Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 2 Summer 2016 North American Lutheran Seminary Commencement 2016 The North American Lutheran Seminary (NALS) celebrated the graduation of four of its students at Trinity School for Ministry Commencement on May 14, 2016. Commencement exercises took place at St. Stephen s Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. The commencement speaker was the Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America and Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South. A Baccalaureate Communion Service was held on Friday, May 13, 2016 at St. Stephen s Church. Dr. David Yeago, NALS faculty member, was the preacher. The four students who graduated with a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) from both Trinity School for Ministry and the NALS are: Randall Drafts, Jr., Patricia Braunscheidel, Hans Tolpingrud and Christopher Wendel. Additionally, the NALS awarded the Diploma of Lutheran Studies to Dawn Rister. The Diploma of Lutheran Studies is presented to students who have completed an M. Div. at another institution and take their Lutheran-focused courses at the NALS in preparation for ordination. Dr. David Yeago preaching at Baccalaureate The North American Lutheran Seminary congratulates all of the graduates and looks forward to many more years of forming pastors for ministry. Pastor David Wendel Clockwise from left: Dr. David Yeago, Hans Tolpingrud, Randy Drafts, Chris Wendel, Dr. Amy C. Schifrin, Fara Pienkosky, Patty Braunscheidel 2016 Trinity School for Ministry M. Div graduates
Page 2 2016 Master of Divinity Graduates Patricia Braunscheidel My seminary experience was enriched by both Trinity and NALS students, faculty and staff. Even though I had to relocate away from my family, the seminary community provided comfort and strength during my seminary journey. Randall Drafts, Jr. The NALS has been such a positive experience for me. The guidance and leadership of the incredible staff--especially Dr. Schifrin and Dr. Yeago--has been formative both in my own faith journey and in preparing for the ministry of word and sacrament. Hans Tolpingrud I am eternally thankful that the NALC has begun taking the steps to provide a truly world class education for their future pastors and I can only pray that I will be able to share the gifts that I have received by being here as I move forward into my service in God s Church. Christopher Wendel The partnership of having NALS on the campus of Trinity School for Ministry gives Lutheran students an ecumenical heart for the Gospel while at the same time distinguishing and reinforcing Lutheran Word and Sacrament ministry that will impact our congregations long into the future.
Page 3 Trinity School for Ministry Names Henry L. Thompson III as Interim Dean/President The Trinity School for Ministry Board recently announced the appointment of Rev. Dr. Henry L. (Laurie) Thompson III as Interim Dean/President effective July 1, 2016. Dr. Thompson will step into the position vacated by the Very Reverend Dr. Justyn Terry, who recently resigned. Dr. Thompson has served as the head of the Doctor of Ministry program at Trinity since 2001. He is also the Dean of Advancement for the seminary where, he was an integral part of the recent successful Reach for the Harvest campaign. Dr. Thompson has been a supporter of the North American Lutheran Seminary since we came to Trinity. We look forward to working with Laurie and continue to pray for the leadership of Trinity School for Ministry, both current and future. Dr. Schifrin looks forward to working with Laurie, I ve come to know Laurie as a colleague and friend these last 2 and a half years. He has a great love for God and a deep passion for Trinity. We rejoice that he will be serving as Trinity s Dean/President as we walk into the future together. NALS Updates: The NALS was one of the sponsors of the Canadian Rockies Theological Conference, April 5-8, 2016. Dr. Amy Schifrin attended the conference and led morning prayer one day. CEU s were available from the NALS for those who desired them. Dr. Amy Schifrin led a day-long workshop and preached at Christ Lutheran Church in East Amherst, New York, on May 21 & 22, 2016. Dr. David Yeago preached at Bethel Lutheran Church in Noblesville, Indiana, on April 10, 2016. Dr. Amy Schifrin preached and served as liturgist during the Ancient Evangelical Future Conference held at Trinity School for Ministry, June 9 10, 2016. The conference is sponsored by the Robert E. Webber Center for an Ancient Evangelical Future. In addition, Dr. Schifrin and Dr. Yeago both gave responses to lectures during the conference.
Page 4 A Seminarian Gives Thanks! THANK YOU! To all my brothers and sisters in the NALC, I want to say thank you and send you greetings from the North American Lutheran Seminary (NALS). I can t tell you how much it means to me that our denomination decided to create its own program for theological education. I started out at a different seminary but when the program at the Seminary Center in Ambridge was getting up and running, I jumped at the opportunity to come here to learn from some of the most talented teachers and thinkers we have in the Lutheran church. And my time here has been a blessing. I wanted to share that with you, to let you know that your prayerful decision to create this program is doing great things in the lives of our seminarians. As a member of the most recent graduating class here in Ambridge, I want to ask you for your help. Having had the opportunity take classes from a variety of Lutheran faculty as well as taking classes from our ecumenical partners at Trinity School for Ministry, I wanted to let you know that there is something very special happening here at the NALS. The students are being formed into sound, confessional, prayerful thinkers who are focused on the proclamation of the Gospel for the life of the Church and the world. The first think that you can do to help is to continue to hold the NALS (teachers, staff, and students) in prayer. The continued prayerful support for the life of the seminary is always revealing itself, and it has been a joy to witness that in the community and to have experienced myself being sustained through the larger community of prayer. The next think you can do is to give to the seminary. The NALS program has an eye out to try to lower the expenses and debt that seminarians incur during their education, and seminarians rely on the support of the church in order to take up this calling. The last thing I want to ask you to do is going to take some time. One of the questions that we asked of ourselves as a denomination when we took the initiative to create our own program for theological education was, Where will our pastors come from? The NALS is the answer to the question of What is the best thing we can do to train our pastors for the future? The answer of where pastors come from is that they come from somewhere else before they go to seminary! It is through the guidance of faithful people across the church that those future pastors will begin their journey to seminary and beyond. So the thing I want to prayerfully ask your help with is not just finding the next pastor for a congregation, or finding one person whom you think should go to seminary. I want to ask for your help in thinking about the future of our church. I can remember people in my life, going back to when I was in grade school, who would mention something or nudge me in this direction, and I m praying that as a church, as the whole church, we can all begin to do this. I m not just asking you to help find students who want to start seminary next year, I m asking you to start praying for and nurturing the students who will start in 5, 10, 15 years. Seminary education is built over generations and it is not too early for all of us to start thinking about who is going to follow this year s NALS graduating class a decade from now because those young women and men may be sitting in a pew this summer and looking forward to finishing Confirmation next year, or helping out with VBS, or looking for a job at a Bible Camp. Finally, I m going to say thank you again. I want to thank my home church, Faith Lutheran in Monona, Iowa for their continued prayers and support. I want to thank the Iowa Mission District for their support while I ve been in seminary. I want to thank Trinity School for Ministry for being gracious and generous hosts to the Lutheran community studying in Ambridge. I want to thank the Lutheran faculty at the NALS who are continuously working to prepare the pastors of the future to confess the faith. Finally, I want to thank the congregations and mission districts of the NALC for your continued prayer and support for your seminary. This is a new thing in the... Article continued on p. 6
Page 5 From Our President The Rev. Dr. Amy C. Schifrin Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the name of our Lord! Many people have asked, Why is residential seminary education so important? In an age when so much of our communication happens online, in print, or through visual media, why is it important for future pastors to learn through an incarnate community? Our Lord knew the importance of face-to-face training when he prepared his first disciples for ministry. He called each of them and said, Follow me. Jesus formed these first disciples while they walked together, shared meals together, conversed together and as they witnessed him interacting with others. The disciples were formed in community to be prepared to continue Jesus mission on earth after he left. The disciples were formed as a community so that they would continue to hear the words of their Lord through the voices of one another. The disciples were formed into a community called the church, the place where God s word would be proclaimed and the Holy Sacraments would be given in his name for all the generations to come. While one of the trends in higher education is online/ distance learning, we believe that full pastoral formation requires the ability to relate to others in person. A pastor who spends his or her time sending emails to parishioners but never visiting them will have a greatly diminished ministry. As helpful as all our technological tools are (and they are helpful in so many ways) they cannot replace the face-to-face interaction of pastoral care that comes when a pastor visits in the hospital or nursing home and asks, How are you feeling today? and the parishioner knows that the one who asked cares enough about them to listen and to sit with them. In such an incarnate way, pastors represent the church, and thus they represent the One who loves them in all their frailties, Jesus Christ our Lord. Together, the pastor and parishioner pray for the church, for the world, and for their immediate needs. Together, they receive our Lord s body and blood. Together, they thank God for his goodness in the midst of all things. Through life in the body of Christ we are never alone. We need to be present for one another in times of grief or strife, in days of more pain than we could ever have imagined, and in those glorious moments when our sorrows are overcome in joy. Folks can argue that residential education costs too much and that all the information needed can be accomplished through an online program. It s easy to see why online programs are so appealing. We can do certain things through distance learning but an online education alone cannot fully teach a pastor how to be present, let alone how to fully witness to the surpassing love of Christ. The cost of not having a residential education is too much, too much for the health of the body of Christ. Seminarians are formed through community both, spiritually and professionally. Daily chapel services with fellow classmates, faculty and staff provide formation through corporate worship and prayer. Weekly Leadership Formation groups with other Lutheran students and faculty create relationships with peers that are helpful while at seminary, but even more create a support network for the future. Field Experience provides practice and training within a local parish under the supervision of a local pastor, forming the seminarian within a real world context. These things are necessary for full pastoral formation. The North American Lutheran Seminary is aware of the difficulties of traditional residential programs for prospective students. Our Board is committed to providing quality residential instruction to the future pastors of the NALC and part of that is a strong residential M. Div. program. We are committed to assisting students so that this program is more accessible. First, we are committed to helping students through tuition scholarships. Full-time residential seminarians who have been accepted into the NALC Candidacy process are eligible for full tuition scholarships. Our hope is to take away some of the financial burden. Second, through Trinity School for Ministry, NALS students are able to take twothirds of their program through online and intensive courses. The minimum residency requirement is 30... continued on p. 6
Page 6 From our President, continued from page 5 credits, which can be completed in two consecutive 14 week terms, allowing more flexibility for students for whom a move would be difficult. Ideally, a student would spend three years on campus in Ambridge, but they are able to reduce that to a year if necessary. So what s the best way to find out about the residential program at Trinity School for Ministry and the NALS? Come and visit! There are several different options available for campus visits. Be A Seminarian Day provides the opportunity for prospective students to visit campus, attend classes and meet with admission representatives, faculty and staff. Intensive weeklong courses during our January and June terms provide a short-term option for students to spend some time on campus and experience it first-hand. Or you can call the NALS office and set up a time to visit campus on your own. A Seminarian Gives Thanks, continued from page 4 life of the NALC and I am praying that what is happening here at the NALS will continue to have a positive effect in the life of the church as a generation of pastors and workers in God s church can go out from here to proclaim the Gospel. Peace and Blessings, Hans Tolpingrud NALS Class of 2016 Pastoral formation is most complete when seminarians are formed in community. Don t let this important component be what keeps you from pursuing God s call in your life. The NALS is committed to helping students through this process and both our flexibility and the availability of scholarships can assist you. Contact Fara Pienkosky at the NALS office for more information about our programs, scholarships, and campus visits, info@thenals.org. In Christ s love, Dr. Amy C. Schifrin, President NALS Mission/Vision Statement In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we are forming pastors and church leaders for the North American Lutheran Church who will faithfully preach, teach, and live God s eternal truth, through Word and Sacrament, proclaiming Christ s cross and resurrection, making disciples who will renew and grow the church in Christ s name.
Page 7 NALS at Anaheim Are you interested in attending seminary? Do you have questions about the North American Lutheran Seminary? We will be at the North American Lutheran Church Convocation in Anaheim, CA, August 9 12, 2016. Stop by our table filled with promotional materials about our programs at Trinity School for Ministry. We are excited to share with you in person the work that is being done at the NALS. We are thankful for everyone who partners with the NALS. Our partners help provide the scholarships and operating expenses for the seminary. Your help is important to the future of forming pastors for the NALC. If you want to partner with us, there are three different ways: 1. Support the NALS Theological Education Fund by sending a check payable to North American Lutheran Church (with "NALS" noted on memo line) to: NALC 2299 Palmer Dr. Suite 220 New Brighton, MN 55112-2202 2. Thrivent members can choose the NALS for your Thrivent Choice Dollars. 3. Donate online at the NALS website (http://thenals.org/donate/)