This is the first of a new series of student stories in their own voices.

Master of Divinity student Char Schmiedeskamp has been sending letters to her home congregation of Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, Nevada, almost monthly throughout the past two years of her studies at Luther Seminary. Char shares this glimpse of seminary student life with you in some of these https://www.luthersem.edu/admissions/notes_from.asp [letters to her home congregation.]

There is such intense scrutiny of Islam in the United States these days that one might think Americans were unaware of its existence in this country before the Sept. 11 attacks.

For Masresha Chufa, ’05,  the co-existence of Islam and Christianity was not only the focus of his education at Luther Seminary but a fact of life for centuries in his native Ethiopia. Relations between the two religions are peaceful, he said, a status he hopes his training will help maintain.

“We have produced leaders who are already playing critical roles around the world during the current crisis of Christian-Muslim encounters and even between Islam and the West,” says Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Community, about Luther Seminary’s Islamic Studies Program.

He will take on additional responsibilities teaching and providing leadership for the program beginning July 1, 2006. Read more about Professor Amjad-Ali in  https://www.luthersem.edu/story/story_article.asp?article_id=194&issue_id=21 [The Story Online.]

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Rev. 2:7

The Spirit is at work in our churches! And we are listening. This past year I’ve been blessed to meet with many individuals and congregations during the several listening sessions Luther Seminary has been holding across the country. People are excited that we are actively searching out their counsel.