling over with racial …
Posted by Contextual Learning on 11/18/2015 4:25 PM
Last month I highlighted the importance of vision casting for any given community. If that were ministry in a nutshell, we would focus on vision casting alone, get the word out there, and hope that everything falls into place, right? Well, actually, not so fast! Vision for mission and ministry in the Christian church is uniquely and necessarily caught up in the incarnation, "God with us." God chose to touch the ground through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We too, are called to engage …