{"id":8435,"date":"2026-06-02T00:10:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T00:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=8435"},"modified":"2026-06-02T14:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:53:42","slug":"off-campus-in-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2026\/06\/02\/off-campus-in-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Off-campus, in context"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For distributed learners, Residential Focus Sessions offer an immersive, in-person learning experience and the chance to connect with the wider Luther Seminary community. These intensive, three-day classes are offered four times per year. Until now, they were always held on campus.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-8435 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_122.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A group of people smiling and talking walk through an open doorway into a classroom or meeting room.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_064.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A large group of people sit around a U-shaped table with laptops in a library room lined with bookshelves.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_092.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Close-up of a smiling woman sitting with a laptop at a table in a brightly lit seminar room.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_107.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A man in a maroon Luther Seminary sweatshirt raises his hand to ask a question during a lecture or seminar.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>This January, Luther offered the first \u201coff-site\u201d Residential Focus Session\u2014an experiment designed to test new ways of teaching and learning as the seminary prepares to transition to a new physical space. Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis generously hosted 107 students for three days of classes led by <strong>Mary Hess<\/strong>, <strong>Kathryn Schifferdecker<\/strong>, <strong>Alan Padgett<\/strong>, and <strong>Lois Malcolm \u201989 M.A.<\/strong>. Beyond the use of classroom space, the seminary community gathered each morning for chapel worship, with preaching by Mount Olivet pastors David Lose, Theresa Latini, and <strong>Jenna Olson Popp \u201923 M.Div.<\/strong>; shared breakfast and lunch with staff and faculty on site; and observed Mount Olivet\u2019s Wednesday evening youth and confirmation programming. In a follow-up survey, students noted that taking classes alongside the flow of Mount Olivet\u2019s activities\u2014from music classes to food distribution to a funeral service\u2014enriched their experience and deepened their feeling of being connected to the larger church.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-8435 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-large'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_033.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"A wide shot of an audience seated at tables, listening to a presentation in a large hall with wood paneling and decorative ceiling trusses.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_106.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"A smiling man in a blue Luther Seminary t-shirt sits with a laptop at a long table among other students in a classroom.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_029.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"A presenter stands at a lectern on a stage, speaking to a large gathering of people seated at round tables in a well-lit hall.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_043.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"A speaker stands at a podium at the front of a spacious hall, presenting to rows of audience members seated at long tables.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are so grateful to everyone who made our first off-site experiment such a success,\u201d said <strong>Jody Nyenhuis<\/strong>, senior manager for academic affairs. \u201cMost importantly, our students and faculty arrived with so much grace, curiosity, and willingness to learn in a new setting. We learned a lot about what it means to be hosted in this way and are already thinking about how to use these lessons going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-8435 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_129.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A man and a woman stand close together in a dining hall, smiling and laughing during a casual moment.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_132.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A smiling man in a black shirt, glasses, and a baseball cap holds a drink and food plate while standing in a buffet line.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/RFS_MountOlivet_133.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A young man wearing a grey Luther Seminary sweatshirt laughs while filling a plate at a buffet alongside other attendees.\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/issue\/summer-2026\/\">Read more from this issue of Story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For distributed learners, Residential Focus Sessions offer an immersive, in-person learning experience and the chance to connect with the wider Luther Seminary community. These intensive, three-day classes are offered four times per year. Until now, they were always held on campus. This January, Luther offered the first \u201coff-site\u201d Residential Focus Session\u2014an experiment designed to test [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-summer-2026","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Off-campus, in context - 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\/story\/2026\/06\/02\/off-campus-in-context\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Off-campus, in context - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For distributed learners, Residential Focus Sessions offer an immersive, in-person learning experience and the chance to connect with the wider Luther Seminary community. 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