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Field Education Conference

Last Thursday, May 3rd, CTSFW hosted the Field Education Supervising Pastors conference, funded by a grant from the Association of Theological Schools. Thirty-five of our fieldwork supervisors attended the conference, where they heard presentations from CTSFW faculty as well as several supervising pastors who have demonstrated expertise in mentoring students.

By learning and practicing in a congregational setting alongside academic study, seminarians immerse themselves in the life of the Church and by it gain practical experience in such things as public Scripture reading, leading appropriate portions of the Divine Service, and preaching Christ-centered sermons in which Law and Gospel are rightly distinguished. They also care for the sick and aged, and many learn to reach out to inactive members or the unchurched in the community, and to teach at a variety of age levels (from Sunday school to youth catechesis to adult Bible Class).

For, after all: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Presentations included such topics as preaching (Rev. Peter Brock; St. John, Bingen), leadership/administration (Rev. Patrick Kuhlman; Immanuel, Avila), and pastoral visitation (Rev. James Voorman; Zion, Decatur). Rev. Roy Olsen (Emmaus, Fort Wayne) also presented, as did Dr. Zieroth (director of vicarage and internship), Prof. Roethemeyer (associate professor of Pastoral Ministry & Missions), Dr. Grime (dean of Spiritual Formation), and Prof. Pless (director of Field Education).

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Convocation: Pastoral Care and Preaching in Light of the Hidden God

This morning, Dr. Joshua Miller, instructor in religion at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, spoke at our last public convocation for the academic year on the topic of “Pastoral Care and Preaching in Light of the Hidden God.” The talk covered, in short, an age-old, spiritually troubling question: Why would a good, perfect, loving God allow (or even will) evil and suffering?
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Dr. Miller began with Luther’s observation that God does and wills many things that He does not show us in His Word. Though the God revealed to us in Scripture promises to save us by taking away sin and death, sin and death yet remain. So we find ourselves dealing with a contradiction: God’s promise is a Word that does what it says, but billions still suffer, die, and go to hell. Life is one of war, famine, disease, and catastrophe. How is God’s existence justified in the kind of world in which we live?‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

A range of philosophies over the course of human history have attempted to answer this question: that God does the best He can but evil is outside of His control; evil is the absence of good much in the same way that darkness is the absence of light; God will not/cannot violate free will; God is not all powerful and so cannot keep His promises; God uses evil to teach you how to obey; or the more active response: that it does not matter. Our duty is to be moral in the face of immorality, and by it you can change the world (though this philosophy cannot then answer the question of how a person is moral in the face of impersonal, amoral catastrophes, like hurricanes and earthquakes).
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All of these philosophies lead to bad answers. Or, as God said in rebuke to Job’s friends: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7b).

Oswald Bayer, a German Lutheran theologian, pointed out that you get bad answers because you’ve started with a bad question. The question ought to be: is God keeping His promises? For suffering and evil are not philosophical problems but real ones. And the answer to this question? Lament.‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Lament is not an argument about God, but an argument with God. It is faithful backtalk. Crying out to God to do something about evil and suffering on the basis of His promise is a faithful expression of belief in that promise. In crying out, you accuse God based on what God has promised. Lament is thus the greatest form and confession of faith; it is trusting that God will honor His promise.‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Dr. Fickenscher and son, seminarian Daniel Fickenscher.

Faith holds onto the promise in spite of its contradiction. This is Jacob wrestling with God, refusing to let go until God blesses him. These are the laments in the psalms, Moses intervening on behalf of the Israelites God has just vowed to destroy, Jeremiah’s Lamentations, and Jesus crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).
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We live in the end times between Jesus’ first and second advents, caught between the old age and the new age, the already and the not yet. The first advent was the answer to lament, when Christ came into the world to put on creation, “for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Rom. 8:22). His second advent will complete what was begun, when all will pass away.
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Until we enter into glory, a pastor cares for His flock by taking evil and suffering seriously, and taking the promise seriously. He is not called to silence the voice of lament, but to lament together with those suffering (what the Smalcald Articles in the Book of Concord refer to as the “mutual consolation of the saints”). Pastors thus stand at the altar and pray the promise of His Word back to God on behalf of God’s people.

 

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2018 Academic Awards

Student Association President Amadeus Gandy introduces the awards.

Though the Seminary primarily focuses on the vocational training of pastors and deaconesses for service in the Church, CTSFW takes a moment near the end of each school year to recognize the academic accomplishments achieved by her students in the course of this preparation. Following chapel this morning, thirteen students were recognized individually, followed by the announcement of the graduate assistants and two students who will be involved in an archaeological dig in Israel. Per tradition, the Student Association sponsored the certificates and the monetary awards.

TOP (L-R): Erik Sorenson, James Pierce, Jacob Benson, Zachary Oedewaldt; MIDDLE (L-R): Jonathan Jennings, Blake Martzowka, Bill Maggard, Aaron Zimmerman; BOTTOM (L-R): Evan Scamman, Daniel Broaddus, Marshal Frisque, Dr. Gieschen

One of the most entertaining moments of the Academic Awards Convocation arose between the Scaers, during the presentation of the research and writing awards:

Dr. Peter Scaer, associate professor of Exegetical Theology: “Each year the Student Association of CTSFW honors student research and writing through four outstanding paper awards selected by each of the four theology departments. The Department of Exegetical Theology, of course, is the most important of the departments.”

Dr. David Scaer, chairman of Systematic Theology (coming up to the podium immediately after his son): “Do we have to endorse everything that was said by the last speaker?”

You can watch the Awards Convocation at the end of today’s chapel service, which is available on our Facebook page.  You can also view a slightly larger version of the list of academic awards by clicking the picture below:

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2018 Class Gift

This past Friday, during the LCEF annual banquet for fourth-year seminarians, the class of 2018 presented their class gift to President Rast, a translated copy of “The Great Works of God Parts Five and Six: The Mysteries of Christ in the Book of Exodus” by Valerius Herberger. The volume was near completion by translator Matthew Carver (standing on the far right) but needed funding before it could be finished and made available for purchase.

The class heard about the project through one of the fieldwork churches in Fort Wayne, Redeemer Lutheran Church. Pastor Frese (far left) has supervised and worked with many fieldworkers since accepting a call as associate pastor at Redeemer, and along with his wife owns and operates a small publishing company, Emmanuel Press. Wanting to choose a gift that could reach beyond the Seminary, the class discovered that the volume was a Christ-centered devotional, instructive to both church workers and laity alike. Besides underwriting the project, many of the fourth years had a hand in editing the final product, particularly checking bibliographical information, footnotes, and any missing citations.

To purchase a copy (or pre-purchase; the book is not officially available until tomorrow), CLICK HERE.

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Honorary Doctorate: John T. Pless

Congratulations to Professor Pless (our director of Field Education and assistant professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions)! Concordia University Chicago awarded him with an honorary Doctor of Letters on May 5th, during their spring commencement ceremony. You may recognize Prof. Pless from the pictures we post of him from his many overseas trips and missions. He is also the author of several books, the full list of which can be found on his faculty page HERE.

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Commemoration: Friedrich Wyneken

Today is the commemoration of Friedrich Wyneken, pastor and missionary. We don’t make a point of every commemoration throughout the year, but this pastor is of particular note to our very own CTSFW, where Wyneken Hall serves as one of the two main classroom buildings here on campus. Pastor Wyneken tutored the first two students of Concordia Theological Seminary out of his own home in 1844 (before its first formal classes in October 1846), and was the third founder of the Fort Wayne seminary.

This year is also the 175th anniversary of the publication of the “Distress of the German Lutherans in North America,” Wyneken’s successful call for pastors to come to America. Nicknamed “Notruf” (“The Cry of Need” or “Emergency Call”), this desperate plea for help moved the Lutherans back in Germany to help their pioneer brothers and sisters, who were spiritually starving on the Midwest frontier where they might see a pastor only once every few years. Wyneken eventually served as the second president of the LCMS.

In honor of the occasion, one of our librarians, Rev. Robert Smith, put together the following collect:
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“Lord of the Living Harvest, Who sends workers into the harvest field of souls, we thank You for the gift of Your servant, Friedrich Conrad Dietrich Wyneken, who urged pastors to serve in America 175 years ago. As you blessed the work of his hands, gathering scattered Germans into Lutheran congregations In Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio and forging the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod into a warm fellowship united in doctrine, mercy and mission, bless our work as we seek to proclaim your Word in our lost and dying generation, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, yesterday, today and forever. Amen.”

Picture taken from “Shepherd for Christ’s Sheep,” a short booklet about the early history of the Fort Wayne Seminary, which can be read by CLICKING HERE.

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Friends of the Fort Visit

The visitors here with us this week at CTSFW are calling themselves, quite appropriately, “Friends of the Fort.” Made up of LCMS pastors and congregations from around the country (Florida, Texas and Nebraska are among their home states), this group serves the church by supporting her seminaries. If you’ve been watching our chapel services this past week, then you’ve heard two of their number, guest preaching yesterday and today.

So far they have provided coffee, fruit and pastries for coffee hour following chapel yesterday (as pictured here), hosted a meal for the faculty last night, and are hosting a barbecue this evening for the Seminary community. They have also spent the last two days stopping by every office on campus to pass out gifts that show their appreciation for everyone who works here, from the maintenance staff to the office workers to the CTSFW Facebook page manager sitting at her desk on the third floor of Dorm B, writing the posts for the day.

The best part of these gifts are the words that come with them: a thank you card illustrated and written by children in their congregations and schools, the encouraging, “You are building the Kingdom of God,” and “Your work gives us Sundays,” and a note that says, simply: “1 Cor. 15:58.”*

Thank you, Friends of the Fort!

*Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

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St. Philip and St. James, Apostles

“Christ and the Apostles.” Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company, c. 1890.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 14:1-14

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Laborers Sent to the Harvest: Call and Assignment Services Conclude

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Matt. 9:35-38).

Thanks be to God for His great goodness and mercy; on April 24 and April 25, students at Concordia Theological Seminary (CTSFW), Fort Wayne, learned where they would serve in their near futures, as vicars, deaconess interns and pastors. The Assignment and Call Services culminated in the announcement of each student’s placement, in cities and churches across the United States. To see where the Lord of the harvest is sending His laborers, go to callday.ctsfw.edu/map.

“Placement is a process where we see the entire Church come together,” said the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey H. Pulse, director of Certification and Placement, addressing the candidates during last night’s Call Service. “Placement directors and seminaries, congregations and call committees, circuit visitors and pastors, district presidents and their staff, the Synod and the Council of Presidents—they all come together as Church to accomplish this very important task for the kingdom of God. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit and our desire to preserve the sanctity of the call, the outcome truly is for the benefit of God’s Church.”

For students headed out on vicarage or diakonal internship, this assignment marks another year of learning, bringing them ever closer to their future vocation. For those about to become pastors, these congregations are where they will be installed and ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry. To watch either service, print off the lists of assignments and placements, or see who’s coming to your district, go to callday.ctsfw.edu.

Remember, as well, the many congregations that still cry out for a shepherd, whose calls go unfilled this year. Though together CTSFW and her sister seminary, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, are placing 98 men (79 through the Master of Divinity Program and the rest through other routes), the laborers are ever few; that number is still 29 short of the 127 applications for candidates sent in by congregations this year. Pray earnestly for the men and women considering a future in church work, and encourage those who may not have yet recognized their own gifts for ministry and service. For more information about the path towards becoming a pastor or deaconess, go to www.ctsfw.edu/Admission or call 800.481.2155.

And finally, following on the heels of the Assignment and Call Services this week, the faculty of CTSFW and the Council of Presidents (COP) held a joint meeting this morning in Luther Hall. Made up of the President, vice-presidents and district presidents of the Synod, the 42-member COP meets four times a year to discuss doctrine, the administration of the Synod, and to edify and support one another. It is always encouraging to see the Body of Christ come together as her members, in their different roles, work to support one another in their particular tasks.

This meeting covered such topics as recruitment, parish administration and leadership, and the knowledge, skills and attitudes that a competent candidate develops in the classroom and through fieldwork, and that he then carries to his calling congregation. Here members of the council and faculty share the insights they have gained through their different perspectives.

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Candidate Call Service 2018

Four hours until Candidate Call Service! We have thirty men receiving calls this evening at 7:00 p.m. Kramer Chapel will likely fill quickly, but per usual you can watch the service either on our Facebook page or over at callday.ctsfw.edu/Home/Calls.

Afterwards, you can head back to callday.ctsfw.edu to check out our interactive map (showing where each candidate, vicar, and intern is headed), see who’s coming to your district, and to access printable lists of calls, vicarages, and internships. In fact, the site is constantly updated, so you can already view the vicarage and internship information. Call information will be added both during and immediately following the Candidate Call Service.