"It's a small, little, Lutheran World"

Salutations all~~~

It's been a long while since my last post, and I apologize for that! Life has been happening at a quick pace here, and the past weekends have been devoted to homework and other activities, such as Visit Trinity, the admissions weekend we had on Saturday and Sunday. Know that I am well, and will try to be better about regular posting!

I was unsure of what to expect when I went to Chicago for the ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission celebration! However, I was more than surprised. I was elated to get to know 15 other Seminarians. We were able to share call stories, life experiences, and more! I now have more colleagues and friends whom I plan to keep in touch with. As one man, Carlton, said, "I am definitely going to have all of you come and preach at my church some day, and I'll hope you'll do the same!"

Perhaps one of the greatest things was discovering the ways in which the small, little Lutheran world is connected. Among the 16 of us, one was a Slovakian colleage of my friend Necia Homan through the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program; another was in Slovakia with my friend Rebecca Lund and is now her roommate at LTSC. Another of the men from Southern is married to a woman I worked with as a counselor at Green Lake Bible Camp. And this is the weirdest of all! I saw a young woman from the seminary at Philadelphia. She looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't necessarily place her. Anyhow, I figured it out! We were at Holden Village during the same week in March 2005. I was there for Easter and Holy Week. That was the last of her three months there! Indeed, it is a small, Lutheran world.

In regards to Chicago, it was neat to tour the headquarters of the ELCA and see the way the church works. I was able to enjoy dinner with my bishop, Jon Anderson, and meet other bishops from around the country. It was a truly emotional and spirit-filled experience to see how each of us were called to ministry and an invigorating experience to share in the Holy Spirit, whose presence was all around us. Hearing our own brief autobiographies read, I couldn't help but realize the way in which God's Spirit has named, redeemed, and called each of us to ministry!

I hope we'll be able to get together again as the Fund For Leaders' 2007 Scholars! As I returned to Columbus, I felt renewed by my journey, transformed by the people around me, and most of all, affirmed in my sense of call in Christ's church.

Thanks be to God. Amen.