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LSTC 

WINTER 2010 

EPISTLE 

Magazine of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago 

Creating a 

missional church

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 

While the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago 

will celebrate and mark its 50th anniversary of formation 

during the 2012-2013 academic year, it will hold 

its 150th commencement on May 16, 2010. This is 

because LSTC is a consolidation of several different 

Lutheran seminaries and traces its heritage and history 

back to the earliest days of its predecessor institutions. 

As such, the 150th commencement recognizes that 

both Augustana Seminary and the Swedish Augustana 

Synod were founded in 1860 and this is the sesquicentennial 

of that church body and seminary. 

From its very beginnings, LSTC has brought together 

and benefited from the unique gifts and contributions 

of Lutheran traditions shaped by Danes, 

Finns, Germans and Swedes. More recently, African 

Americans and Hispanics have enriched the life of 

the institution. And the global church and international 

student community have helped to shape the 

mission and ministry of the seminary. 

As LSTC celebrates and gives thanks to God for the 

commitments, life and witness of Augustana Seminary 

and the Augustana Synod, I note the following: 

• At Yale University Graduate School, one of my 

oral comprehensive examinations for my degree 

in The History of Christianity was in the area of 

American Lutheranism. To prepare for that examination, 

I read the histories of all of the various 

ethnic Lutheran church bodies. Among them was 

G. Everett Arden’s Augustana Heritage: A History of 

the Augustana Lutheran Church, published in 1963. I 

was fascinated by the story of Swedish Lutherans in 

the United States. Maria Erling and Mark Granquist 

published The Augustana Story: Shaping Lutheran 

Identity in North America in 2008. I commend both 

of these texts to you to learn more about one of 

the significant Lutheran church bodies and seminaries 

that have influenced its development. 

2010 Outstanding Alumnus for Mission Leadership, the Rev. Dr. Richard Bliese, 

president of Luther Seminary, with President Echols. As an LSTC faculty member, 

Bliese held the Augustana Heritage Chair of Global Mission and World 

Christianity 

• When I served at Philadelphia Seminary, one of my 

faculty colleagues was Dr. Lyman Lundeen, professor 

of systematic theology. Periodically, we would talk 

about the Augustana Synod and the way in which 

Augustana Seminary contributed to certain central 

and clear commitments. What comes to mind is a 

love for the church cultivated by church body and 

seminary, a deep and authentic piety through worship 

that was matched by a fervent concern for the 

social witness of the church, and a commitment 

to missionary outreach. I recall discovering that in 

1908 the Swedish Augustana Synod was a founding 

member of the Federal Council of Churches, a 

predecessor of the National Council of Churches, 

organizations committed to equality and peace with 

justice. All of these commitments are alive and well 

at LSTC today, and Augustana Seminary and the 

Augustana Synod live on through them. 

• In my tenure at LSTC, those of Swedish Lutheran 

descent have been consistent, faithful, generous 

and loyal partners in this ministry. I give thanks 

for their establishment of the Augustana Heritage 

Professorship of Global Mission and World 

Christianity, the lead gift that led to the naming 

of “The Augustana Chapel at LSTC,” and current 

efforts to endow The Herbert W. Chilstrom Chair 

in New Testament. Thanks be to God for such 

wonderful stewardship and support! 

In recent years, an Augustana Heritage Association 

has met every two years as family to give thanks 

for the Swedish Augustana Synod and Augustana 

Seminary. The next gathering will take place June 

10-13, 2010 in Rock Island, Ill. I look forward to being 

there to express LSTC’s warmest congratulations on 

their 150th anniversary, to convey its profound gratitude 

for their partnership in this ministry and to be 

present at the inspiring and moving hymn sing. 

Blessings and best wishes to our Augustana Heritage 

sisters and brothers in Christ and thanks to all of LSTC’s 

friends and alums for your partnership in this ministry. 

Peace & Joy in Christ, 

James Kenneth Echols 

President

LSTC 

EPISTLE 

Winter 2010 • Volume 40 • No. 1 

FEATURES 

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a 

seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 

America, forms visionary leaders to bear witness 

to the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Vision statement 

LSTC seeks to build up the body of Christ and 

work for a world of peace and justice that cares 

for the whole creation. 

Visit www. lstc.edu or call 1-800-635-1116 for 

more information about LSTC’s programs, 

conferences and special events. 

Editor 

Jan Boden 

Senior M.Div. student Matthew Holmes makes a 

presentation to the Mission Leadership class 

David Rhoads gives the keynote address at LSTC’s 

2010 Leadership Conference 

Designer 

Ann Rezny 

Contributors 

John T. Anderson 

Mark Bangert 

Peggy Blomenberg 

Jan Boden 

James Echols 

Jessica Nipp 

David Rhoads 

Mark Van Scharrel 

Communications and Marketing Advisory 

Committee 

David Abrahamson 

Mark Bangert 

Greg Davis 

James Echols 

Joy McDonald Coltvet 

Janette Muller 

Priscilla Paris-Austin 

Tom Rogers 

Mark Van Scharrel 

LSTC Board of Directors 

Michael Aguirre 

Joyce Anderson 

Myrna Culbertson 

Susan Davenport 

Gregory Davis 

Melody Beckman Eastman 

Kimberlee Eighmy 

Trina Glusenkamp Gould, Secretary 

J. Arthur Gustafson 

Kathryn Hasselblad-Pascale 

Philip Hougen, Chair 

Mark Klever 

Susan Kulkarni 

Roger Lewis 

Ling Li 

Gerald Mansholt 

Wayne Miller 

Sandra Moody 

Harry Mueller, Treasurer 

Peggy Ogden-Howe 

Durk K. Peterson 

Gerald Schultz 

Sarah Stegemoeller, Vice Chair 

Naomi Stennes-Spidahl 

Harvard Stephens Jr. 

Keith Wiens 

Jean Ziettlow 

The LSTC Epistle is published three times a year 

by the Communications and Marketing Office. 

Printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based inks 

3 News from LSTC 

Covenant Cluster 

Seminaries to work 

together in new ways 

Youth in mission receives 

$660,000 Lilly grant 

5 Four Outstanding Alumni 

receive awards for leadership 

6 Lutherans Restoring 

Creation 

Why (and how) Lutherans 

care for all creation 

by David Rhoads 

8 Creating a missional 

church 

by Jan Boden 

10 Remembering Paul and 

Ruth Manz 

by Mark Bangert, 

Peggy Blomenberg 

13 Giving thanks, staying 

focused, moving forward 

by James Kenneth Echols 

Equipping the Saints for 

Ministry 

15 Giving back with gratitude 

—alum creates scholarship 

for second career students 

by Jessica Nipp 

17 Planning for retirement? 

by Jessica Nipp 

18 Report to Donors 

Departments 

President’s message 

Cover: Bridget Thien (M.Div. middler) conducts a one-on-one as part 

of the Mission Leadership class 

Photo credits: Jan Boden, Dan Hille, LSTC Archives, Tricia Koning, 

Manz Family, Jessica Nipp, Schoewe Family, and Dirk van der Duim 

inside cover 

Opportunities at LSTC 2 

Faculty notes 43 

Class notes 45 

Transitions 48

Opportunities at LSTC 

Trumpets & Organ, Gospel Choir Concert and 

LaPaloma coming up in Chapel Music Series 

Three concerts remain in the 2009-2010 Chapel 

Music Series at LSTC. Admissions is free, with a freewill 

offering taken at each performance. 

March 21 at 4 p.m., Music for Trumpets and 

Organ will be presented by three of Chicago’s best 

musical treasures, Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer, and 

Thomas Wikman in an internationally-acclaimed 

program of exciting music. 

April 11 at 4 p.m., LSTC’s Gospel Choir Concert 

will be held to benefit the Grover Wright and Rev. 

Carole A. Burns Scholarship Funds. Director George 

Cooper leads LSTC’s choir. Other area choirs will 

join in this lively, energetic concert. Your generous 

support assists deserving students. To contribute to 

the scholarship funds, visit www.lstc.edu/alums_ 

friends/giving/index.html. 

April 25 at 4 p.m., LaPaloma returns to the 

Chapel Music Series. The string ensemble, made 

up of Chicago Symphony Orchestra members and 

friends, will present Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklärte 

Nacht Op. 4. 

Student Symposium on Science and 

Spirituality will explore “what makes us 

human” 

On Friday, April 16, student scholars from across the 

United States and a variety of disciplines will present 

papers exploring the questions, “What makes us 

human?” “Is there such a thing as human nature?” 

and “How do our ideas about human nature relate 

to God, the sacred or the world?” 

The Student Symposium is a one-day conference 

designed to provide an interdisciplinary, ecumenical, 

and inter-religious forum for graduate students 

in any academic discipline to engage in rigorous and 

collaborative conversations in religion and science. 

The first symposium in 2009 drew more than 70 participants 

and featured more than 30 student speakers 

and panelists from 17 schools across the United 

States and Canada. 

The presentations begin at 9:00 a.m. and continue 

throughout the day. The public is welcome to 

attend this free event. 

Learn how to do youth ministry in an 

interfaith world 

“Sacred Stories: Youth Faith Formation in an 

Interfaith World,” Youth in Mission’s second 

annual youth ministry workers’ conference will be 

held April 12-13, 2010, at the Lutheran School of 

Theology at Chicago to help youth ministry workers 

find and develop new approaches to interfaith issues 

facing our youth. The conference’s keynote speaker 

will be Hannah McConnaughay, Program Associate 

in the Outreach Education and Training Department 

of the Interfaith Youth Core. 

Conference registration fees are $45/person plus 

housing and transportation costs. More information 

including workshop options, leaders, and the conference 

schedule are on the conference website: http:// 

yim.lstc.edu/conference/index.php or call us at 800- 

635-1116, ext. 725. 

Two participants in Youth in Mission’s Serving Christ in the World program 

focus on a passage of scripture 

2

News from LSTC 

LSTC adopts new mission, vision, values statements 

In January, LSTC’s board of directors adopted new 

mission, vision and values statements for the seminary. 

The action concluded a year-long process that 

involved faculty, staff, students, alumni, and board 

members. Drafts were shared with focus groups of 

each of these constituencies and the statements were 

refined based on the suggestions and comments that 

were made. 

Mission 

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a 

seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 

America, forms visionary leaders to bear witness to 

the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Vision 

LSTC seeks to build up the Body of Christ and work 

for a world of peace and justice that cares for the 

whole creation. 

Values 

LSTC is: 

Christ-centered – Strives by God’s grace to follow 

Christ’s call to loving service. 

At their meetings November 5–7 in Chicago, the 

boards of the Covenant Cluster seminaries, LSTC, 

Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and Wartburg Theological 

Seminary, agreed to collaborate in new ways to 

enhance the mission of each school. The actions of 

the boards commit the seminaries to explore business, 

programmatic, faculty, and planning models 

that will further their common mission of forming 

leaders for the church. 

Following the meeting, Wartburg President Duane 

Larson, who currently serves as executive director of 

the Covenant Cluster, said, on behalf of the three 

seminary presidents, “This was a consequential and 

far-reaching meeting of our boards. We were inspired 

by the dedication of every board member to their 

seminaries and to the leadership needs of the church 

at large. We look forward to exploring, with the 

Covenant Cluster Board, new models for deeper collaboration 

and excellence in our ministries.” 

Prior to taking action on the resolutions, the 

boards held several joint sessions. They heard presentations 

by the Rev. Dr. Daniel Aleshire, executive 

director of the seminary accrediting agency, the 

Association of Theological Schools, and the Rev. Dr. 

3 

Responsive to context – Embraces its diverse urban 

setting and exciting academic environment that 

enable learning from and ministering to the community. 

Relationships with synods and congregations 

provide academic and practical experiences 

that meet the needs of the church. 

Attentive to diversity – Emphasizes knowing and 

honoring the perspectives of all nationalities, 

ethnicities, cultures, Christian traditions, and 

religions to form leaders whose witness to the 

Gospel will build communities of hospitality and 

reconciliation. 

Committed to excellence – Sends leaders into 

church and world who are prepared academically, 

practically, and spiritually to serve in a 

variety of vocational and ministry settings. 

Faculty members are faithful Christians who are 

internationally recognized scholars and teachers. 

Administration and staff strive to provide exemplary 

service to all constituents. 

LSTC, Trinity and Wartburg resolve to work together in new ways 

Jonathan Strandjord, ELCA’s director for theological 

education, on trends in theological education and 

the Church. With those trends in mind, the boards 

commented on resolutions inviting new ways for 

LSTC, Wartburg, and Trinity to work together. 

“It was very important and extremely beneficial 

for the boards to reflect on the current and future 

stewardship of these seminaries in the larger context 

of North American and ELCA theological education,” 

said President James Kenneth Echols. “Both presenters 

contributed richly to the joint board meeting.” 

“In times such as these, and when theological 

education needs to be a central priority for all of 

the baptized, the energy devoted by seminary leaders 

and boards is significant,” said Mark R. Ramseth, 

president of Trinity. “We are historic communities 

of learning and formation. We can never be in isolation, 

but are called always into larger arenas of possibility 

for the sake of our common mission.” 

The Covenant Cluster board, which consists of 

the presidents and board chairpersons of Wartburg, 

Trinity, and LSTC, as well as board and faculty representatives, 

began to implement the resolutions at its 

meeting in February 2010.

News from LSTC (continued) 

LSTC’s Youth in Mission program receives 

fourth Lilly Endowment grant 

In November 2009, the Lilly Endowment Inc. gave 

LSTC a grant of $660,000 for its Youth in Mission 

(YIM) program. The grant is part of the Lilly 

Endowment’s Theological Programs for High School 

Youth Initiative to support theological schools’ 

programs that get youth excited about theological 

education and inspire them to consider vocations 

in ministry. It will be used to support current YIM 

programming and to help make the programs selfsustaining. 

“LSTC is honored by and grateful for the Lilly 

Endowment’s continued support of Youth in Mission 

through this grant. Their vote of confidence in our 

programs inspires and enables us to work toward 

long-term sustainability of the life-changing Youth 

in Mission programs,” said President James Kenneth 

Echols. 

Youth in Mission’s Serving Christ in the World, a 

vocation immersion program for rising 11 th and 12 th 

grade youth is in its eighth year. To date, five Serving 

Christ in the World program participants have elected 

to attend ELCA seminaries and many more are college 

students considering ministry and other serviceoriented 

vocations. 

Beyond Belief is Youth in Mission’s year-round 

program that connects high school youth groups 

with LSTC and Chicago service organizations for 

various ministry opportunities during week-long service 

trips. During their time in Chicago, participants 

meet with seminarians to explore vocation and life 

at LSTC. 

In 2009, Youth in Mission held its first annual 

youth ministry workers’ conference at LSTC. The 

2010 conference will focus on youth faith formation 

in an interfaith world. See page 2 for more information 

about the conference. 

LSTC, Rhoads featured in new DVD education 

series on care of creation 

Professor of New Testament David Rhoads is the cohost 

of “Earthbound: Created and Called to Care for 

Creation,” a new six-part DVD series for congregations 

that explores Christians’ complex relationship 

with God’s creation. It examines the origins of misconceptions 

about Scripture’s portrayal of creation 

and how Christians have become heaven-focused at 

the expense of Earth. 

The series takes Martin Luther’s breakthrough 

understanding of justification and vocation and 

applies it across all of creation. It shows how people 

throughout the Church are living out a vocation of 

relating to and caring for creation. Each segment of 

the series is approximately 25 minutes long. A study 

guide, with facilitator instructions, comes with the 

DVDs. 

New Testament Professor Barbara Rossing, 

President James Kenneth Echols, alumnus Pastor 

Gordon Straw, and staff member Kwame Pitts are 

other LSTC voices on the DVD, which includes 

Walter Brueggemann, Larry Rasmussen, Terry 

Fretheim, and Cynthia Moe-Lobeda. 

The series is available for $89.95 (plus shipping 

and handling costs) from Seraphim 

Communications http://store.seracomm.com. 

View a trailer of the series on the web page for 

“Earthbound” on Seraphim’s site. 

LSTC to celebrate 150th Commencement 

on May 16 

Nearly 70 students will graduate from the Lutheran 

School of Theology at Chicago when it holds its 

150 th commencement ceremony on May 16, 2010. 

Although LSTC has existed for only 48 years, it 

counts its number of graduating classes beginning 

with its oldest predecessor school, Augustana 

Lutheran Seminary. 

Pastor Susan K. Ericsson will be the preacher at 

the commencement service to be held at 2:30 p.m. 

at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 5472 

South Kimbark, Chicago. Pastor Ericsson is a leader 

in urban ministry who currently serves as senior pastor 

of Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Devon, Pa. She 

graduated from Yale Divinity School after spending 

part of her senior year at LSTC. Ericsson served an 

inner city congregation in Detroit for 11 years before 

joining the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod staff as 

Assistant to the Bishop for Urban Ministry. During 

her 13 years in that position she worked with urban 

congregations and leaders in the synod’s redevelopment 

strategy. 

4

2010 Distinguished Alumni Awards 

LSTC honors four alumni for leadership in 

scholarship, churchwide service, missions, and 

stewardship of creation 

Four alumni received awards on Tuesday, February 9 

for their distinguished service to the church in the 

areas of biblical interpretation, churchwide service, 

mission leadership, and stewardship of creation. 

The Rev. Dr. Mercedes García Bachmann 

received the Distinguished Alumna Award in Biblical 

Interpretation. Dr. Bachmann received her Ph.D. in 

theology in 1999 and is a full professor in the Bible 

Department of the Instituto Universitario ISEDET 

in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She specializes in Old 

Testament, Pentateuch, and Wisdom Literature and 

her research interests include feminist hermeneutics, 

gender criticism, and ideological criticism in the biblical 

narratives. 

Bishop Robert Rimbo, a 1976 graduate of Christ 

Seminary-Seminex, currently leads the Metropolitan 

New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 

in America. He received the Distinguished Alumnus 

Award for Churchwide Service which recognizes the 

myriad ways Bishop Rimbo has enriched the church 

through his ministries. In addition to serving parishes 

in Michigan, New York and New Jersey, serving as 

The Rev. Dr. Richard Bliese, president of Luther 

Seminary, received the Distinguished Alumnus 

Award for Mission Leadership to honor his work 

as a missionary and a scholar. Bliese has directed 

programs for pastors and evangelists in Zaire and 

Rwanda. He has served congregations in Germany, 

Zaire, and the United States. Dr. Bliese earned a 

Th.M. in 19 th and 20 th century theology and a Ph.D. 

in confessional theology from LSTC. He joined the 

LSTC faculty in 1997 and served as director of the 

Th.M. and Ph.D. program from 2001 – 2005. He 

is co-editor of The Dictionary of Mission: Theology, 

History, Perspectives (1997), and, with Craig Van 

Gelder, The Evangelizing Church (2005). 

1975 graduate, the Rev. Dean M. Stewart, 

received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 

Stewardship of Creation. Leading by example in 

his congregation in Moscow, Idaho, Pastor Stewart 

has created a culture of care of creation. He has led 

Emmanuel Lutheran Church to adopt, as a guiding 

principle, “We are responsible stewards of God’s creation.” 

He carries out that commitment in matters 

large and small, by living “gently and justly.” The 

congregation lends part of its land to the Palouse 

Clearwater Environmental Institute to provide garden 

plots to 25 community families. In the letter 

nominating him for the award, he is commended 

for “reminding us that responsible stewardship does 

not need to be complicated. . .individually and collectively 

we can make a difference.” 

Janice Rizzo, editor of Seeds for the Parish, joined her brother, Bishop Robert 

Rimbo, at the 2010 Outstanding Alumni Award celebration 

bishop and a bishop’s associate in the Southeastern 

Michigan Synod, he has worked on both the 

Renewing Worship Project of the ELCA, leading to 

Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and, in the 1970s on the 

Lutheran Book of Worship. He has published and made 

presentations on worship, including Why Worship 

Matters (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2004). 

Outstanding Alumnus Pastor Dean Stewart (middle, with award), celebrated 

the occasion with his wife, Gretchen, and their family 

5

Earth Year at LSTC 

Lutherans Restoring Creation 

by David Rhoads, LSTC professor of New Testament 

Earth Year at LSTC arose from the conviction that 

the church exists for the sake of the world. As such, 

we Lutheran Christians are called to undergo continual 

reformation as our church rises to the defining 

challenges of our time. In our time, “creation is 

groaning” under the weight of human activity that 

has degraded so many of Earth’s eco-systems. Across 

the world, including religious communities, people 

are seeking to address this environmental challenge. 

For decades, ELCA Lutherans have manifested 

a significant commitment to care for creation. 

Recently, members of the Lutheran Earthkeeping 

Network of the Synods have formed a new initiative, 

Lutherans Restoring Creation (LRC). This is a grassroots 

effort to encourage the ELCA to incorporate care for 

creation into its full life and mission, the theology 

and ethic, organizational patterns, worship life, educational 

programs, responsibility for buildings and 

grounds, lifestyle of members at home and work, 

and public ministry of all ELCA institutions—so that 

earth-keeping and justice for all Earth communities 

become integral to the identity and purpose of our 

church. 

Lutherans Restoring Creation is constructing 

a website to offer resources and 

to foster networking within different sectors 

of the ELCA. There are subsections for 

congregations, synodical creation-care committees, 

seminaries, colleges and universities, 

Lutheran Outdoor Ministry sites, public 

policy offices, and ELCA headquarters. Each 

subsection contains resources relevant to that 

particular group—a guide, news and features, 

a location for reports of creation-care activities 

to be shared, public policy action suggestions, 

and a blog for networking. We invite 

you to participate actively in this initiative: 

www.lutheransrestoringcreation.org. 

LRC desires to work together mutually 

in caring for creation by offering resources, 

training, and networking opportunities—to 

learn from each other in developing viable 

programs to do our part in “restoring creation.” 

LRC is guided by a steering committee 

comprised of Alycia Ashburn, Patricia Benson, 

Christine McNeal, Mary Minette, Keith 

6 

Mundy, Mayra Nieves, Mark Peters, David Rhoads, 

Rob Saler, Russ Senti, and Kim Winchell, with many 

others serving as consultants. This program is supported 

by a grant from the Lutheran Community 

Foundation, a faith-based community foundation 

working nationally to help people give where they 

find their strongest connections. To learn more 

about the Foundation, please visit www.TheLCF.org. 

There are many resources available for your 

congregation to establish a creation-care team or to 

take your current creation-care leaders to a new level 

in re-forming the church. Materials may be found 

on the LRC website, www.elca.org, and at www. 

webofcreation.org. Of particular importance is a 

recent six-part video series for congregations, called 

Earthbound. It was produced by the ELCA Office 

of Lifelong learning and is designed to lift up the 

theological, ethical, and practical foundations for 

Earth-care (www.seracomm.com). We encourage you 

to draw upon these resources in the renewal of your 

congregation’s mission to “serve the world.” 

LSTC students Kaila Hochhalter, Carolyn Brostrom, and Rob Saler lead the community in 

dedicating a composter for use on campus

Why (and how) Lutherans care for all creation 

by David Rhoads, LSTC professor of New Testament 

1. 

Theology: We affirm God as creator of 

all. We have a deeply incarnation theology 

that cherishes the continuing presence 

of God in, with, and under all reality. We see 

redemption as the restoration of creation, as “new 

creation.” We see the future straining toward the 

fulfillment of creation. 

2. 

Cross and Resurrection: The gospel leads 

us to see God in solidarity with the human 

situation in all its pain and agony, especially 

with the most vulnerable—humans and nonhumans. 

A theology of the cross gives us solidarity 

with “creation groaning in travail” and stresses that 

God redeems all creation. Our affirmation of resurrection 

also offers hope for new life in this world. 

Worship and Sacraments: We affirm that 

the material is a vehicle of the divine and 

3. that Christ is present in such ordinary elements 

of life as grapes and grain—the basis for our 

delight in and reverence for creation. Our worship 

invites us into transforming encounters with God 

deep in the flesh and in the world. We are called to 

worship God with creation. 

4. 

Ecclesiology: Our human vocation is “to 

serve and to preserve” Earth. We believe 

that the church exists for the sake of the 

world. We do not have an escapist theology. We are 

called to continual reformation in response to the 

needs and crises of this life. When Luther was asked 

what he would do if he thought the world would 

end tomorrow, he apparently replied, “Plant a tree.” 

5. 

Ethics: We have an ethic of faith-activein-love 

for neighbor and for all creation. 

Liberated from a legalism that limits and 

enslaves, we are freed to address new and complex 

situations, such as the ecological state of the world. 

We do so not to dominate and exploit but as servants 

to our human and non-human neighbors. We 

do so not out of fear or guilt or arrogance but joyfully 

out of grace, love, and gratitude. 

6. 

Social Ministry: With a heritage that 

reaches back to the Reformation, Lutherans 

have a history of social service to the poor, 

the elderly, the sick, the oppressed, the marginalized—through 

hospitals, homes for the elderly, 

social ministry agencies, Lutheran Immigration 

Service, and Lutheran World Relief. We extend that 

commitment to protecting and healing Earth community 

(www.elca.org/careforcreation). 

7. 

Advocacy: We ELCA Lutherans have a 

social statement “Caring for Creation.” For 

several decades, we have had a full-time 

staff person in environmental/hunger advocacy in 

Washington, DC. Lutheran public policy offices in 

many states address regional issues of advocacy. 

(www.elca.org/advocacy). 

8. 

Scholarship and Education: Many 

Lutheran scholars have written and spoken 

on ecology—in theology, ethics, biblical 

study, and social commentary. Colleges and seminaries 

of the ELCA have environmental ministry 

courses that prepare Lutherans for leadership in 

church and world. Many continuing education 

events for clergy and laity highlight creation care. 

9. 

Caring for Creation across the church: 

Several synods with creation-care committees 

have declared themselves to be Green 

Synods. Many Lutheran congregations incorporate 

Earth-care commitment in their life and mission— 

worship, education, building and grounds, discipleship 

at home and work, and public ministry. Lutheran 

camps have brought environmental concerns to 

many people. The ELCA headquarters has a Green 

Team working to model environmental action. The 

ELCA offers grants for environmental projects. 

10. 

Organizations for Earthkeeping: 

For over a decade, we have had the 

Lutheran Earthkeeping Network 

of the Synods (LENS) giving leadership in the 

ELCA. Lutherans have spearheaded the Green 

Congregation Program, the Green Seminary 

Initiative, and the resources on the Web of Creation 

(www.webofcreation.org). We have led the way in 

promoting a Season of Creation in the church year 

(www.seasonofcreation.com). And now we have 

the new program Lutherans Restoring Creation. 

(www.lutheransrestoringcreation.org). 

Lutherans are in a critical position to listen to 

the cry of the poor along with the cry of Earth and 

to take leadership in addressing these critical issues 

of our day. In whatever context you may be serving, 

we encourage you to participate in this endeavor. 

7

Creating a missional church one congregation 

at a time 

Bouman, EOCM staff teach LSTC students theory and practice 

of missional congregations 

by Jan Boden 

It’s just after noon on a Friday, a day when there are 

usually no classes at LSTC. But today, in Room 201, 

students are lined up six deep to talk to Stephen 

Bouman, the instructor of Mission Leadership, a 

new course he and colleagues developed and are 

teaching at LSTC. Bouman, executive director of the 

Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission 

(EOCM) unit of the ELCA, focuses all of his attention 

on the student in front of him. 

“Be honest about the situation,” he counsels 

a master of arts student who is not sure how to 

Everett Flannigan, ELCA director for African American/Black outreach and leadership, 

leads a Mission Leadership class session on identifying, nurturing, and 

assessing missional leadership potential 

approach her class project. “There may be deep conflicts, 

but there are gifts that the missional church 

can bring to this,” he tells her. That’s what Bouman 

and his colleagues have been emphasizing in this 

unusual course: that each church is a mission site 

and that it uses the gifts within and around it to fulfill 

its mission. 

Bringing their mission to the seminary 

Mission Leadership is Bouman’s response to a 

request from LSTC. “Several years ago, Craig 

Satterlee asked me to teach a course on evangelism,” 

Bouman said. “I counter-proposed teaching a course 

on mission. It has proven to be a great opportunity 

for the EOCM unit team to bring to the seminary 

what we are trying to do across the church.” 

EOCM staff members have lectured for other 

ELCA seminary courses, but Mission Leadership is 

the first complete course the team has taught at a 

seminary. Senior M.Div. student Aaron Decker said, 

“It takes everything we’ve learned in seminary and 

puts it into practice. It was one of the most practically 

useful courses I’ve had. It should be done 

again.” 

Using missional texts to create a missional 

church 

Bouman structured the course around missional 

texts from the Bible as a way to look at and to measure 

the work done in congregations. He hopes that 

students gained a sense of where they can start to 

transform their parishes into missional churches. 

“We have to deputize the whole church to do mission. 

Every pastor needs to be a missional pastor,” 

Bouman said. Making that case directly to seminarians 

is a powerful way to create a missional Church. 

Bouman emphasized the importance of getting 

to know people through one-on-ones. Each student 

was required to do six one-on-ones with people they 

didn’t know. “This work begins with three great ‘listenings,’” 

Bouman said, “Listening to God, through 

scripture and prayer; to the community, through 

one-on-ones both inside the congregation and in the 

community; and internal listening to discern where 

we are being called to mission.” 

The six six-hour class days were typically split 

8

etween morning presentations on the scriptural, 

historical, and theological roots of missional church 

and afternoon presentations and discussions about 

how ELCA churches are putting these ideas into 

practice. In addition to Bouman, the teaching team 

included Neil Harrison, director for renewal of evangelizing 

congregations; Ruben Duran, director for 

new evangelizing congregations; 

Brenda Smith, director for discipleship/evangelism; 

Everett Flanigan, 

director for African American/ 

Black outreach and leadership; and 

Gemechis Buba, director for African 

national ministry. 

Gaining theological tools 

for mission 

Aaron Decker admits that he had 

no idea what he was signing up for 

when he enrolled in the class. At 

first he was frustrated by all of the 

theory being presented. “By the 

end of the course I realized that it 

would be hard to teach the practical 

aspects of mission leadership 

without laying the foundation with 

scripture and theory,” he said. “I 

got a strong theology of what it 

means to be a church in mission 

engaged with the world, and the 

biblical and theological tools to 

make it happen in the congregations 

with whom I will serve.” 

Others signed up for the 

course because they’d heard 

about Stephen Bouman and his ministries in the 

Metropolitan New York Synod. “The first day of 

class was September 11,” said M.Div. middler Matt 

Stuhlmuller. “Dr. Bouman came in that day and 

shared his experiences in New York on September 11, 

2001. It was very moving to hear how the churches 

were able to support the firefighters and emergency 

workers because they already had an established relationship 

and trusted one another.” 

Gaining practical techniques for building a 

missional church 

All of the instructors for Mission Leadership stressed 

the importance of congregations building relationships 

in the community. ELCA Director of 

Discipleship/Evangelism Pastor Brenda Smith told 

the class how her congregation built and benefited 

Stephen Bouman leading a Mission Leadership class on how congregations develop relationships within 

their communities 

9 

from strong relationships with the police and other 

community services in its neighborhood. 

Smith’s congregation used the seven faith practices 

of prayer, witness, service, encouragement, study, 

giving and worship to develop discipleship and to 

discern what God was calling them to do. “Any size 

congregation can integrate discipleship and evangelism 

into its life. All it takes is a strong and willing 

leadership – but it doesn’t need to be the pastor leading 

the effort,” Smith said. 

Students particularly appreciated the practical 

techniques and resources to draw on when they are 

in the parish. “I feel that we will be able to call on 

the teachers we had (from the churchwide offices). 

They also gave us names of people in synods – 

people we can go to when we’re in the parish,” said 

Bridget Thien, an M.Div. middler. 

Ministry starts with listening 

The large class of seniors, middlers, and master of 

arts students spent their last Friday together listening 

to one another. In 10-minute presentations, they 

continued on page 14

Remembering Paul and Ruth Manz 

World-renowned organist, composer, and teacher, Paul 

O. Manz, died October 28, 2009, in St. Paul, Minn., at 

the age of 90. Paul Manz joined the Lutheran School of 

Theology at Chicago community in 1983, when members 

of the Christ Seminary-Seminex faculty came to the seminary. 

Paul and Ruth Manz were dear friends to many in 

the LSTC community. They are remembered here by two 

who knew them well. 

On Paul Manz 

Some said he looked like Johannes Brahms, a person 

of short stature with an imposing head and a 

distinct gait. I could detect his mood by the way he 

walked down the long hallway on the north side 

of faculty row at LSTC on the way to his west-end 

office. “Hi, Marcus,” he would say with a wave, especially 

when the rigors of travels and engagements 

were at a temporary lull. Other times he would pass 

by with an obvious preoccupation that was often 

tied up with publishing demands or impending 

“tours,” as he called his concert schedules. 

No matter what the mood, the sound of improvisations 

being born from his midi-cized computer 

made their way to my office. Many of his now favorite 

hymn-based organ pieces were not only born in 

his office at LSTC, but they were often given their 

maiden voyages at the Wednesday Eucharistic services. 

With Paul at the helm seminarians learned 

by osmosis the power of church music in worship. 

Some sought additional encounters, taking organ lessons 

(he was a very patient teacher) or engaging him 

in conversation during his many but clearly defined 

visits to the refectory. 

It was in these singular interactions that the LSTC 

community learned to know a person who truly was a 

Mensch, as the Germans would have it, someone who 

had experienced and understood the joys and sorrows 

of life and who could address them with a faith 

that was at the same time childlike and profound. 

Wife Ruth did most of the theological reading around 

the house, but she kept Paul well informed. He 

could keep up with the best of them (Joe Sittler, for 

instance), affirming his place at the faculty table (as if 

he needed qualifications beyond being a musician of 

the church), all the while practicing an endearing selfdeprecation 

concerning these matters. 

Embracing life as it was given him 

Legacies of performing musicians seldom last for 

10 

more than a generation. The CD factor changes the 

equation some, making it possible for the children’s 

children to sense his crisp articulations and sense 

of rhythm. His compositions will probably become 

a permanent part of the literature for years to come 

with organists of every level trying to let the music 

come alive from the pages of notes before them. 

Even though the notes are there, duplication of his 

own delivery will rarely be achieved. 

For two reasons. One is that I learned over 20 

years that he never played those pieces the same way 

twice. His improvisatory engine just would not permit 

that kind of entombment. 

The other is slightly more complicated. We begin 

with his person. In the final assessment, Paul’s legacy 

revolves around the fact that he embraced life as 

it was given him, he knew intimately what it means 

to be a faithful believer in the midst of familial joys, 

vocational fulfillment, and the wonders of life on 

the one hand, but also in the midst of pain, suffering, 

and death on the other. He was not afraid to 

touch, to taste, to wrestle with life at its fullest, his 

own as well as the lives of others. Faithful empathy 

was the hallmark of his character. 

At the same time, he developed a parallel intimacy 

with another family, that gathering of the 

church’s great hymns. From that context one must 

take his oft-repeated advice to organ students: “You 

can never play the hymns enough.” We’re not talking 

just about tunes here, even though he knew 

closely the curves and rises of those too, refashioning 

their individualities into counterpoint for his 

improvisations. Rather, like intuiting the personalities 

of siblings or offspring, he comprehended the 

ethos of a hymn. He knew its character, its breed, its 

neighborhood, and its home. When that grasp of 

ethos connected with the everyday lives of the faithful 

(a process which, because of his pastoral love for 

others, he facilitated constantly) the electricity of 

the musical and spiritual moment sizzled. 

That recipe, the mixing of pastoral love with 

intimate knowledge of the people’s song, is his greatest 

legacy, and one for which, I think, he would 

want to be lovingly remembered. 

Mark Bangert 

John H. Tietjen Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Ministry: 

Worship and Church Music, LSTC

A Letter to Friends 

Dear Ruth and Paul, 

I am thinking of you, as I so often do, and remembering. 

I miss you very much, my treasured friends, 

Ruth and Paul Manz at LSTC in the 1980s 

mentors, unwavering supporters, even sometimes 

parents to me. Bedrock people. I learned from every 

conversation we had, but primarily from observing 

how you yourselves lived and the choices you made. 

You suffered heavy griefs and losses and endured 

many challenges in the more than 25 years I knew 

you, yet you remained always gracious, warm, welcoming, 

kind, and faithful. 

And what a model of marriage! You treated 

each other with that same warmth and with great 

tenderness and generosity. You complimented each 

other at every opportunity. Paul, at mealtime you 

would lavish praise on the (always colorful and artfully 

arranged) feast before you and on the love of 

your life who had prepared it. And Ruth, when Paul 

would leave for organ practice, or even just to run 

a small errand, you never failed to kiss him and say 

“Be careful, Paul. I love you.” The communication 

between you two was constant and loving. Together 

you turned that love outward to embrace a host of 

others. You had a way of making each of us feel like 

an extra-special friend. 

I was your guest for a few days at Narnia, your 

retreat high in the mountains of Colorado, during 

one of the last summers you were strong enough to 

travel there. In the evening, when supper had been 

cleared away and it was time for devotions, Paul, 

you reached for the Bible and a book of readings and 

prayers. Immediately, as if you had blown a whistle, 

the small dachshund Mollie, who 

had been playing and barking, trotted 

over to you, leaped into your 

lap, and laid its head down across 

your arm--and remained still and 

silent for the duration of the readings 

and prayers. I have never seen 

anything like it. 

After prayers, Ruth, you 

unfolded a slip of paper and began 

to make calls to your grown children. 

I saw that you had written 

down questions you wanted to ask 

them and notes on previous conversations. 

I had always marveled 

at the things you remembered of 

our own talks, and now I saw how 

you managed this. Your notes also 

reminded you what to pray for, and 

you did so—regularly and conscientiously. 

You prayed both boldly and 

humbly, expecting answers, entrusting your life and 

the lives of your loved ones to God’s heart. 

The Manzes in 2004 

11

You were such a steadying force when times 

were tough. You knew pain and could recognize it 

in others. “Ah,” you would say, learning of some 

predicament, “that is so interesting, isn’t it? Let us 

see now what unfolds. In the meantime, cultivate 

fortitude! And one must strive for buoyancy in times 

such as these. I will pray for your peace of heart.” 

Manners were sacred to you both. Paul, you 

always walked me out when I was taking my leave 

after a visit. When you lived in a building with an 

elevator, that meant riding down with me and taking 

me at least to the front door if not all the way 

to my car. Later, it meant accompanying me down 

the hall and across the lobby. Never mind that you 

needed a walker by then. My protests that it wasn’t 

necessary always fell on deaf ears. You may have 

become a little hard of hearing, but you always had 

your way. 

Ruth and Paul, as long as I live, your love and 

wisdom will continue to educate me in what is really 

important. Thank you. 

Peggy 

Peggy Blomenberg (1994, M.A.) is executive editor of 

Zygon Journal of Religion and Science. 

Pastor John E. Anderson (1968, M.Div.), offered this remembrance: 

[Paul Manz’s] program had not started when I was at LSTC. I graduated in 1968. But I purchased 

most of his records and knew him from the Worship and Music conference in Minneapolis, probably 

30 or more years ago. 

At that time Paul and Martin Marty led a Hymn Festival that was truly inspiring. I attended that 

conference. 

Years later, when I was a pastor at Hosanna Lutheran Church in Edmonton, Alberta, we purchased 

an expensive pipe organ. I felt it was important to have the dedicatory concert done in the best way 

possible. I suggested that Paul Manz come from Chicago to Edmonton, at the congregation’s expense, 

naturally! Many in the congregation did not like the idea and cost of it at all. But I won out. 

The chairman of the congregation refused to come to the event. The administrative assistant was 

against it, too. But she was also in the choir, with which Paul worked for the Hymn Festival. 

On the Monday after the event, the administrative assistant was glowing about everything Paul 

did. She said: “I had the feeling that I was sitting at the feet of a master.” I replied: “You were!” 

After that event, the congregation held hymn festivals and other musical events. It resulted from 

Paul Manz’s presence among us. Our organist heard the quality that could be produced from the 

organ and grew tremendously throughout the following years. She went on to attain a Ph.D. in 

choral directing. 

To read the entire LSTC news release visit www.lstc.edu/news/. 

The obituary by Paul Manz’s biographer, Scott M. Hyslop, is at www.MorningStarMusic.com. 

The family has requested that memorials be made to the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship Fund at LSTC. 

For more information about the Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship visit www.lstc.edu/chapel/organ/scholars/index. 

html. To make a gift online go to www.lstc.edu/alums_friends/giving/index.html and designate the gift to the Ruth and 

Paul Manz Organ Scholarship Fund. 

12

State of the seminary 

Giving thanks, staying focused and moving forward 

by James Kenneth Echols, president 

Last year, I reported to you on the effect of the 2008 

severe economic downturn on LSTC. Thanks to the 

hard work of board members, faculty and staff, and 

the faithful and generous support of so many of you, 

LSTC is moving forward in exciting ways in 2010. 

Giving thanks 

Thanks to the excellent work of the seminary’s 

Foundation Board of Trustees and its Investment 

Committee serving on behalf of the Board of 

Directors, LSTC is fully participating in the economic 

recovery. Thanks to a wise investment strategy, 

the engagement of UBS as investment counsel, 

the diversification of the investment portfolio and 

quality managers, LSTC is being a careful and prudent 

steward of the resources entrusted to it. LSTC 

endowment funds have recovered much of what was 

lost in the worst economic recession since the Great 

Depression of the early 20 th century. 

Good news 

During this period, individuals and congregations 

committed to forming visionary leaders at LSTC for 

the church and world have continued their generous 

support of this mission. At the end of December 

2009, more than $50 million had been committed 

to LSTC through the Equipping the Saints for Ministry 

comprehensive campaign. We are optimistic that, 

even in these challenging economic times, we will 

realize the $56 million campaign goal by June 30, 

2010. 

All three-year averages for the number of alumni, 

friends, and total donors, as well as the amounts 

given by these groups, are significantly higher during 

the years of the campaign. Your generosity, the 

strong witness of the members of the seminary’s 

three leadership boards through the Board Challenge 

and the wonderful giving by faculty and staff have 

made a critical difference in this ministry of theological 

education. 

Staying focused 

During the last 18 months, LSTC has been blessed 

by deep and committed involvement by the Special 

Finance Task Force made up of select members of the 

Board of Directors; a faculty representative; the vice 

presidents for advancement, finance and operations 

and myself. Since November 2008, we have met by 

phone or in person every other week to closely monitor 

LSTC’s finances and to develop strategies to help 

the seminary fund its operating budget. 

As reported last year, in the last two fiscal years, 

LSTC reduced its budget from $9.9 million to $8.5 

million. LSTC faculty and staff have made shortterm 

sacrifices, cutting department budgets and 

taking pay cuts to reduce budget losses, as we work 

toward the long-term commitment to “right-size” 

the seminary’s budget. 

To make up for losses in endowment income 

used to support the current operating budget, 

LSTC was able to extend its line of credit with UBS. 

Thanks to the budget reductions, the amounts needed 

were less than originally projected. 

Moving forward 

As you likely have heard, in May 2009 McCormick 

Theological Seminary’s Board of Trustees made a 

decision to pursue an orderly disengagement from 

its real estate relationship with LSTC. Beginning 

July 1, 2010, McCormick will restrict its use of the 

shared campus and reduce its financial commitment 

accordingly. LSTC has been analyzing the financial 

impact of this development and is considering different 

strategies for moving forward. 

In the midst of the changing relationship 

between the two seminaries, we are grateful that 

McCormick has reaffirmed its partnership with LSTC 

through the jointly owned JKM Library. The JKM 

Board of Trustees, in consultation with the faculties 

and administrations of the two seminaries, is now in 

the process of studying various aspects of the library 

to determine its future configuration and funding 

level. The JKM Library is an invaluable resource in 

the formation of women and men for ministry, and 

we welcome McCormick’s continuing collaboration 

in its support. 

In the spirit of moving forward, LSTC is engaged 

in a series of conversations about future partnerships. 

While it is premature to say much more than this, we 

do want you to know that the seminary is planning 

13

for a vibrant and vital future for this campus and 

believes the prospects are promising for new partners 

that will collaborate with LSTC in Hyde Park. 

Covenant Cluster collaboration 

This past November, the Boards of Directors of 

LSTC, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, 

and Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, 

Iowa, met together as the Covenant Cluster of 

ELCA Seminaries. Following a sustained process of 

discussion and discernment, the three seminaries 

decided to explore the extent to which the Cluster 

might become “a greater resource for mission, program 

enhancement, and the financial sustainability 

of each seminary.” The three boards approved 

resolutions on the exploration of business models, 

coordination in faculty development and strategic 

planning, and collaboration on online theological 

education offerings. The Covenant Cluster Board will 

shepherd the implementation of these resolutions 

and we will keep you informed of developments. 

LSTC’s 50th anniversary 

During the 2012-2013 academic year LSTC will celebrate 

its 50 th Anniversary. An anniversary committee 

is beginning to make plans for a year of celebrations. 

We look forward to giving thanks to God for all that 

LSTC has been even as we anticipate how God will 

work through LSTC over its next 50 years. 

Creating a missional church continued from page 9 

became resources for one another, sharing resources 

and ideas on one of three assigned topics: planting a 

new ministry, constructing a theology of mission, or 

taking a core biblical text and constructing a theology 

of mission. 

Senior 

Todd Koch 

told how 

he helped 

organize his 

internship 

congregation 

when 

he learned 

they wanted 

to become a 

Reconciling 

in Christ 

congregation 

and 

take on 

public 

leadership M.Div. Senior Dan Hille outlines a theology of mission 

welcoming 

LGBT persons into their faith community. Middler 

Sally Wilke outlined ways she has been applying 

the lessons of Mission Leadership to inspire 

and revive her Ministry in Context congregation. 

Bridget Thien laid out a process to help congregations 

become comfortable doing one-on-ones. Senior 

Dan Hille constructed a theology of mission relating 

ecology to the missional church. Each class member 

made a presentation grounded in what they had 

learned, but shaped by their own creativity and context. 

Bouman affirmed that LSTC students understand 

the concept of a church in mission in the world. “I 

found a wonderful give-and-take – a free-flowing 

conversation that allowed us to cover the content 

of the course. LSTC students are very welleducated. 

They have a willingness to grapple with 

tradition and are widely diverse in their opinions 

and politics. 

I hope we 

showed them 

that there’s 

not a ‘paintby-number’ 

kit for the parish. 

Thinking 

about ministry 

starts with 

listening and 

the power of 

one-on-ones.” 

M.Div. Senior Holly Slater presents her experiences 

working with new ministries 

14

Giving back with gratitude 

The Margaret R. and Timothy R. Schoewe Scholarship Fund 

will benefit second career students 

by Jessica Nipp (2002, M.Div.) director for advancement 

Margaret Rasmussen Schoewe (2004) came to LSTC 

as a second-career student after a 29-year career with 

Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. At LSTC, 

she received a master of divinity degree with emphases 

in eco-justice and spiritual formation. Margaret’s husband 

Timothy is an attorney who practices employment 

law for Milwaukee County. Last year, Margaret and 

Tim created the Margaret R. and Timothy R. Schoewe 

Scholarship Fund at LSTC, in order to provide other 

second-career students with the life-changing opportunity 

that their family has had. 

Tell me about your call to ministry and what 

brought you to LSTC. 

When I entered the candidacy process, I had to 

make some decisions about my ultimate ministry 

goal. I decided that I wanted to become a business 

chaplain, because I knew something of the workplace, 

and in particular the struggles of the workplace; 

but in the back of my mind I knew there was 

something more in store for me. 

I remember having a couple of insights one day 

as I was standing in LSTC’s parking lot—the old 

parking lot, lined with trees. The first insight was, 

“I’m here to learn to live in a different way.” The 

second was, “I’m here to find my own voice.” And 

that really is what happened at LSTC. 

Before I came to seminary, I had experienced 

people in my home congregation, Kingo Lutheran 

Church, who had a sense of faith and an ability to 

respond to adversity in ways that were beyond what 

I knew. 

We were asked to join in a litany during the student 

orientation retreat at LSTC: “God is good, all the 

time!” And we were supposed to respond, “All the 

time, God is good!” During that first week of orientation, 

I couldn’t say it. I came to LSTC with a lot of 

burdens, tired from the struggle of the workplace, and 

I just couldn’t affirm that God is good all the time. 

But by April of my first year at LSTC, I could say, “All 

the time, God is good!” I could proclaim, and I knew 

it was true. Life was different. Seminary was a totally 

life-giving and faith-renewing experience for me. 

Margaret and Timothy Schoewe 

The more I studied, the more I thought “I 

belong here – this is what I love.” People were very 

welcoming and encouraging. It was a challenging 

time, no question about that, but people helped 

each other. I got curious: I wanted to study Hebrew, 

I wanted to do a chaplaincy internship, and I wanted 

to try preaching. It was those little things that 

made me shift my degree from M.A. to M.Div. 

And then people kept saying to me, “Margaret, 

you should be a pastor.” I would respond, “I am 

going into ministry!” Finally, when it came to graduation, 

I started to listen. Two professors said to me, 

“Margaret, have you thought about ordination?” 

And I listened. 

I asked Connie Kleingartner (the late director of 

field education) if she could find me an internship, 

and of course by that time they were all taken. But 

somehow Connie found me an internship congregation 

in Milwaukee. It was there at Capitol Drive 

Lutheran Church, listening to those people, I heard 

the call—the life-giving call. 

15

How did your seminary education impact your 

family life? 

One really important aspect of my seminary journey 

was that my husband Tim and I had to do it together. 

Tim took as much of a leap of faith as I did. 

Initially I went to seminary part-time, and I 

worked part-time. When I realized I wanted to be in 

Chicago full-time to attend the Institute of Spiritual 

Formation in addition to my studies at LSTC, Tim 

had to walk that journey with me. When I decided 

to do an M.Div., increasing the length of my program 

by two more years, Tim had to walk that road 

with me, too. 

And then I decided to do an internship! Tim 

even gave up watching Packers games to come and 

visit me while I was in teaching parish and internship. 

At the time, neither of us could have imagined 

where this would lead, and how good it could be. 

I think, and I think Tim would agree, that LSTC 

has made an incredibly profound difference in our 

lives. With the creation of this endowed scholarship, 

we are now able to give back a little in gratitude 

for the gift that we received. And not only what we 

received, but what our whole family is receiving as 

we continue to learn and grow in our lives together. 

The ability to share that with others is a blessing. 

Tell me about one of the most important things you 

learned at LSTC. 

LSTC’s emphasis on spirituality was extremely 

important to me. The experiences I had at LSTC 

and with the Institute for Spiritual Leadership gave 

me the “time out” to look at my life, to listen to 

where God was calling me. Even though I attended 

LSTC before the position of Director for Spiritual 

Formation was created, the emphasis was already 

here. Academics are strong at LSTC, but you can’t 

get it all from the academics. In my studies, it 

became very clear that seminary education at LSTC 

was not just an academic learning exercise, but it 

was a spirit and heart journey, too. 

the form of education at LSTC. 

I have a desire to help other people to have that 

experience. I know what people give up to be here. 

I heard so many stories of sacrifice: of people selling 

a home, moving their families, putting other aspirations 

on hold, to come to LSTC and study a challenging 

curriculum. 

It’s a blessing for us to be able to help in this 

way—to give these motivated individuals the opportunity 

to move on, to do something new with 

their lives, to share their love for God in a broader 

way—in a called, rostered ministry. That’s why I’m 

especially interested in helping out second-career 

students; because I know the sacrifices they make. 

It’s pretty awesome when you realize that the 

inexpensive tuition at LSTC is possible because so 

many people give generously to the seminary, which 

helps LSTC keep costs down for the students. In 

that sense, I benefitted greatly—the tuition I paid 

was nowhere near the actual cost of the education 

I received. The quality of education at LSTC is very 

good. The gifts that surround us in the ACTS consortium 

and the University of Chicago community 

make for a very rich learning environment. I want 

others to have a chance to be involved in that learning 

environment, too. 

We thought about waiting until my husband 

Tim retired to make this gift, but then we realized 

we didn’t need to wait. It was time. So we did it. 

The Rev. Margaret R. Schoewe is associate pastor of St. 

Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, Wis. Her 

special emphases in her ministry are on pastoral care, 

spiritual formation and eco-justice. 

To make a gift to LSTC or to find out how to establish a 

scholarship, call the LSTC Advancement Office at 773- 

256-0710 or email Ashley Spell at aspell@lstc.edu. 

Last year, you and your husband endowed a scholarship 

at LSTC. What made you decide to do that? 

The gift we made to LSTC was really born out of the 

experience that I had here, the gift that I received in 

16

Planning for retirement? Consider a Charitable 

Gift Annuity 

by Jessica Nipp (2002, M.Div.), director for advancement 

Living in a recession teaches some life lessons. 

Among them is this: while money doesn’t buy happiness, 

it sure does pay the rent. And for many of us, 

as we look forward into our retirement years, we’re 

now even more acutely aware of the need for prudent 

financial planning. 

A Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) is a financial 

vehicle that offers three main benefits: First, it offers 

a secure, fixed income stream for life—a welcome 

bit of stability in a volatile market. Second, a charitable 

gift brings with it significant tax advantages. 

And third, a Charitable Gift Annuity offers you the 

chance to make your ultimate gift to LSTC. 

Here’s how it works: At or near your time of 

retirement, you transfer an asset (part or all of a 

retirement account, mandatory distributions, cash, 

etc) to the ELCA Foundation. The Foundation annuitizes 

that asset and gives you an annual payment for 

the rest of your life. A two-life option is also available 

that offers payments for your life and the life of 

your spouse. After your death, the remainder of your 

asset is passed along to LSTC. 

If you are interested in speaking with a gift planner 

about your retirement or estate plans, please 

contact the LSTC Advancement Office at 773-256- 

0712, or visit our web site, www.lstc.edu/planned_ 

giving/. 

Students write thank you notes to donors 

Frequently asked questions about Charitable Gift Annuities: 

When am I eligible to withdraw funds from a retirement account? 

People 59-1/2 years old or older are able to withdraw pension funds from any 403(b) or 401(k) retirement 

account without penalty. These funds can be used to make a gift with the CGA vehicle. 

What are the age requirements for receiving annuity distributions? 

According to current ELCA Foundation Guidelines, distributions can be received by those aged 65 and 

older. Those between the ages of 55 and 65 may set up a Deferred Payment Gift Annuity (DGA) and take 

the annuity distributions after they reach the age of 65. 

What are the tax implications of using my retirement account to set up a CGA? 

Since retirement funds are pre-tax income, tax will apply to the withdrawal of funds from a retirement 

account. However, the tax liability will be partially offset by the charitable deduction of the CGA. This 

partial offset applies to the initial withdrawal and the annual distributions. 

What is the ELCA Foundation? 

The ELCA Foundation is an arm of the ELCA that helps individuals make planned gifts that benefit their 

favorite ministries. Its services are offered without cost or obligation. Annuity rates through the ELCA 

Foundation are based on the rates suggested by the national nonprofit organization, The American 

Council on Gift Annuities. For more information, visit the ELCA Foundation website at www.elca.org/fo. 

17

LSTC reports encouraging campaign progress 

LSTC’s comprehensive campaign, Equipping the 

Saints for Ministry, has reached the home stretch 

and will come to a close on June 30, 2010. Our 

ambitious $56 million goal is no longer just a 

dream: so far, LSTC alumni/ae and friends have 

donated nearly $52 million to the seminary. Even 

in the midst of a deep recession, LSTC’s supporters 

have opened their hearts and their checkbooks to 

invest in our mission of forming visionary leaders to 

bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ, and 

for this we are truly grateful. 

More than 70% of the Equipping the Saints campaign 

gifts so far have been cash gifts that go directly 

into LSTC’s annual fund and into our growing 

endowment. The remaining 30% of campaign gifts 

are pledges or planned gifts, which help to secure 

LSTC’s bright future. 

As we continue to work together throughout the 

remaining months of the campaign, we are confident 

that we will be able to respond to the ongoing 

need for high-quality education for our high-quality 

students. We are convinced that with your partnership, 

we will reach and exceed our $56 million goal. 

Together, we are the future of LSTC! 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Equipping the Saints for Ministry Campaign progress through December 31, 2009 

18

WE REMEMBER 

Elizabeth M. “Betty” Danker 

1921 – 2010 

Elizabeth M. Danker, teacher, missionary, librarian, 

and spouse of the late William Danker, Christ 

Seminary-Seminex Professor Emeritus of Missions, 

died on January 5, 2010, in Arlington, Va., while 

in hospice care. A memorial service was held on 

January 16 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in 

Arlington, Va. 

Betty Danker graduated from the Chicago Teachers 

College and taught school before marrying the Rev. 

William Danker. In 1948 she travelled with her husband 

as he became the first missionary from their 

denomination to go to post-war Japan. She was a partner 

in that work, visiting churches and teaching classes 

as they helped establish the Japan Lutheran Church. 

When they returned to the U.S. seven years later, she 

worked as a librarian as they raised their family. 

Betty was instrumental to the work of the Center 

for World Christian Interaction, which helped many 

international students become pastors and leaders 

in their home countries. In 1994 she received the 

Confessor of Christ Award from LSTC for her work 

in support of the church. 

She is survived by a sister and brother, two 

daughters and a son, seven grandchildren and three 

great grandchildren. A memorial service will be 

held at Augustana Lutheran Church, Chicago, Ill., 

on April 10. Memorials may be made to the Danker 

Fellowship Fund at LSTC, which supports international 

students working on advanced degrees. 

Ethelyn Cantrell Herman 

1922 – 2009 

Ethelyn “Lyn” Herman, spouse of LSTC’s first president, 

Stewart Herman, died at her home on Shelter 

Island, N.Y., on December 18, 2009. 

Lyn Herman was born and raised in Atlanta, 

Ga., and, during World War II, suspended her college 

studies to participate in a wartime training 

program for women in aeronautical engineering 

at Cornell. This led to a position with the Curtiss- 

Wright Corporation developing jet aircraft. In 1945 

she married Stewart Herman and they immediately 

moved to Europe where Stewart was on staff with 

the World Council of Churches and later became 

director of the Lutheran World Federation in 

Geneva, Switzerland. Their four children were born 

in Geneva. They returned to the U.S. in 1952. 

In 1960 the Hermans began to spend summers 

on Shelter Island and retired there in 1971. Lyn 

Herman became active in associations dedicated to 

enjoying and preserving the island. 

She is survived by her children and grandchildren. 

A memorial service on Shelter Island is being 

planned for May or June 2010. 

Janet Norquist 

1924 - 2010 

Janet Norquist, wife of the late N. Leroy Norquist, 

professor of New Testament at LSTC from 1967 – 

1981, died on January 5, 2010. She had been living 

at the Holmstad Retirement Community in Batavia, 

Ill. A memorial service was held at Bethany Lutheran 

Church in Batavia, Ill., on January 16. 

Born in North Dakota and raised in Minnesota, 

Janet had a lifelong love of teaching. She taught 

school in Alexandria, Minn., Cloquet, Minn., and 

Chicago. After retirement she volunteered with 

Headstart Literacy Training and taught Bible study 

for 10 years at Holmstad Community. She is remembered 

as a “people person who enjoyed learning 

from and helping all people.” 

Janet is survived by her three children and six 

grandchildren. 

Marion B. “Mani” Wentz 

1923 – 2009 

Marion “Mani” Wentz, who served as secretary to 

the director of graduate studies and then secretary 

to the academic dean at LSTC from 1978 – 1982, 

died on December 26, 2009, in Gettysburg, Pa. Her 

husband, the Rev. Dr. Frederick K. Wentz, served 

as executive director of the Chicago Cluster of 

Theological Schools, a predecessor organization of 

the Association of Chicago Theological Schools. 

Mani was born in New Haven, Conn., and 

graduated from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y. She 

married Frederick Wentz in 1951 and, in accompanying 

him in his career, became secretary at many 

schools in various locations. She was an active member 

of her church and community, especially after 

retirement in Gettysburg at Christ Lutheran Church 

and at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. 

She is survived by her husband, two daughters, 

two granddaughters, and three sisters. She was predeceased 

by a son. A memorial service was held at 

Christ Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, Pa., on January 

9, 2010. 

42

FACULTY NOTES 

Carol Albright, visiting 

professor of religion 

and science, gave the 

address, “Neuroscience, 

Quantum Physics and 

Free Will: Human Action 

in an Interactive World 

with Thoughts on Divine 

Action,” at the American 

Theological Society – 

Midwest meeting in 

November 2009. 

John Albright, visiting 

professor of religion and 

science, conducted a forum, 

“Predicting the Future in 

Religion and in Science” 

in November 2009 at the 

Union Church of Hinsdale. 

On November 6, he was a 

guest panelist at an AAR 

reception for the publication 

of the book, Boundaries 

of Knowledge in Buddhism, 

Christianity and Science. The 

book includes his chapter 

titled “Limits of Scientific 

Knowledge.” 

Iskandar Bcheiry, auxiliary 

faculty, published A List 

of Ecclesiastic Ordinations, 

Belonging to the Syriac 

Orthodox Church, from 

the 16th and 17th Century 

(Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias 

Press, 2009) and The Syriac 

Orthodox Patriarchal Register 

of Dues Of 1870 (Piscataway, 

NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009). 

Kadi Billman, professor of 

pastoral theology, preached 

at the ordination of Anne 

Williams and the installation 

of Anne Williams and 

Jay McDivitt as the new 

pastors of Grace Lutheran 

Church in Thiensville, Wis., 

on November 21. 

Philip Hefner, professor 

emeritus of systematic theology 

and senior fellow, 

ZCRS, gave the keynote talk 

for the 125th anniversary 

of Immanuel Lutheran 

Church, in Coleridge 

Neb., on September 7, 

2009. Hefner’s grandfather, 

who came to 

Nebraska from the mission 

school in Neuendettelsau, 

Germany, served as pastor 

of this congregation 

for 29 years (l887-1916). 

On September 11, Hefner 

participated in a panel 

discussion at Augustana 

College (Sioux Falls) with 

healthcare professionals 

on the topic of his essay, 

“Healthcare Is about Bodies 

and Bodyselves.” The discussion 

was organized and 

led by LSTC alumna, Ann 

Pederson (1986, M.Div.; 

1988, Th.M.; 1990, Ph.D.), 

professor of religion. 

In October, Hefner presented 

the lecture “The 

Impact of Evolution on 

Christian Theology” in 

a series sponsored by 

the Associated Colleges 

of the Chicago Area, at 

Benedictine University in 

Lisle. During October and 

November he led a six-week 

course on Christian 

Theology for the Diakonia 

program held at Zion 

Lutheran Church in Tinley 

Park, Ill., for laity of the 

Metropolitan Chicago 

Synod. 

Kurt Hendel, Bernard, 

Fischer, Westberg 

Distinguished Ministry 

Professor of Reformation 

History, preached for the 

Bach Cantata Series on 

September 27, 2009, at 

Grace Lutheran Church in 

River Forest, Ill. In October 

2009 he led an adult forum 

series, “The Sixteenth- 

Century Reformations,” at 

Westminster Presbyterian 

Church in Munster, Ind., 

and gave a presentation on 

“John Calvin: The Reformer 

and Theologian” to a group 

of retired pastors at Grace 

Lutheran Church in River 

Forest, Ill. In November 

Hendel led adult forums 

on Martin Luther and John 

Calvin at Faith Lutheran 

Church in Glen Ellyn, Ill. 

Hendel published 

a review of Fortress 

Introduction to Salvation 

and the Cross by David A. 

Brondos in Interpretation: A 

Journal of Bible and Theology, 

Vol. 63, #4 (October 2009). 

Antje Jackelén, auxiliary 

faculty, was a guest 

panelist in November at 

an AAR reception for the 

publication of the book, 

Boundaries of Knowledge in 

Buddhism, Christianity and 

Science. Jackelén’s chapter 

in the book is “Knowing 

Too Much is Knowing 

Too Little: A Theological 

Appraisal of the Boundaries 

of Knowledge.” 

Ed Krentz, professor emeritus 

of New Testament, in 

October and November 

2009, preached at Christ 

the King Lutheran Church 

in Houston, Texas, and 

made three presentations 

on “Hearing Luke, 

Proclaiming Luke” to 

clergy in the synod in New 

Orleans, La., in Branham, 

Texas, and in Houston, 

Texas. Krentz also made 

a presentation to laymen 

appointed to word and 

sacrament ministry in specific 

local congregations 

on the topic “Is There a 

Lutheran Way to Interpret 

the Bible.” On November 

8 Krentz preached at New 

Hope Lutheran Church in 

Missouri City, Texas. 

Richard Perry, associate 

professor of church & 

society, urban ministry, 

presented “Black Lutherans: 

A Prominent Stream in 

Lutheranism” at Ebenezer 

Lutheran Church, Chicago 

in February. 

Perry published a review 

of Building a Healthy Multi- 

Ethnic Church: Mandate, 

Commitments and Practices 

of a Diverse Congregation 

by Mark DeYamaz in 

Interpretation: A Journal of 

Bible and Theology, Vol. 63, 

#4 (October 2009). 

David Rhoads, professor 

of New Testament, was 

the keynote speaker and 

presented two workshops 

at the Wisconsin Council 

of Churches’ Interfaith 

Climate and Energy 

Campaign Conference in 

October 2009. He spoke on 

“Living Responsibly in the 

Web of Life.” 

Rhoads is the co-host of 

a new six-part DVD series, 

“Earthbound: Created & 

Called to Care for Creation,” 

created by Seraphim 

Communications for the 

ELCA and a number of 

Lutheran partners. See pages 

4 & 6 for more information. 

The series is available from 

Seraphim Communications’ 

online store at http://store. 

seracomm.com/. 

Barbara Rossing, professor 

of New Testament, 

in October attended the 

Lutheran World Federation 

Council and Executive 

Committee meetings in 

Switzerland, attended The 

43

FACULTY NOTES 

Ecumenical Institute at 

Chateu de Bossey, for the 

Lutheran World Federation 

Women’s Pre-Assembly 

meeting, and traveled 

to Pittsburgh, Pa., for a 

Luce Fellowship meeting. 

In December, Rossing 

was part of the Lutheran 

World Federation delegation 

to the Climate Change 

Summit. She added her 

name to a letter signed 

by church leaders from 

around the world urging 

the U.N. climate change 

negotiators to act now. 

Rossing also received international 

attention for the 

message of hope she presented 

during a seminar 

hosted by the National 

Council of Churches and 

the University of Denmark, 

“Creation and the Climate 

Change.” Read more at 

www.lstc.edu/news/ and at 

ELCA news release archive 

for 12/31/09. 

Craig Satterlee, Axel 

Jacob and Gerda Maria 

(Swanson) Carlson Professor 

of Homiletics, in October 

2009, presented five lectures 

on the theme “When God 

Speaks through Change,” at 

the Association of Trained 

Intentional Interim Ministers 

Annual Conference of 

the Illinois-Wisconsin Region 

of the Christian Church 

(Disciples of Christ) and 

United Church of Christ, 

Barbara Rossing leads a session at the seminar “Creation and Climate Change” 

held in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the U.N. Climate Change Summit 

Starved Rock Conference 

Center, Utica, Ill. That 

month he also preached at 

the opening Eucharist and 

delivered three lectures on 

the theme “The Story We 

Live By” at the Bishop’s 

Convocation of the South 

Central Synod of Wisconsin, 

Fontana, Wis., and participated 

in a meeting of 

the ELCA’s Catechumenate 

Planning Team. 

In January 2010, Satterlee 

presented a paper entitled, 

“’The Eye Made Blind by 

Sin’—The Language of 

Disability in Worship” 

in the Word in Worship 

Seminar of the North 

American Academy of 

Liturgy at its annual meeting 

in Milwaukee, Wis. He 

lectured on mystagogical 

preaching at the University 

of Notre Dame, preached 

and led a mystagogical 

reflection on the Easter 

Vigil at Phinney Ridge 

Lutheran Church in Seattle, 

Wash. In January, Satterlee 

also preached at St. Luke’s 

Lutheran Church in 

Middleton, Wis., and twice 

at St. Andrew Lutheran 

Church, Glenwood, Ill. 

Satterlee’s article, “Worship 

is Mission,” was included 

in The Alban Institute’s 

“Top Ten Articles of 2009 

(So Far).” He published 

“Psalm 114: Homiletical 

Perspective,” “Psalm 118:1- 

2; 14-24: Homiletical 

Perspective,” “Psalm 150: 

Homiletical Perspective,” 

in Feasting on the Word: 

Preaching the Revised Common 

Lectionary, Year C, Vol. 2, 

eds. Barbara Brown Taylor 

and David L. Bartlett, 

(Westminster John Knox 

Press, Louisville, Ky., 2009). 

Carol Schersten LaHurd, 

auxiliary faculty, in 

November 2009, co-chaired 

the meeting of Lutheran 

Women in Theological 

and Religious Studies 

and presided and presented 

at the panel “The 

Qur’an in the Classroom: 

Pedagogical Challenges 

and Opportunities” at the 

Society of Biblical Literature 

annual meeting in New 

Orleans, La. 

Michael Shelley, dean 

and vice president for academic 

affairs and director 

of A Center of Christian- 

Muslim Engagement for 

Peace and Justice (CCME), 

in September 2009, attended 

the meeting of the 

Muslim-Christian Dialogue 

Initiative that is co-sponsored 

by the National 

Council of Churches 

Interfaith Relations 

Commission. The meeting 

was hosted by CCME/LSTC. 

In October, Shelley represented 

the ELCA at the fall 

meeting of the Interfaith 

Relations Commission 

in Chicago. CCME/LSTC 

hosted two days of those 

meetings. 

Shelley published a 

review of The Gift of 

Responsibility: The Promise of 

Dialogue among Christians, 

Jews, and Muslims by Lewis 

S. Mudge in Interpretation: A 

Journal of Bible and Theology, 

Vol. 63, #4 (October, 2009). 

Mark Swanson, Harold 

S. Vogelaar Professor of 

Christian-Muslim Studies 

and Interfaith Relations 

and associate director of A 

Center of Christian-Muslim 

Engagement for Peace 

and Justice, was editor of 

the Arabic Christian section 

of “Christian Muslim 

Relations: A Bibliographical 

History, Volume 1 (600- 

900,)” David Thomas and 

Barbara Roggema, eds., 

with Juan Pedro Monferrer 

Sala, Johannes Pahlitzsch, 

Herman Teule, and John 

Tolan, (Leiden and Boston: 

Brill, 2009). Swanson contributed 

20 entries to this 

957-page reference work. 

Linda Thomas, professor of 

theology and anthropology, 

in October 2009, gave a lecture, 

“The African American 

Church and Politics in 

2009,” at Canisius College 

in Buffalo, N.Y. The lecture 

was part of their Joseph J. 

Naples Conversations in 

Christ & Culture series. 

Peter Vethanayagamony, 

associate professor of modern 

church history and 

director of the doctor of 

ministry program, published 

“The Lutheran Churches 

of India,” a December web 

44

FACULTY NOTES 

article on the Lutheran 

Forum, web site, at http:// 

www.lutheranforum.org/ 

extras/the-lutheran-churches-of-india#1262987339. 

It accompanies his article, 

“Serving Body and Soul 

in Early Lutheran Mission 

to India,” Lutheran Forum 

(Winter 2009). 

Vethanayagamony 

preached and presided 

in January at Calvary 

Evangelical Lutheran 

Church in Chicago. 

Christine Wenderoth, 

director of the JKM Library 

and associate professor 

of ministry, published 

“In a Parallel Universe? A 

Response to Jeffrey Garrett,” 

in Theological Librarianship: 

An Online Journal of the 

American Theological Library 

Association, Vol. 2, No. 2, 

available at http://journal. 

atla.com/ojs/index.php/theolib/article/view/96/376. 

Vítor Westhelle, professor 

of systematic theology, 

published his eleventh and 

twelfth books, The Church 

Event: Call and Challenge 

of a Church Protestant 

(Minneapolis, Minn.: 

Fortress, 2009) and After 

Heresy: Colonial Practices 

and Post-colonial Theologies 

(Eugene, Ore.: Cascade 

Books, 2010). 

Westhelle’s article, 

“Santa Frida with Aura and 

Aroma: On Frida Kahlo’s 

Kitchen and Her ‘Broken 

Column,’” was published 

in Perspectivas, Thirteenth 

Issue, (Fall 2009). 

Louise Williams, director 

of spiritual formation, in 

October 2009, led a retreat, 

“Nurturing the Spiritual 

Life,” for the women of 

Luther Memorial Church, 

Madison, Wis., at Holy 

Wisdom Monastery, an ecumenical 

Benedictine community, 

in Middleton, Wis. 

CLASS NOTES 

1963 

Carl L. Hansen (Augustana, 

M.Div.) represented LSTC 

at the inauguration of 

Mark S. Young as Denver 

Seminary’s seventh president 

on January 30, 2010. 

The ceremony took place 

in Littleton, Colo. Dr. 

Hansen served as president 

of Midland College in 

Fremont, Neb. 

1974 

David Beckmann (Christ 

Seminary-Seminex, M.Div.) 

published “Smarter foreign 

aid: How to fix USAID” in 

the December 29, 2009, issue 

of The Christian Century. 

Beckmann, who serves as 

president of Bread for the 

World, is considered a leading 

advocate in the United 

States for hungry people. 

Steve Myers (Christ 

Seminary-Seminex, M.Div.) 

has started the Sabbath 

Center, a retreat center, in 

Lanark, Ill. The center is 

available to groups of up 

to 30 people who wish “to 

slow down, rest, and reconnect 

with nature, with God 

and with one another.” 

For more information, visit 

www.sabbathcenter.com. 

1977 

Wayne Basch (Christ 

Seminary-Seminex, M.Div.; 

1984, D.Min.) was featured 

in an article in the January 

22, 2010, issue of the 

Southtown Star, a suburban 

Chicago newspaper. Read it 

at www.southtownstar.com/ 

lifestyles/2004688,012210fa 

cesoffaith.article. 

1986 

Melody Beckman Eastman 

(M.Div.) and her congregation, 

St. Paul Lutheran 

Church, Wheaton, Ill., have 

received a National Clergy 

Renewal Program grant 

from the Lilly Endowment 

Inc. The grant will allow 

Beckman Eastman to take 

a sabbatical of several 

months’ duration. Only 149 

such grants were given to 

clergy and congregations of 

all denominations around 

the U.S. 

1988 

Leslie Whited (M.A.; 2008, 

D.Min.) led an education trip 

to Sumpango, Guatemala, in 

November 2009. She is CEO 

of Lutheran Social Services 

of Utah. 

1990 

Eardley Mendis (D.Min.; 

1993 Th.M.; 1997, Ph.D.) 

was honored by two other 

LSTC alumni with the publication 

of Witnessing in 

Context: Essays in Honor of 

Eardley Mendis (Tiruvalla, 

India: CSS Books, 2009) 

Monica Melanchthon 

(1990, Th.M.; 1995, Ph.D.), 

professor of Old Testament 

at the Gurukul Lutheran 

Theological College 

and Research Institute, 

Chennai, India, and George 

Zachariah (2002, Th.M.; 

2006, Ph.D.), assistant professor 

in the department 

of theology and ethics 

at the Gurukul Lutheran 

Theological College and 

Research Institute, Chennai, 

India, edited and contributed 

to the collection. 

Essays include “Witnessing 

in a Globalized World” by 

K.C. Abraham, “Christian 

Theology and Interreligious 

Hermeneutics” by J. Paul 

Rajashekar, “Witness in 

Context: Dalit Theology” 

by James Massey, 

“Pastoral Care of Migrant 

Communities” by H.S. 

Wilson, and a tribute to the 

late Tamara Mendis by Scott 

Chesebro, “Bridging Two 

Worlds.” 

1992 

Susan Davenport (M.Div.) 

has begun a new call as 

pastor of Christ Lutheran 

Church in Stockton, Ill. 

Susan serves on the LSTC 

board of directors as a representative 

for the Northern 

Illinois Synod. 

Nancy Goede (M.Div.) and 

her congregation, Mount 

Zion Lutheran Church, Oak 

Lawn, Ill., have received a 

National Clergy Renewal 

Program grant from the 

45

CLASS NOTES 

Lilly Endowment Inc. The 

grant will allow Goede to 

take a sabbatical of several 

months’ duration. Only 

149 such grants were given 

to clergy and congregations 

of all denominations 

around the U.S. 

1993 

Ronald Beltz Jr. (M.Div.) 

has been serving as a 

military chaplain since 

2001, with tours of duty 

in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

He was featured in an 

article that appeared in the 

November 30, 2009, Quad- 

Cities Online news service 

http://www.qconline. 

com/archives/qco/display. 

php?id=469038. 

Beltz is currently serving 

as chaplain for the Joint 

Munitions Command at 

the Rock Island Arsenal in 

Bettendorf, Iowa. 

1997 

Caryn Riswold (Th.M.; 2000, 

Ph.D.) recently published 

her third book, Feminism 

and Christianity: Questions 

and Answers in the Third 

Wave (Eugene, Ore.:Wipf 

and Stock, 2009). Riswold is 

associate professor of religion 

and chair of gender and 

women’s studies at Illinois 

College in Jacksonville, Ill. 

1998 

Jennifer Thomas (M.Div.) 

and her congregation, 

Immanuel Lutheran 

Church, Kansas City, Mo., 

have made their neighborhood 

both safer and 

greener. They helped get 

flashing lights installed at 

their busy intersection to 

make the crosswalk safer for 

pedestrians. The lights are 

solar-powered. 

2001 

Pamela Lojewski (M.Div.) is 

serving as the Spiritual Care 

Coordinator for Heartland 

Hospice in Rockford, Ill. 

She began this new call on 

December 1, 2009. 

2003 

Robin Brown (M.Div.) was 

installed as pastor of Holy 

Trinity Lutheran Church in 

Glenview, Ill., on January 

17, 2010. 

Joy Heine (M.A., dual 

degree), spouse, Michael 

Wasniowski, and daughter 

Cyanna, welcomed Auguste 

Joseph (A.J.) into the world 

on November 1, 2009. A.J. 

weighed 8 lbs. 12.7 oz., and 

was 20 inches long. He was 

thoughtful enough to wait 

to join the family until after 

they had moved into a new 

home in Homewood, Ill. 

2004 

Robert Bryan (M.Div.) 

helped host and lead LSTC’s 

annual rural immersion 

trip and class to Nebraska 

during January 2010. The 

class was featured in an 

article in the Yankton Press 

& Dakotan on January 15. 

Read it at www.yankton. 

net/articles/2010/01/15/ 

community/doc4b- 

500cb874845815996168. 

txt. 

Jennifer Moland-Kovash 

(M.Div.), pastor of All Saints 

Lutheran Church, Palatine, 

Ill., represented LSTC at the 

November 2009 inauguration 

of Kenneth L. Ender as 

president of Harper College, 

Palatine, Ill. 

2005 

James A. Maxey (Th.M.; 

2008, Ph.D), published 

From Orality to Orality: 

A New Paradigm for 

Contextual Translation of 

the Bible (Eugene, Oregon: 

Wipf and Stock, 2009). The 

book is included in a series 

on biblical performance 

criticism edited by Dr. David 

Rhoads. For more information 

on biblical performance 

criticism visit www.biblical 

performancecriticism.org. 

2006 

Margaret “Peg” Otte 

(M.Div.) began a new call 

as pastor of youth and 

family formation at St. 

John’s Evangelical Lutheran 

Church in Wilmette, Ill., 

in November 2009. She 

was featured in an article 

that appeared in the Pioneer 

Local newspaper on January 

14, 2010. 

Peter Perry (Th.M.; 2009, 

Ph.D.), published The 

Rhetoric of Digressions: 

Revelation 7:1-17 and 

10:1-11:13 and Ancient 

Communication (Tuebingen: 

Mohr Siebeck, 2009). 

2007 

Elonda Clay (Th.M.) 

received a travel award from 

the Federation of American 

Societies for Experimental 

Biology’s (FASEB) Minority 

Access to Research Careers 

(MARC) program to participate 

in the American 

Society for Human Genetics 

59th Annual Meeting 

in Honolulu, Hawaii, 

in October 2009. Clay’s 

poster presentation on the 

Ethical, Legal, Social and 

Policy Issues in Genetics 

session was titled “Using 

Genetics to Overturn the 

Legacy of Slavery? The 

Hope and Hype of Popular 

Representations of Personal 

Genomics, U.S. African 

Americans and Genetic 

Ancestry Testing.” Her 

scholarship explores the 

cultural, social, and ethical 

implications of genetics and 

the media. 

2008 

Jason Bense (M.Div.) was 

ordained on October 17, 

2009, at Holy Trinity 


Chicago. Bishop Wayne 

Miller of the Metropolitan 

Chicago Synod presided. 

Pastor Bense has been called 

to serve at the Lutheran 

Church of Our Redeemer in 

Sacramento, Calif. 

Gretchen Enoch (M.Div.) 

was ordained in February 

2009 and is serving as 

solo pastor of Redeemer 

Lutheran Church in Jasper, 

Ind. Pastor John Bradford 

(1997, M.Div.), who was 

her internship supervisor 

in Arlington, Va., presided 

at the ordination. Pastor 

Enoch was one of the first 

recipients of an ELCA Fund 

for Leaders in Mission 

Scholarship. She is presently 

mentoring someone 

considering going to seminary. 

Email her at gretchen. 

enoch@gmail.com. 

Dana Hendershot (M.Div.) 

published a guest commentary 

in the Naples News, 

Naples Fla., on the conditions 

of farmworkers laboring 

in the tomato fields 

of Collier County. She is 

serving as pastor at Christus 

Victor Lutheran Church in 

North Naples, Fla. 

46

CLASS NOTES 

2009 

Timothy Brown (M.Div.) 

was ordained on October 

17, 2009, at Holy Trinity 


Chicago. Bishop Wayne 

Miller of the Metropolitan 

Chicago Synod presided. 

Pastor Brown is serving 

Luther Memorial Church in 

Chicago. 

Luke Smetters (M.Div.) was 

ordained on January 23 at 

Immanuel Lutheran Church 

in Chicago. Pastor Smetters 

has been called to serve at 

Wiota Lutheran Church in 

South Wayne, Wis. 

Alumni take note! Excellent resource available to you 

through JKM Library 

Back when you were in seminary, you had access to one of the best theological 

libraries in North America – the JKM Library. One of the things that made JKM 

so good was its extensive periodical collection. In the last few years many of the 

journals became available online, so you could find, obtain and print out full-text 

articles from your home or office. 

The premier database for full-text online articles in religion is called ATLASerials 

or ATLAS. This database contains full articles from 140 major religion and theological 

journals, including Christianity Today, Christian Century, Interpretation, Worship, 

and Zygon. JKM subscribes to ATLAS and so you have access to them all if you 

are a currently enrolled student. When you graduate, licensing law prohibits JKM 

from granting ATLAS access to you. Until now! 

JKM Library through The American Theological Library Association and Lilly 

Endowment, Inc., offers YOU, the alumni of LSTC, free access to ATLAS and all of 

its wonderful full-text articles from this and the next two academic years! It’s one 

of the benefits of being our alum! How can you participate? It’s simple: phone or 

email Chris Wenderoth, director of the JKM Library, at 773-256-0735 or cwenderoth@jkmlibrary.org, 

for the username and password of ATLAS. Then, log on… 

and read. 

IN MEMORIAM 

Joseph Dahlquist 

1917 – 2009 

Augustana Class of 1945 

Pastor Dahlquist died on September 

12, 2009, in Duluth, Minn. He was 

ordained in 1945 and served churches 

in Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. He 

served on the boards for Lakeshore 

Lutheran Home and Bethesda Hospital 

(Minneapolis), and chaired the board 

on Social Ministry for the LCA. He was 

a member of the Senior Olympics as a 

golfer and bowler. He also sang in the 

Duluth Symphony Chorus and Duluth 

Opera. He was preceded in death by 

his wife, Janice. He is survived by 

two sons. A funeral service was held 

September 21, 2009, at Gloria Dei 

Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn. 

Kenwood K. Engel 

1931 – 2009 

Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, 

Maywood, Ill. Class of 1955 

Pastor Kenwood Engel was ordained 

in 1955 and served congregations in 

Wisconsin and Illinois. From 1963 

until his retirement in 2001, Pastor 

Engel served at Christ Lutheran 

Church in Clarendon Hills, Ill. He died 

on October 31, 2009. A memorial service 

will be held at a later date. 

J. Dean Gevik 

1931 – 2009 


The Rev. Dr. J. Dean Gevik was the 

author of five books, including 

Confessions of a Parish Pastor and 

Paradigms of Ministry, and a contributor 

to a number of periodicals 

and publications. He served as pastor 

of congregations in Michigan 

and Minnesota, and as chaplain of 

Lutheran Memorial Homes in Twin 

Valley and Halstad, Minn., and at 

Woodland Good Samaritan Center in 

Brainerd, Minn. He died on June 6, 

2009. Funeral services were held June 

20, 2009, at Lord of Life Lutheran 

Church in Baxter, Minn. He is survived 

by his wife, Melba, three children, and 

one grandchild. 

Arvid T. Swanson Jr. 

1925 – 2009 


Arvid “Ted” Swanson received his 

honorable discharge from the Army 

and his call to ministry in 1946. He 

was ordained in 1954 and served congregations 

in New Jersey, Texas, and 

Pennsylvania. After earning a master’s 

degree in social work from Rutgers 

University, he became assistant director 

and later director of the Lutheran 

Children’s Home, now called Glade 

Run Lutheran Services. In 1978, he 

accepted a call to serve St. John’s 

Stone Church in Prospect, Pa. Pastor 

Swanson died September 10, 2009. A 

memorial service was held September 

15 at Hope Lutheran Church, 

Cranberry Township, Pa. 

47

TRANSITIONS 

Board notes 

The Rev. Dr. Harvard 

Stephens Jr., college pastor 

and Dean of Siebert Chapel, 

Carthage College, Kenosha, 

Wis., represented LSTC at the 

funeral of Benjamin Larson 

held at Luther College, 

Decorah, Iowa, on January 

22. Ben Larson, a student 

at Wartburg Seminary, was 

killed in the January 12, 

2010, earthquake that struck 

Haiti. He had been on a 

teaching and research trip to 

the country. 

Pastor Stephens represents 

the Greater Milwaukee 

Synod on LSTC’s board of 

directors. 

The Rev. Dr. Jean Ziettlow, 

pastor of First Evangelical 

Lutheran Church in Tulsa, 

Okla., represented LSTC 

at the inauguration of Dr. 

Gary Emil Peluso-Verdend 

as president of Phillips 

Theological Seminary in 

Tulsa. Pastor Ziettlow is the 

Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod 

representative on LSTC’s 

board of directors. 

Staff notes 

Anthony Elia, associate 

librarian for reference 

and instruction, JKM 

Library Staff, published 

“An Historical Assessment 

of the Narrative Uses of 

the Words ‘Kabbalah,’ 

‘Cabala,’ and ‘Qabala/h’: 

Discerning the Differences 

Jane Gegel 

for Theological Libraries,” 

in Theological Librarianship 

Vol.2, no.2, 2009. 

Introducing 

Jane Gegel has been 

receiving visitors and helping 

the LSTC community 

with room reservations 

and work orders since late 

spring 2009. As the morning 

person at the front 

desk, Jane is the first person 

to greet you when you 

come through the door. 

Jane is involved in the 

International Women’s 

Bible Study Group on campus. 

In the last year, she 

was able to travel to Spain 

with her daughter. 

Her spouse, Brian, is a 

middler M.Div. student 

who works part time in 

the office of Vocation, 

Admissions, and Financial 

Aid. Jane and Brian are 

from Indianapolis and are 

enjoying what the Windy 

City has to offer them 

while Brian is in seminary. 

Be sure to greet Jane when 

you visit LSTC. Her phone 

number is 773-256-0700. 

Kristin Johnson 

Kristin Johnson, program 

coordinator for Youth in 

Mission, has significant 

experience working with 

youth and families through 

case management and 

program coordination for 

faith-based non-profit organizations. 

She participated 

in the 2009 Serving Christ 

in the World trip to Mexico 

and has done mission travel 

to Guatemala. She holds a 

human services degree and 

has extensive administrative 

office experience. 

Kristin is coordinating 

both the YIM programs, 

Serving Christ in the World 

and Beyond Belief, and also 

the annual Youth Ministry 

Conference at LSTC coming 

up in April. To learn more 

about YIM, visit www.lstc. 

edu/yim/ or call the YIM 

office at 773-256-0754. 

Kristin understands 

LSTC first-hand as a student 

spouse. Her husband, 

Zachary, is a middler 

M.Div. student. 

Seminex reunion 

addendum 

Pastor Rick Mueller, 

Lutheran Church of the 

Atonement, Florissant, 

Mo, wrote: 

“I was pleased to see the 

picture of the Roschkes 

and Larry Neeb as part 

of your coverage of the 

Seminex reunion. 

“You might be interested 

to know that in addition to 

being ‘a long-time Seminex 

supporter,’ Larry Neeb 

was also Vice President 

for Seminary Relations, a 

member of the Seminex 

faculty, and the executive 

editor of Missouri in 

Perspective, the newspaper 

which generated so much 

of the support for Seminex 

around the LCMS. For 

two years, Dave Roschke 

was managing editor of 

Perspective. 

“I had the privilege of 

being a colleague of both 

of these Christian gentlemen 

and know first-hand 

their invaluable contributions 

to the support and 

survival of Seminex.” 

Vitor Westhelle publishes two new books 

After Heresy: Colonial Practices and Post-Colonial Theologies (2010, Cascade Books) and The Church Event: Call and 

Challenge of a Church Protestant (2009, Fortress Press), are the two newest books from Professor of Systematic 

Theology Vitor Westhelle. He has published five books in the last three and half years. 

In The Church Event: Call and Challenge of a Church Protestant, Westhelle states “The living church is to its forms 

of self-representation what a parasite is to its host. The orchid that blossoms will not have a ‘presence’ but for the 

tree that hosts it, yet it does not blossom because of the tree.” The church is an event that takes place and where 

church happens is inseparable from when it happens. How can we detect the signs of the living church and where 

does it take place? Westhelle’s book throws light on these questions and opens up others to ponder. 

After Heresy: Colonial Practices and Post-Colonial Theologies is a book in three parts. It begins with an examination 

for colonial missionary practices then moves to interpretations of the crisis of Western modernity. Finally, it analyses 

some post-colonial practices that at theologically grounded even when used in discourses that are not religious. 

Some of the questions this work takes up are: Is there a post-colonial understanding of sin and evil? How can we 

understand eschatology in post-colonial terms? What does it mean to be the church in a post-colonial framework? 

For more information about the books or to purchase them, visit the publishers’ web sites: www.augsburgfortress. 

org/store/ and www.wipfandstock.com/cascade_books. 

48

From top left: LSTC students and Chicago area Lutheran professional singers and musicians presented 

part one of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at Bach for the Sem; Ph.D. student Prinstone Ben provided 

the sermon for the LSTC International Christmas worship; President James Kenneth Echols with the Rev. 

Dr. Mercedes García Bachmann, 2010 Distinguished Alumnus in Biblical Interpretation; M.Div. student 

Vance Blackfox (at right, in white shirt) leads a service to celebrate American Heritage Month, Native 

Peoples, and Creation; playwright and actress, Rohina, performs her one-woman play, Unveiled, at LSTC

1100 East 55th Street • Chicago, IL 60615 • www.lstc.edu 

Address Service Requested 

NON-PROFIT ORG 

U.S. POSTAGE 

PAID 

CHICAGO, IL 

PERMIT NO. 9556 

Calendar of Events 

For details and contact information, 

please visit ww.lstc.edu. All events 

are free and open to the public 

unless otherwise noted. 

Mondays thru May 3, 6:30 p.m. 

LSTC Common Room (350) 

Advanced Seminar in Religion and 

Science 

Tuesdays thru May 4, 6:30 p.m. 

LSTC Common Room (350) 

The Future of Creation lectures 

Sunday, April 11, 4:00 p.m. 

Augustana Chapel 

LSTC Gospel Choir Concert 

Benefitting the Grover Wright and 

Rev. Carole A. Burns Scholarships 

Friday, April 16 

LSTC Common Room 

Student Symposium on Science and 

Spirituality 

Sunday, April 25, 4:00 p.m. 

Augustana Chapel 

La Paloma in Concert 

Chapel Music Series 

Saturday, May 1, 8:30 a.m. 

“The Gift of Joy – The Joy of Gift” 

Spring Stewardship Conference 

Featuring the Rev. Dr. J. Pittman 

McGhee 

Registration fee: $40 

Register at www.mcselca.org or 

visit http://tithing.lstc.edu/events. 

php 

Sunday, May 16, 2:30 p.m. 

St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic 

Church 

150 th LSTC Commencement 

Monday, May 17 – Friday, May 28 

May-mester courses at LSTC 

Visit www.lstc.edu/may-mester for 

more information 

Saturday, June 19 – Sunday, July 4 

Serving Christ in the World 

Visit http://yim.lstc.edu/index.php 

for more information

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