Christ Academy 2009 is in the
books and it was a GREAT success. Under the theme of "apologetics" two
dozen young men from all over the LCMS studied creation/evolution and how
to respond to objections to the faith.
It was two great weeks of
worship, theology, and (oh, yes) roller
coasters.
Click on the photo for a
collection of pictures from CA2009.
Save the Date!! Christ Academy 2010 - June 20 - July 3, 2010
We will study "Responding
Evangelically to Non-Christian Religions." Dr. Douglas Rutt and Dr. Adam
Francisco will lead a day trip to Chicago where we will tour a mosque, a
Bahi'i temple, and
other non-Christian places of worship. And rest assured that we'll find
some way to have some fun in Chicago as
well!
Online M.A. in
Deaconess Studies Now Available
“Many women serve in roles involving diaconal work and aspects of spiritual care, without having had formal theological training at the graduate level.
Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS) is delighted to be able to honor their diaconal work by providing an opportunity for these women to study theology at an advanced level and gain an MA so that they can be certified as deaconesses” said Dr Arthur Just, Director of Deaconess Studies at the seminary.
A deaconess is a woman who is theologically trained and dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Christ through acts of mercy and human care. The role of deaconess finds expression in diverse settings and specializations, whether in a congregation, in an institution, or on the mission field. Serving alongside the pastor, she embodies Christ’s incarnational care in the midst of suffering.
Many women already serve in roles that involve diaconal work and aspects of spiritual care, without having had formal theological training at the graduate level. Full-time study at a post-graduate institution is often not an option for these women, due to their family and work commitments. Concordia Theological Seminary is now able to provide an alternate route for these women to study and obtain a Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies. The program will be delivered through a combination of distance learning via electronic means and on-campus intensives. Innovative methods will be used to teach courses online. Rather than simply seeking to duplicate the traditional classroom online, course creators are looking for creative ways to teach the deaconess student the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need for diaconal work in their specific context. Students will also have opportunity to interact with faculty and fellow students and take part in campus activities through twice yearly, two-week seminars held on campus.
The full-time degree can be completed in 2 ˝ years, but students may opt to take courses on a part-time basis. The curriculum will be structured to take into account the experience and workload of the students. Nearly one-third of the credit hours are based on activities relating to the student’s current job. The director of the on-line program will work with each student to provide practical advice and to ensure that their workload is manageable.
The degree will include a rigorous program of theological study, together with training in practical, diaconal skills. Full-time students will take two on-line courses in each of the Fall and Spring quarters, and two, two-week intensives in each of the Winter and Summer quarters. All students will also participate in fieldwork.
Women admitted to this program must have:
We would like to invite you to find out more about the M.A. in Deaconess Studies by emailing us at deaconess@ctsfw.edu, or calling Dr. Arthur Just, Director of Deaconess Studies (260)452-2138 or Dr. Cyndy Lumley, Associate Director of Deaconess Studies (260)452-2225.
CTS Answers on YouTube
As a seminary here to serve you and
Christianity around the world, CTS has launched an online video project
called "CTS Answers," and you can find it on YouTube. Now, while you're
hunting around for the goofy video of the talking dog or exploding
watermelon, you can also view a short video about a particular topic of
Christianity. Now not only will you know "Will it blend?" but you can know
the answers to questions that people today, Christians and non-Christians
alike, are asking.
Here are a few topics already
covered:
Dr. Douglas Rutt
discusses "The Changing Geographical Center of Christianity".Kantor Kevin Hildebrand and Dr. Paul Grime explain how a pipe organ works.
Professor John Pless on the doctrine of Vocation (also see below in print!).
Fifty years of providing a barrier between
the Kramer Chapel and the beautiful lake on the campus of Concordia
Theological Seminary can affect the beauty and stability of any concrete
structure, and the massive wall surrounding the chapel was no exception.
Water, weather, and the constant freeze/thaw cycles of Indiana winters
caused several sections of the wall to crumble, prompting campus leaders
to question the structural integrity on numerous fronts. In conjunction
with the upcoming Walther Library renovation and expansion project, CTS
commissioned the reconstruction of the retaining wall around the front of
Kramer Chapel. This photo along with others in the Kramer Chapel Wall
Construction Set found at www.flickr.com/photos/CTSF Wedu show the beginning stages of the wall
reconstruction that happened throughout the months of July and August.
We'll be posting more photos of this process next week, so stay tuned to
this space for updates.
Read more about the expansion on the seminary blog, and take a
tour! Four Times
the Library Goodness
By: Professor John T. Pless
We
call the doctrine of vocation a “lost treasure” not because Lutherans have
excised this doctrine from the Book of Concord, but because, we have, in
large part, ignored what Dr. Martin Luther and our confessional writings
have to teach us about vocation and have instead turned to other sources
in our search to speak meaningfully about the place of the laity in the
church and world. There is a great comfort in our Lutheran understanding
of vocation for it frees us to live in our various callings, depending not
on our own merit or worth but on the mercy of Christ alone.
We have become accustomed to thinking of vocation only in terms of an occupation or a job. A vocational counselor is one who helps you determine what line of work you should pursue. A vocational school provides you with training to perform a particular job. If you are asked, “What is your vocation?” you are likely to answer “I am an accountant, a farmer, or a pastor.” Now such an answer would be partially correct. The work you do with your head and hands to provide others with needed services and earn a wage for yourself is indeed part of your vocation. But it is only part. Vocation means “calling,” and this calling embraces the whole of your life.
It is God Himself who does the calling. The Apostle Peter says that God has “called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9) thus giving you the high and holy status as a member of a chosen generation, a priest in His royal priesthood, a citizen in that holy nation of the elect. This calling is the calling to faith itself. Therefore Paul writes to the Thessalonians “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:13 – 14). On the basis of God’s redeeming work in Christ, the Apostle implores the Ephesians “to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1). Luther reflects the language and thought of Paul when he has us confess in the explanation to the third article of the Creed that “the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel.” This is the calling to faith in Christ and this calling gives us a new identity and status before God.
Luther’s doctrine of vocation is about “being” before it is about “doing.” In one of his essential treatises, “The Freedom of a Christian” (1520), Luther writes “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works; evil works do not make a wicked man, but a wicked man does evil works. Consequently it is always necessary that the substance or person himself must be good before there can be any good works, and that good works follow and proceed from the good person, as Christ says ‘A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit’ (Matt. 7:18). It is clear that the fruits do not bear the tree and that the tree does not grow on the fruits, also on the contrary, the trees bear the fruits and the fruits are grown on the trees.”
The Scriptures also speaking of “calling” in connection with our place in creation. For example, in his first letter to the congregation at Corinth, the Apostle reminds these Christians that they were bought with the price of the Lord’s own blood. Then, he continues “Brethren, let each one remain with God in the state in which he was called” (I Corinthians 7:24). Those who are married may not use their faith as an excuse for divorce. The slave may not use his freedom in Christ as the grounds for seeking liberation from an earthly master.
The “calling” is a twofold calling. It is a calling both to faith (Third Article) and to a life of love that flows from faith (Decalog/Table of Duties). In this calling, the heavenly and the earthly are joined together. In his classic treatment of Luther’s doctrine of vocation, the Swedish theologian Gustaf Wingren notes that Luther uses two words to describe the duality of the calling: beruf and stand. Both believers and unbelivers have a stand or station in life. That is both Christians and non-Christians are parents, children, governors, citizens, employers and employees. But only believers can be said to have a beruf or calling. In other words, the Christian who occupies a particular stand or station in life fulfills his beruf or spiritual calling in that sphere.
On the other hand, the unbeliever may perform works that are outwardly good in his particular station as a parent, worker, or citizen but as this work is done apart from faith, it may not be said to be a calling. Such work indeed falls under the realm of “civil righteousness.” It has great value before man and is used by God for the good of His creation. The pagan farmer who provides us with food is a larvae dei, a mask or covering of God, through which God gives us daily bread. But in the presence of God (coram deo) such work is without holiness; indeed this work is altogether sinful.
The dual calling of the Christian is well expressed by Luther in his treatise “The Freedom of the Christian” (1520): “We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and the neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, and in his neighbor through love.” The existence of the old Adam is focused on self. The old Adam is curved in on himself to use the imagery of Luther. This existence stands in bold contrast to the life of the new man in Christ. The new man lives outside of himself for his calling is to faith in Christ and love for the neighbor. Again listen to Luther “By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.”
Vocation really is all about faith and love. We are called by the Spirit to live in Christ by faith and in the neighbor by love. That is exactly where God wants us.
Prof. John T. Pless
We have become accustomed to thinking of vocation only in terms of an occupation or a job. A vocational counselor is one who helps you determine what line of work you should pursue. A vocational school provides you with training to perform a particular job. If you are asked, “What is your vocation?” you are likely to answer “I am an accountant, a farmer, or a pastor.” Now such an answer would be partially correct. The work you do with your head and hands to provide others with needed services and earn a wage for yourself is indeed part of your vocation. But it is only part. Vocation means “calling,” and this calling embraces the whole of your life.
It is God Himself who does the calling. The Apostle Peter says that God has “called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9) thus giving you the high and holy status as a member of a chosen generation, a priest in His royal priesthood, a citizen in that holy nation of the elect. This calling is the calling to faith itself. Therefore Paul writes to the Thessalonians “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:13 – 14). On the basis of God’s redeeming work in Christ, the Apostle implores the Ephesians “to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1). Luther reflects the language and thought of Paul when he has us confess in the explanation to the third article of the Creed that “the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel.” This is the calling to faith in Christ and this calling gives us a new identity and status before God.
Luther’s doctrine of vocation is about “being” before it is about “doing.” In one of his essential treatises, “The Freedom of a Christian” (1520), Luther writes “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works; evil works do not make a wicked man, but a wicked man does evil works. Consequently it is always necessary that the substance or person himself must be good before there can be any good works, and that good works follow and proceed from the good person, as Christ says ‘A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit’ (Matt. 7:18). It is clear that the fruits do not bear the tree and that the tree does not grow on the fruits, also on the contrary, the trees bear the fruits and the fruits are grown on the trees.”
The Scriptures also speaking of “calling” in connection with our place in creation. For example, in his first letter to the congregation at Corinth, the Apostle reminds these Christians that they were bought with the price of the Lord’s own blood. Then, he continues “Brethren, let each one remain with God in the state in which he was called” (I Corinthians 7:24). Those who are married may not use their faith as an excuse for divorce. The slave may not use his freedom in Christ as the grounds for seeking liberation from an earthly master.
The “calling” is a twofold calling. It is a calling both to faith (Third Article) and to a life of love that flows from faith (Decalog/Table of Duties). In this calling, the heavenly and the earthly are joined together. In his classic treatment of Luther’s doctrine of vocation, the Swedish theologian Gustaf Wingren notes that Luther uses two words to describe the duality of the calling: beruf and stand. Both believers and unbelivers have a stand or station in life. That is both Christians and non-Christians are parents, children, governors, citizens, employers and employees. But only believers can be said to have a beruf or calling. In other words, the Christian who occupies a particular stand or station in life fulfills his beruf or spiritual calling in that sphere.
On the other hand, the unbeliever may perform works that are outwardly good in his particular station as a parent, worker, or citizen but as this work is done apart from faith, it may not be said to be a calling. Such work indeed falls under the realm of “civil righteousness.” It has great value before man and is used by God for the good of His creation. The pagan farmer who provides us with food is a larvae dei, a mask or covering of God, through which God gives us daily bread. But in the presence of God (coram deo) such work is without holiness; indeed this work is altogether sinful.
The dual calling of the Christian is well expressed by Luther in his treatise “The Freedom of the Christian” (1520): “We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and the neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, and in his neighbor through love.” The existence of the old Adam is focused on self. The old Adam is curved in on himself to use the imagery of Luther. This existence stands in bold contrast to the life of the new man in Christ. The new man lives outside of himself for his calling is to faith in Christ and love for the neighbor. Again listen to Luther “By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.”
Vocation really is all about faith and love. We are called by the Spirit to live in Christ by faith and in the neighbor by love. That is exactly where God wants us.
Prof. John T. Pless
Because Christian Worship Is Not Supposed to Be About
You
Bad Vestments is a colorful (ahem) look
at the diversity of vestments in use throughout Christianity. It's proof
positive that simply using liturgical vestments does not make one
faithful. The author always goes back to telling the clergy "Christian
worship is not supposed to be about you." Amen to that. It's about Christ
and His gifts.
Doctrine and practice follow each other. It
could be that what clergy choose to wear when they conduct the services of
the Church might actually tell you a little about what they believe,
teach, and confess. I confess these are some of the goofiest vestments
I've ever seen! Enjoy.