{"id":10208,"date":"2026-02-23T16:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=10208"},"modified":"2026-02-23T16:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:36:21","slug":"between-hunger-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Between Hunger and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Matthew 14, Jesus feeds a crowd of more than 5,000 people. When Jesus notices they are hungry, he has compassion for them and challenges the disciples to feed them. Overwhelmed, the disciples place their trust in Jesus and begin feeding the people with the little they have. Everyone is fed\u2014with an abundance of leftovers.<\/p>\n

As Christians on a journey of faith in Jesus Christ, sometimes we too are pulled between hunger and hope. Like the disciples, we feel both overwhelmed and fed as we peer into a murky future holding onto that little word of promise: Jesus died and overcame death and despair in rising again. This gives us all the promise of the future filled with hope we can trust.<\/p>\n

The educational mission at the heart of Luther Seminary grounds us in God\u2019s promise never to forsake us. This is theology in action, as we live out each day trying to serve\u2014and teaching our students how to serve\u2014in all the gnarly places where God has promised to be.<\/p>\n

Last month we held our first off-site residential focus session (RFS), an intensive three days of learning, worship, and fellowship at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, one of our partners in the large-scale collaborative Lilly grant<\/a> we received in December. It worked better than we imagined thanks to our partners at Mount Olivet who lived out their mission of \u201cbecoming like Jesus Christ through servanthood\u201d in the generous ways they welcomed our students, faculty, and staff.<\/p>\n

This fruitful RFS was held in the midst of ongoing tensions in Minneapolis. And while we are grateful for the safety of our students and the opportunity to come together in community, the juxtaposition was a stark reminder that Christian leaders are called to step into places of grief and heartbreak, including the cities, neighborhoods, and local communities we inhabit.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s abundance is made clear to us each day in ways that we could not have imagined ourselves. Through all of life\u2019s transitions and into a world full of pain, conflict, and injustice, God promises to renew, redeem, and restore us. When we are hungry and overwhelmed, we count on God\u2019s promise\u2014we count on community to share that promise when weariness threatens to overwhelm. I give thanks for the community of our resilient students, faithful staff and faculty, and for you, our many friends and colleagues who hold us in prayer and support us in all seasons.<\/p>\n

Peace,
\nRobin Steinke
\nPresident<\/p>\n

Read more: Meet current M.Div. student Keturah Raabe<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Matthew 14, Jesus feeds a crowd of more than 5,000 people. When Jesus notices they are hungry, he has compassion for them and challenges the disciples to feed them. Overwhelmed, the disciples place their trust in Jesus and begin feeding the people with the little they have. Everyone is fed\u2014with an abundance of leftovers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBetween Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Between Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Matthew 14, Jesus feeds a crowd of more than 5,000 people. When Jesus notices they are hungry, he has compassion for them and challenges the disciples to feed them. Overwhelmed, the disciples place their trust in Jesus and begin feeding the people with the little they have. Everyone is fed\u2014with an abundance of leftovers. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jspies001\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lutherseminary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lutherseminary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jspies001\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jspies001\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d\"},\"headline\":\"Between Hunger and Hope\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Newsletter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\",\"name\":\"Between Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Gemini said An older woman with short gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue shirt and black cardigan, standing outdoors among trees and flowers.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Between Hunger and Hope\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Luther Seminary News\",\"description\":\"Luther Seminary\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Luther Seminary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Luther Seminary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/lutherseminary\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/lutherseminary\/\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LutherSeminary\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d\",\"name\":\"jspies001\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jspies001\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/author\/jspies001\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Between Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Between Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary","og_description":"In Matthew 14, Jesus feeds a crowd of more than 5,000 people. When Jesus notices they are hungry, he has compassion for them and challenges the disciples to feed them. Overwhelmed, the disciples place their trust in Jesus and begin feeding the people with the little they have. Everyone is fed\u2014with an abundance of leftovers. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/","og_site_name":"News","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary","article_published_time":"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jspies001","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@lutherseminary","twitter_site":"@lutherseminary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jspies001","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/"},"author":{"name":"jspies001","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d"},"headline":"Between Hunger and Hope","datePublished":"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/"},"wordCount":425,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg","articleSection":["Newsletter"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/","name":"Between Hunger and Hope - Luther Seminary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-23T16:36:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/02\/Robin-Steinke_Feb-2026.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Gemini said An older woman with short gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue shirt and black cardigan, standing outdoors among trees and flowers."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/23\/between-hunger-and-hope\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Between Hunger and Hope"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/","name":"Luther Seminary News","description":"Luther Seminary","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Luther Seminary","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Luther Seminary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary","https:\/\/x.com\/lutherseminary","http:\/\/instagram.com\/lutherseminary\/","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LutherSeminary"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d","name":"jspies001","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jspies001"},"url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/author\/jspies001\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10214,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10208\/revisions\/10214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}