LTSP News and Media

Mission Now: A panel defines today’s challenges and opportunities (report from Spring Convocation)

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:52:13 PDT

(see the photo gallery from Spring Convocation at the end of this article)

Remarks by four leaders were a highlight of LTSP’s Spring Convocation, attended by about 125 alumni

Today’s mission frontier looks and feels different in many ways from the colonial frontier American Lutheran Patriarch Henry Melchior Muhlenberg mined to plant the church in the 1700s. But there are similarities too.

“The God who made the world still loves it,” the Rev. Stephen Bouman told more than 100 alumni gathered for the 2012 Spring Convocation at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia on May 1. Bouman, paraphrasing the Apostle Paul’s Acts 17 message to the people of Athens, noted “That is the message of our mission as a church today. Through the death of Jesus the world was restored, and we are challenged to keep restoring it.”

Bouman suggested, however, that people today may be “more alone and afraid than they have ever been. He cited an article in the May 2012 issue of The Atlantic entitled “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”

Panelists (left to right) Bouman, Rajashekar,
Neale and Miller.

“Are we more concerned about putting the story of ourselves on a Facebook wall than we are about tending to our relationships?” asked Bouman, the executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Congregational and Synodical Mission initiative. He was one of four panelists dealing with an afternoon theme of “Mission Now.” The two-day convocation had the overall theme of “The New Frontier: Mission Then, Mission Now.”

Bouman said a preoccupation with ourselves “makes us lonely” and added that the Lutheran Church today needs to have a global, ecumenical and interfaith focus.

Bouman told the story of a Sudanese woman, once abused and neglected in a refugee camp, who had found a home at Grace Lutheran Church in Omaha, NE, and through the church had found the power to forgive her abusers. “We have always been the church of renewal for the poor and the stranger,” Bouman said. “This Sudanese woman belongs to you and me, and we belong to her. If the Lutheran Church can’t find a way to continue to show up on this kind of issue, then God will find a church that will. We have the same holy obligation each year…If we tell immigrants and strangers to check their baggage at our (church) doors as poverty grows, then we are hypocrites.”

Bouman has co-authored a book with Ralston Deffenbaugh entitled They Are Us: Lutherans and Immigration (Augsburg, 2009), which defines Lutherans as part of an immigrant church and which makes the case for immigration reform, calling on the modern-day church to a “mission of evangelical hospitality.”

“Today’s new mission starts often look different from our traditional congregations,” Bouman said. Of the 60 new starts in the current year, one-half focus on immigrant populations. Mission developers are often connected with community organizers, he said, and the focus is not only on worship but also on service, creating what he described as “a powerful front door.”

Leadership can look different too. In Hollywood, CA, the church is employing seven lay evangelists. As in Muhlenberg’s day “the church must be planted,” Bouman said. “But that requires us to go out into the community and encounter and listen to our neighbors.”

He called upon the church to be a part of a strong “public platform” that often requires creativity. In Minot, ND, Bouman described how Lutheran Disaster Response, responding to ruinous storm damage, has helped to foster congregational renewal, “a bridge to healing” in the community.

Seminary Dean J. Paul Rajashekar explained to the alumni he is concerned that, to many people, “the mission of the church is unclear. They are allergic to the church and don’t want to be a part of it.”

Rajashekar described the seminary’s mission: “Centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia seeks to educate and form public leaders who are committed to developing and nurturing individual believers and communities of faith for engagement in the world.”

“Mission,” Rajashekar said, “is the practice of faith in the world. The mission is to make churches in our communities public places for use by all people with pastors as public leaders.” He said the seminary is working through its teaching to build that attitude within future leaders. “The Eucharist is not just a thing that we share. It is an All You Can Eat Eucharist. That is our mission and we need to learn how to get there.”

Rajashekar said, “The Church must belong in the community, otherwise there is no sense of mission. We need to build and nurture the communities we are a part of. We are one community in the midst of other communities these days, frequently with many diverse and different publics.

“We need to be bridge-builders,” he said. “Not everyone we meet will intend to be a Christian. We need to come to terms with that. To practice our faith in the world we need to engage other communities within our communities.”

The Rev. Lee Miller II, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Northeast Philadelphia’s Mayfair section, described his congregation as part of a working class, blue collar community dealing with considerable poverty.

“We’re rapidly growing in diversity with residents who are Chinese, Albanian, Liberian and Vietnamese." He said 65 per cent of the church membership lives within a mile of the church, and 25 per cent come from the region, sometimes at quite a distance.

“Our challenge is to live out Acts 2,” Miller said. (And all who believed were together and had all things in common – Acts 2:44). “We gather for worship, study Scripture with 40 adults doing Bible study, and we care for those in need.”

He said the congregation sets its leaders free “to do what they are gifted to do.” Miller, who focused on urban studies while at the seminary before graduating in 1998, said the congregation works to engage the people in its community context and embrace the cultural diversity surrounding it. “I try to make my preaching accessible to everyone,” he said. “We are trying to build connections through social service, vibrant worship, prayer, music and proclaiming the Word in our context so that people will feel invited into our ministry.”

A key component has been to expand upon St. John’s Food Cupboard, now known as the “Feast of Justice.” St. John’s associate pastor the Rev. Patricia Neale (MDiv 2007) directs the program, which is now a non-profit social service agency serving about 1,700 families annually with food, literacy and resource counseling initiatives. The program has many community partners, Miller said.

“We’ve been able to remove the divide between church and service within our building,” Neale said during her panel presentation. “We’ve transformed our mission through organizing the development of our church in a new way. It’s not Sundays only. We are practicing discipleship 24-7. We dispense about 340,000 pounds of food each year through four feeding programs….”

But Neale explained that the goal is not simply to feed people who need to be fed, but transforming lives by teaching about “the bread of life.” She said that neighbors partaking of social service through St. John’s benefit from “a dignified experience. We help connect people to resources and we provide counseling. We’re transforming lives, but all our lives are being transformed. We are called to be planted in our community, and that is what is happening.”

Mark Staples, seminary writer, served as panel moderator.

Earlier in the day, alumni heard from faculty member Dr. Karl Krueger, director of the Krauth Memorial Library, about “Mission Then,” a look at Muhlenberg’s colonial era ministry in North America.

LTSP President Philip Krey (left) with Distinguished Alumni
Mc Near, Philips and Simmons, and Alumni/ae Association
President the Rev. Kathleen Ash-Flashner

At the Convocation dinner, three LTSP graduates were honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Awardees were the Rev. Gordon Simmons, who was honored for his diligence in making the neighborhoods he served in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy and West Oak Lane, and Wallingford, PA “his mission field by reaching out to residents and responding to their needs.” He is known for his bicycle ministry through neighborhoods. While in Mt. Airy, over a 15-year period he visited 10,000 homes three times each, and when honored by the Community College of Philadelphia for his leadership in 2004 was recognized in part this way: “His spirited leadership and mobile style of ministry tell the story of his love for the city and his commitment to its people.”

The Rev. Ernest McNear, MDiv ’99, a graduate of the seminary’s Urban Theological Institute, was recognized for his leadership in sponsoring a “Fugitive Safe Surrender” program at his True Gospel Church in center city Philadelphia. The program, conducted several years ago, resulted in 1,500 non-violent offenders streaming to the congregation over four days to turn themselves in in exchange for favorable considerations. The offenders were charged with such crimes as being scofflaws, drug possession, or other summary violations. True Gospel Church sponsors a learning center for 130 children in kindergarten through fourth grade “because the lack of education is a direct cause of incarceration,” he says. He’s also involved in prison ministry and directs the Philadelphia Freedom from AIDS campaign.

The Rev. Leon Phillips’s mission field has primarily been in response to disasters throughout the U.S. and its territories. The 1961 LTSP graduate began his career serving congregations. In 1969, the Lutheran Church in America’s Board of American Missions called him to serve as coordinator of the Greater Wilkes-Barre area and consultant to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod for congregational and area studies. He became a deployed staff member of the LCA’s Division for Mission in North America in 1972. After major flooding in the Wilkes-Barre, Kingston area of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Lutheran Disaster Response began bringing the energy and efforts by Lutherans around the country to together respond to natural and human-caused disasters in the U.S. and its territories. Dr. Phillips’s mission became to serve as Domestic Disaster Relief director. He was at the forefront of the church’s response to disasters such as Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, earthquakes in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Preacher for the convocation’s Opening Eucharist was the Rev. Dr. Nelson Rivera, associate professor of Systematic Theology and director of the Hispanic Concentration, who is observing the 25^th anniversary of his graduation from LTSP (MDiv '87). Keynote presenter the morning of May 2 was the Rev. Dr. Timothy Wengert, Ministerium of Pennsylvania Professor of Reformation History at LTSP.

Enjoy this slide show of photos from Spring Convocation:

click here to view the photo gallery and

download images or order photos

Andrew J. “Jack” White : Lutheran Seminary Professor Emeritus and civic activist in Philadelphia and Chambersburg

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:41:01 PDT

The Rev. Dr. Andrew J. White, who as a service-minded activist profoundly lived out his 30-year career of teaching practical theology at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), died Sunday, May 6, 2012 in Chambersburg, PA, where he lived in retirement. He was 79.

Emeritus Professor
"Jack" White on campus
in 2005

When White, known to colleagues and friends as “Jack,” retired from LTSP in 1997, he had held the Peter Paul and Elizabeth Hagan Professor Chair of Practical Theology for 14 years and had served as secretary of the faculty for three years. From 1983 until his retirement, he was director of Contextual Education (field work) at the school, and directed the seminary’s Graduate School (Advanced-Level Degree Programs) from 1991 until he retired. During his seminary career, White served four years (1978-82) as Executive Director of the Council for Lutheran Theological Education in the Northeast (CLTEN), which coupled the Philadelphia and Gettysburg seminaries with 11 regional synods and districts of two national Lutheran church bodies of that time, the Lutheran Church in America and the American Lutheran Church, predecessor bodies of the current Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) denomination. White for many years also edited Parish Practice Notebook, a publication that sought to convey to alumni and other church leaders fresh ideas in connection with successful congregational ministry.

What especially distinguished White was how his teaching of theology was reflected in his lifestyle of engaging himself in a wide variety of community service endeavors. Such interests were evident early in his career. He served two congregations before becoming a professor — Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cicero, IN, and Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in East Cleveland, OH. While in East Cleveland he also chaired that city’s Human Relations Committee (1962-65).

“Jack White had remarkable energy and a real vision for where he thought the church should go,” recalls the Rev. Dr. LeRoy Aden, a colleague of White’s who retired as the Luther D. Reed Professor of Practical Theology after a 27-year career at the seminary. “Many of us on the faculty were teaching in more theoretical areas. Jack had a real focus on the practical side of ministry in the world, particularly social ministry and the urban church. He was not a traditional thinker, but was sometimes viewed as something of a vagabond. He could be really assertive. He was not much into the usual way of doing things.”

Aden said even though his wife, Miriam Eileen Recker White, was not in the best of health during their retirement years living at Luther Ridge Retirement Community, Chambersburg, PA, they maintained active lives, traveling overseas as active supporters of global ministry in South Africa and Germany. The Whites spent a year in Slovakia in retirement while White taught at Bratislava Seminary there. In 1998, White was an international observer of the Parliamentary elections in Slovakia representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Prof. White in 1997

Appointed to the LTSP faculty in 1967, White became vigorously active on the civic scene while a resident of Philadelphia’s East Mount Airy neighborhood. He served on the Board of East Mount Airy Neighbors (EMAN) from 1968 to 1974 and from 1976 to 1979. He served four years on the Board of Philadelphia’s Haverford Community Center (1968-72). From 1972 to 1978, White was on the Democratic Ward Executive Committee and was frequently its vice-chair. From 1971 to 1978 he was vice-chair of the Board for EMAN Group Homes, focusing on personnel and fundraising for that program serving individuals with developmental delays. Beginning in 1981, White also served from 1981 to 1997 as secretary for the Board of the Mt. Airy Village Development Corp. For 11 years while living in Philadelphia White chaired the Board of Lutheran Retirement Homes (Paul’s Run), a social ministry organization of the church located in Northeast Philadelphia (1977-1988).

He continued that vigorous service in retirement in Central Pennsylvania. White served as a member of the Ethics Committee and as an on-call chaplain for the Chambersburg Hospital. He was vice-chair for the Board of Lutheran Home Care and Hospice in the area, a tutor for the Harrisburg area’s Scotland School for Veterans Children, which closed in 2009. (It was originally founded to serve the children of Civil War veterans.) In retirement White was a board member of the Auxiliary of Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania and former president of the Franklin-Fulton Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

A Wittenberg University graduate (1954), he earned his Master of Divinity in 1957 from Hamma School of Theology, a predecessor school for today’s Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH. Trinity named him its distinguished alumnus in 1986. He earned his PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 1969, focusing his thesis on the areas of political science and community organization. He earned the Master of Theology from the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN.

In Philadelphia, the Whites belonged to Reformation Lutheran Church in East Mount Airy. He served on a committee assigned to call a pastor, as assistant scoutmaster, as a member of the congregation’s finance committee, and its choir. For several years he served the Board of the Northwest Philadelphia Lutheran Parish, a collaborative organization of Lutheran congregations.

White was also involved in activities of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. He served on a task force on Ministry of the Laity and on a committee evaluating chaplaincy services. National church activities included service on a commission to study the nature and mission of the congregation and serving in South Africa as a volunteer missionary (1990).

After his wife died early last year, White remarried. His widow, Phyllis Ann Akers White, survives. Also surviving are four children, Mary Sue Burns of Marlinton, WVA; Daniel of Atlanta, GA; John of Houston, TX, and James of Huntingdon, PA; five grandchildren, Jesse and Jonathan Burns, Sara May, Shelby T. and Joanna M. White; and a sister, Dorothy Jean Robinson of Ormond Beach, FL. Two stepchildren survive: Kathryn Perbetzky of Philadelphia and George Akers of Gettysburg, PA.

A memorial service will be held at 11 am Thursday, May 10, at St. Luke Lutheran Church on the Luther Ridge Retirement Community campus, 2695 Luther Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17202, where White was a member. In lieu of flowers, gifts are invited for Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania, 1050 Pennsylvania Avenue, York, PA 17404, or The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119.

Luther 2017 address by Dr. Reiner Haseloff Wed. May 16

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 02 May 2012 07:09:40 PDT

The year 2017 marks the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of what became known as the Reformation. It has been almost 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in what is now Germany. Preparations are already well underway to mark the anniversary, and on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Minister-President and highest ranking elected official of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt will be visiting The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). Saxony-Anhalt is home to Wittenberg and other sites connected to Luther. Governor Haseloff will speak on the Luther 2017 celebration, and share activities both ongoing and planned to mark the Luther Decade (2008-2017). Governor Haseloff’s speech and other events of the day are free and open to the public.

The events, planned for The Brossman Center on the LTSP campus at 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, will begin with a coffee hour from 9:00 to 10:00 am, sponsored by the LTSP “Friends of the Krauth Memorial Library.” Governor Haseloff will address the community at 10:00 am. Following his address, around 11:00 am, participants are invited to attend one of four smaller discussion groups led by the governor; the Secretary of Cultural Affairs for Saxony-Anhalt; and two high-ranking officials of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (Evangelical Church in Germany), managing director of the office "Luther 2017 – 500 Years of Reformation" the Rev. Michael Wegner and regional Bishop Siegfried Kasparick. The event concludes at noon.

Learn more about the Luther 2017 celebration and the Luther Decade on the LTSP website: www.Ltsp.edu/Reiner-Haseloff.

Seminary celebrates groundbreaking for new Krauth Library Connector

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:03:37 PDT

New structure, scheduled to be completed this year, will make the 1908 Library ADA compliant. State Rep. Cherelle Parker helped to secure funds to make the new construction possible.

The Krauth Memorial Library, completed in 1908 on the campus of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), is the only public building on the 13-acre Northwest Philadelphia campus that is not accessible to all.

Now, thanks in significant measure to the efforts of Pennsylvania state Rep. Cherelle L. Parker (D-200th District), who secured a $500,000 grant for the project from the Commonwealth’s Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program, the library will feature a welcome mat for everybody before the end of this year.

ADA compliance will be made possible by a new “Library Connector” to be constructed between the seminary’s Brossman Learning Center and the library. Parker was honored Thursday, March 22, 2012 at the groundbreaking event celebrating the anticipated construction. The announcement from LTSP President Philip D. W. Krey during his remarks that the interior hall of the new connector will be “called Parker Hall in honor of state Rep. Cherelle Parker” obviously moved Parker. Krey also told onlookers that the new structure will be named for Timothy Breidegam, the late son of Helen and DeLight Breidegam. Construction on the connector is scheduled to begin soon and be completed by the end of the summer, according to Eric Butz of Roberson Butz Architects, who gave remarks at the groundbreaking.

“When this library was dedicated on June 3, 1908, this community was introduced to an architectural wonder,” said library director Dr. Karl Krueger. Krueger noted that the historic building’s glass floor and skylights made it possible for early students to enjoy natural light in the structure. Then LTSP Dean Henry Eyster Jacobs said at the time of the library’s opening that “we need books as resources to empower leaders.”

Krueger said the library’s mission hasn’t changed in more than a century. “The shelves, books and materials in the library have the same mission as then – to empower people to service in this community, city, and the world.” He thanked Parker for her role in making the building’s critical resources truly available to everyone.

Representing the faculty, the Rev. Dr. Katie Day, Charles A. Scheiren Professor, Church and Society, and director of LTSP’s Metropolitan/Urban Concentration, said to Parker, “Thank you for making our lives easier and for providing our campus with more aesthetic enjoyment. You have made a tremendous contribution.” Day described her responsibilities as a professor teaching seminarians about how church relates to society. “I believe this is what it is all about,” she said. “The relationship between the church, the public, and government – this (project) is what it looks like.” She said the connector reality goes beyond just “good intentions to meet a need” to the forming of “effective partners” to produce results. Day described Parker as someone who comes from membership of Enon Baptist Church in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy and who has used her faith and skills to foster relationships “between communities of faith, the government and a plethora of communities.”

A surprise guest and speaker was the Rev. Dr. Gladys Willis, an LTSP alumna who was dean and professor at historic Lincoln University, Parker’s alma mater. Rep. Parker was a student in a Shakespeare class Dr. Willis taught at Lincoln. The professor, now retired, remembers Parker as a “lively, persuasive student… It is a special honor for me to be here to celebrate a former student.” Willis praised Parker as someone who “continues to raise your voice in the community for those who have no voice. I am proud of you and respect you dearly.”

Dan Muroff, former president of East Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN) for four years, reminded listeners of LTSP’s concerns for the wider community, and that EMAN’s offices are located on campus, an example of partnership between the school and its neighborhood. “The Brossman Center facility here serves as the Town Hall for Mt. Airy and most of Northwest Philadelphia,” he said. He described Parker’s efforts to secure a grant to benefit LTSP’s campus as evidence of her commitment to the community, and said it is remarkable she was able to secure passage of the bill making the grant possible during just her first term in office. “You are a rising star in Harrisburg,” Muroff said of Parker.

In expressing appreciation for her recognition, Parker thanked Muroff for serving as her “connector” to the seminary and its mission that includes caring about the community. She thanked Kimberly Turner of the office of state Rep. Dwight Evans (D-203rd District) for her role in helping to secure the grant. And she expressed gratitude to Dr. Willis for her influential teaching in Parker’s life.

Speaking of her decision to advocate for funding for the seminary project, she said she becomes uneasy about institutions where only the members benefit from what it does. “It’s important for members of a (wider) community to share in the benefits of an institution like this one because you don’t know how you may inspire or motivate those you serve in the community to become part of your extended family, and Rev. Krey you always made your community service concern evident to me after I met you.”

Parker told her listeners that as a Christian and Baptist she appreciates how leaders from churches she connects with come to LTSP to study and emerge to become key leaders beyond the seminary’s campus. “These leaders connect with the community in ways that politicians can never connect,” she said. “I believe that politics is simply a tool used to decide how scarce resources are allocated. These are tax dollars, your dollars,” Parker said to her audience. “And before you cast a vote to decide how they will be used you better be sure that your vote will translate into something tangible that will benefit the community you serve.” Parker said she feels very certain that her vote will be making that kind of tangible difference. “This is an awesome day for Northwest Philadelphia.”

Groundbreaking participants included Krey, Krueger, Parker and Butz. The invocation was delivered by the Rev. Lamont Wells of Reformation Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, a student in the seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program. The Reading and Collect for the occasion was delivered by the Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian, seminary chaplain and seminary dean-elect. He is also the H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures and Director of the Multicultural Mission Resource Center at LTSP. Student body President Laura Gorton (MAR 2012) also participated.

Members of the Northwest Philadelphia community joined seminary students, faculty, and staff for the ceremony and the community luncheon that followed.

Photo Slide Show
(click an image to see the photo gallery)

Lenoir-Rhyne Choir fills LTSP Noon Prayer with Music

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:02:56 PDT

The Lenoir-Rhyne University A Cappella Choir and College Singers, accompanied by the University Brass Ensemble, lead the seminary community in a special Music and Prayer at Midday service in the Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel on the campus of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) on Monday, March 19, 2012. The musicians were in the middle of their Spring 2012 tour, which included stops in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland before returning to Hickory, North Carolina, home of Lenoir-Rhyne, on March 24.

The A Cappella Choir and Singers and University Brass Ensemble provided music before and during the service, including a brass selection, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (Praetorius), choral responses Qui tollis peccata mundi (Bach) and O Day, Full of Grace (Christiansen), and a choral blessing, Christ with Me (Weber), and lead the assembly in singing the closing hymn, O God beyond All Praising (arr. Hobby). The Rev. JoAnna Novak Patterson (MDiv 2009), an alumnus of the Lenoir-Rhyne class of 2002, joined her alma mater’s choir for one of their selections. Her studies at Lenoir-Rhyne included sacred music.

The A Cappella Choir and Singers are directed by Dr. Paul Weber, who has lead the choir since 1999. The University Brass Ensemble was lead by Christopher Nigrelli, conductor, with Jeana Neal Borman, collaborative artist and Morgan Lane, student organist. The choir has toured nationally since 1951 and traveled abroad every fourth year since 1971. It is well known for its lyrical tone and for its performance of both concert and worship music repertoire. The choir has sung for the installation of two national Lutheran bishops and performed for the 200th anniversary of the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. One choir member with an LTSP connection is Micah Krey, son of LTSP president Philip Krey and registrar René Diemer.

Lenoir-Rhyne University, located in Hickory, North Carolina, is one of 26 universities and colleges of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can learn more about Lenoir-Rhyne University at LR.edu.

View a slide show of photos from the service – click any image to go to the photo gallery:

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Grant Me a Grant! workshop April 29

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:34:41 PDT

Looking for Funds for Ministry?
Haven’t Written a Grant, but Wish You Could?
Want Help Improving Your Grant-Writing Skills?

Please join us Sunday, April 29, 2-5 pm for
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Grant Me a Grant!

This engaging workshop is an opportunity to explore different sides of the grant process — how to avoid obvious wastes of time, and how to maximize your efforts. You’ll take away some foundational knowledge of the grant-seeking process, and how to verify a good “fit” between proposal and purpose.

Beatriz "Bia" Viera, Vice President for Philanthropic Services at The Philadelphia Foundation, will be keynote presenter, and you’ll also learn with a team of accomplished grant-writers and peers in the social service and ministry sectors.

The event will be held in The Brossman Learning Center of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA 19119.

Ample parking is available on campus. Directions to LTSP are here.

Registration Fees:

$20/individuals in the General Public
 $10/non-LTSP students & service corps members
Free for LTSP Students and Agencies Affiliated with the Field Advisory Board of the LTSP MAPL Program

Register online here.

Download a Matchmaker, Matchmaker flyer (pdf).

About the keynote presenter:
Beatriz “Bia” Vieira is Vice President for Philanthropic Services of The Philadelphia Foundation, where she oversees the community foundation’s grantmaking process. The Philadelphia Foundation disperses over $20 million in grants funded by the foundation’s donors. She joined the Foundation in 2008, and in 2010 took her current position, which was new to the foundation.

Previously, Ms. Vieira was the executive director of Lutheran Settlement House, and she sits on the board of directors of the Homeless Assistance Fund, Inc. and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ms. Vieira holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and anthropology and a master’s in literature from Temple University.

Come to the Earth Week Fair - Tuesday, April 24

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:32:05 PDT

The Environmental Stewardship Committee of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) invites the seminary and Northwest Philadelphia community to the 2012 Earth Week Fair!

what?
A celebration of environmental stewardship and an opportunity to learn about green living in our community. Information, giveaways, and raffle items will be available from national businesses and local organizations.

when?
Tuesday, April 24, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm

where?
William Allen Plaza (in front of the Chapel) on the LTSP campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119.

Click to learn more about the many participants at this year's Earth Week Fair.

also...

Monday, April 23, 7:00 to 8:00 pm, LTSP Hagan Amphitheater:
Stacey Kennealy, Director of Certification Programs and Sustainability, GreenFaith, presents Greening Your Faith Community, how the practice of caring for creation can transform communities of faith.

You're Invited: LTSP Groundbreaking and Community Celebration Lunch Thursday at 12 noon

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:49:37 PDT

You're Invited: LTSP Groundbreaking and Community Celebration Lunch Thursday at 12 noon

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) invites the Northwest Philadelphia Community to join us in celebrating the groundbreaking for the final section of The Brossman Center, the "Library Connector," and to recognize Pennsylvania state Representative Cherelle L. Parker (D-200th district) for her work in the community and supporting LTSP. The connector that will join the historic Krauth Memorial Library to The Brossman Center on the seminary campus. It will provide handicapped access to the library, which is used by both seminary faculty and students and members of the community. A community lunch in Benbow Hall of The Brossman Center immediate follows the ceremony.

Pennsylvania state Representative Cherelle L. Parker represents portions of Philadelphia county, including the Mt. Airy neighborhood where LTSP is located. Rep. Parker has been important to the development of The Brossman Center as a community resource to Mt. Airy and the wider Northwest Philadelphia community, and was instrumental in making the connector a reality by providing $500,000 in state capital assistance funding for the construction.

Event: Groundbreaking for the Library Connector of The Brossman Center of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and Community Celebration Lunch

When: Thursday, March 22, 2012 starting at 12 noon, with lunch following

Where: The campus of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119 - location will be the space between the Krauth Memorial Library and The Brossman Center. A campus map is available at http://Ltsp.edu/campus-map, parking is available on campus adjacent to the library and The Brossman Center

Who: LTSP President Philip Krey, PA Representative Cherelle L. Parker, other seminary and community dignitaries

Invited: Members of the Northwest Philadelphia community

LTSP Hosting Let it SHINE! - African American Lutheran History Day on Saturday, May 26

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:02:06 PDT

You are invited to a delightful afternoon of fellowship and celebration honoring two American legacies: Black Lutherans and Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Enjoy a delicious catered luncheon, inspiring keynote presentation by The Rev. Dr. James K. Echols, Premiere Screening of the Grover and Irma Wright video, and uplifting Candlelight Jazz Concert, remembering our ancestors who have gone before us. Let it SHINE! is scheduled for Saturday, May 26, 2012 from 11:30am – 3:30pm (Memorial Day Weekend) on the campus of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia.

Keynote speaker The Rev. Dr. James K. Echols was the first African American to serve as president of a North American Lutheran seminary, serving in that capacity at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) from 1997 to 2011. He was academic dean at LTSP from 1991-1997. He joined the LTSP faculty in 1982, teaching American Church History. A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Echols received a BA from Temple University and an MDiv from LTSP. He continued his studies at Yale University, where he received his MA, MPhil, and PhD in the history of Christianity.

Dr. Echols has been a leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and in the wider community, serving on the board of the ELCA Division for Ministry, the executive committee of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and the steering committee of the USA Section of the Council of International Black Lutherans. He is the editor of I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Future of Multicultural America (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).

Seating is limited! Register Early! Tickets – $50 each, Table of 8 – $400. Table includes program tribute and 10 Grover Wright DVDs.

To register go to Ltsp.edu/letitshine or contact Yvonne Lembo, LTSP Office for Philanthropy, 215.248.6318 or ylembo@Ltsp.edu.

Proceeds benefit the Dr. Grover C. and Irma S. Wright Scholarship Fund.

30th Annual Preaching with Power continues through Thursday

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:51:55 PDT

The Urban Theological Institute of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia celebrates thirty years of Preaching with Power starting Sunday, March 18 with The Rev. Dr. Jasmin Sculark preaching at Janes Memorial United Methodist Church, 41-59 E Haines Street, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Preaching with Power celebrates outstanding African American preachers and teachers, and comprises five preaching events at Philadelphia churches, along with a lecture and Black Sacred Music concert on the seminary campus. All events are free and open to the public, with free will offering proceeds benefiting the seminary's Rev. Dr. Joseph Q. Jackson Endowed Scholarship Fund.

This year's schedule of preachers and events:

Sunday, March 18, 2012, 6:30 pm
The Rev. Dr. Jasmin Sculark preaching
Janes Memorial United Methodist Church, 41-59 E Haines Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144

Monday, March 19, 2012, 7:00 pm
The Rev. Otis Moss III preaching
Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, 25 West Johnson Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144

Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 11:15 am
Dr. Eddie Glaude, lecturer
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center,
7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19119

Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 7:00 pm
The Rev. Dr. Kevin Dudley preaching
Reformation Lutheran Church, 1215 East Vernon Road, Philadelphia, PA 19150

Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 11:15 am
Black Sacred Music Concert, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19119

Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 7:00 pm
The Rev. Dr. DeForest B. “Buster” Soaries preaching
Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, 6401 Ogontz Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19150

Thursday, March 22, 2012, 7:00 pm
The Rev. Dr. Jessica Kendall Ingram preaching
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 419 S 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Directions to venues and details on the events are available online at www.Ltsp.edu/PreachingwithPower.

Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir and Brass Ensemble to Perform at LTSP March 19

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:31:11 PST

The Lenoir-Rhyne University A Cappella Choir and College Singers and the Lenoir-Rhyne University Brass Ensemble will perform in the Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia on Monday, March 19, at noon. The ensembles are appearing as part of their spring tour. The performance is free and open to the public.

Repertoire for the thirty minute concert will be drawn from the choir’s 2012 tour repertoire, which includes Alleluia by Randall Thompson, Hear My Prayer by Henry Purcell, Qui tollis peccata mundi by Johann Sebastian Bach, O for the Wings of a Dove by Felix Mendelssohn, If You Love Me by Paul Weber, and O Day Full of Grace by F. Melius Christiansen.

The College Singers, a select vocal ensemble from the A Cappella Choir, and the choir are directed by the Rev. Dr. Paul D. Weber. The University Brass are conducted by Christopher Nigrelli.

The Lenoir-Rhyne University A Cappella Choir celebrates its seventy-sixth concert season this academic year. The choir has sung for the installation of two national Lutheran bishops, mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, and the 2009 Lutheran unity service at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. In April 2007, the choir gave its final concert for the spring in Blacksburg, Virginia, in remembrance of the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. The choir has taken eleven tours abroad, the most recent to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany in May 2011.

Dr. Weber, now in his thirteenth year as director, is only the third tenured conductor of the choir in its seventy-six year history. Weber and his wife, university organist Florence Jowers, joined the Lenoir-Rhyne faculty in 1996 to found the Sacred Music Program for the training of undergraduates in the craft and practice of church music.

Established in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a private, coeducational university located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is open to students from all religious backgrounds. The web site is www.lr.edu.

photo courtesy Lenore-Rhyne University - download a high resolution version

LTSP Highlighted on WHYY's Newsworks

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:28:07 PST

Newsworks, a news and community information project of Philadelphia public broadcaster WHYY, posted a story and video on February 23 by Kris Kitts and Becky Kerner of Philadelphia Neighborhoods, one of Newsworks' reporting partners. The story, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia bridges sacred and secular living, includes comments and a video featuring seminary students, faculty and staff, and highlights LTSP's involvement in the community and programs like the Master of Arts in Public Leadership, an example of how students live out the seminary's commitment to developing and nurturing individuals for engagement in the world.

The story and video are posted on the Newsworks website at www.newsworks.org/index.php/art-entertainment-sports/item/34405-ltsp-story.
Photo from Newsworks taken during the Duke Ellington Vespers on February 18.

German Lutheran Theologian Oswald Bayer presenting lecture March 6 at LTSP

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:32:57 PST

Oswald Bayer, DrTheol, the 2012 St. John's Summit Professor at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), will present the annual St. John's Summit Professor lecture on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at 11:30 am in Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center on the seminary campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. The lecture is free and open to the public.

A preview of the lecture: "The word of God, which remains forever (Is. 40:8), enters the public realm, apocalyptically, and yet it remains a mystery. The mystery is that of the divine name, which unlike all other mysteries, especially the agonizing mystery of evil and the hardness of heart, is not a riddle that once solved is put aside. It is the mystery of the eternally rich, living and therefore inexhaustible God."

Dr. Oswald Bayer is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He is particularly engaged in research on Martin Luther and Johann Georg Hamann, and serves as the academic leader of the Luther Academy Sondershausen-Ratzeburg. He is also an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church of Württemberg, and was the editor of Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie from 1986-2006. Dr. Ayer champions a Lutheran theology that is creative and eager to engage philosophical thought. His life's work has been the exploration of the often polemical engagement of Reformation theology with modern thought (see, for example, Theology the Lutheran Way, published in 2007, and Freedom in Response: Lutheran Ethics: Sources and Controversies, which also appeared in 2007). He is particularly concerned with ascertaining the place and task of Lutheran theology in our time. This intention is paradigmatically apparent in his book, Johann Georg Hamann as a Radical Enlightener, recently published by Eerdmans. The volume is also available in a Japanese edition. His Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation has been published in German, English, Portuguese and Chinese. Vitor Westhelle lauds Professor Bayer as "[o]ne of the most significant and original Lutheran voices of this generation, in both historical and systematic theology."

The St. John’s Summit professorship annually brings a distinguished visiting professor to LTSP to teach and share in the life of the seminary community. The professorship is funded by a gift from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Summit, New Jersey.

A collection of Dr. Bayer's books can be found on the Amazon.com site.

Written by The Rev. Martin Lohrnann, PhD '10 and John Kahler. Dr. Lohrmann's doctoral dissertation was on "Johannes Bugenhagen's Commentary on Jonah (1550): Biblical Interpretation as Public Theology in the Reformation."

Starting March 2: Seminars on Educational Ministry in Congregations

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:06:19 PST

This spring semester, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) is offering a series of five one-day not-for-credit seminars/workshops exploring various facets of educational ministries in congregations. Each day long educational ministries seminar is taught by a qualified practitioner and aims to provide a concentrated focus on a theme. The seminars are open to interested Pastors and Christian Educators (for non-credit or continuing education credit). Sessions will be held on the seminary campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. We invite you to join us!

Detailed information and registration are available online at www.Ltsp.edu/non-credit, or contact Kathie Afflerbach, LTSP Coordinator for Non-Credit Education, at kafflerbach@ltsp.edu.

Here are some details:

Seminars on Educational Ministry in Congregations
Five one-day seminars/workshops exploring various facets of educational ministries in congregations. Open to Pastors and Christian Educators of all denominations (available for CE and not for credit - see the website for details and to register.

Friday, March 2, 9 am - 4 pm: Technology and Adult Education in Congregations offered by the Rev. Keith Anderson, Pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Woburn, MA and co-author of the forthcoming book Click2Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (Morehouse 2012).

Friday, March 23, 9 am - 4 pm: Biblical Literacy in Congregations offered by Dr. Erik Heen, John H. P. Reumann Professor in Biblical Studies, LTSP.

Friday, April 13, 9 am - 4 pm: Education for Interreligious Engagement offered by The Rev. Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar, Luther D. Reed Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean, LTSP.

Friday, April 20, 9 am - 4 pm: Sunday School and Young Adult Ministries offered by The Rev. Dr. Jessicah Krey-Duckworth, Assistant Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership, Luther Seminary, St. Paul. MN.

Friday, May 4, 9 am - 4 pm: Multicultural Religious Education in Congregations offered by The Rev. Dr. Nelson T. Strobert, Professor of Christian Education in the Paulssen-Hale Chair of Church and Society and Director of Multicultural Programs, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, PA.

See the website for details, fees and to register online: www.Ltsp.edu/non-credit.

Ellington Epiphany Vespers at LTSP to mark end of Epiphany Season

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:21:28 PST

Come celebrate the conclusion of the Epiphany Season with the joyful music of Duke Ellington, set in the context of a Vespers service with readings and prayers. From "Prelude to a Kiss" to "I'm Beginning to See the Light" to "Jump for Joy," come enjoy the sounds of one of America's foremost composers as we conclude this season of light and begin to prepare for Lent. The Ellington Epiphany Vespers will be held Saturday, February 18, 2012, at 8 pm in the chapel of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia.

A free will offering will benefit the LTSP Master of Arts in Public Leadership Program and Lutheran Settlement House. Musicians include seminary students, faculty and friends Richard Mandel, piano; Jon Pahl, saxophones; Carmine Pernini, bass; Rodney Smith, drums, with possible special guests.

Directions to the seminary can be found at www.Ltsp.edu/campus. Ample free parking is available on campus.

(image of Duke Ellington from the Library of Congress New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection)

Seminaries Select Chelle Huth to Direct Theological Education with Youth

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:40:38 PST

The Lutheran Theological Seminaries at Philadelphia and Gettysburg announce that Ms. Chelle Huth, Associate in Ministry, will direct their joint Theological Education with Youth (TEY) program.

TEY is a creative initiative of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Joining with congregations, youth ministries and synods located primarily in the Northeast Regions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), TEY is designed to amplify the faith and witness of high school youth as gifted leaders and theologians. TEY is now in its tenth year of offering transforming events with youth in four different meeting places.

As director, Huth will work in both schools’ efforts to expand outreach to young persons through an annual Theological Academy, a Crossroads “plunge” experience, facilitating counselor training at regional outdoor ministries, and other settings. The director will coordinate the work of others who may be involved in TEY-related work, and will be a primary liaison to the Eastern Cluster’s Project Connect, as well as the Region 9 Bishops’ School held annually at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Huth is rostered as an Associate in Ministry in the ELCA. She holds a masters degree from Gettysburg Seminary in Christian Education/Youth Ministry (2004), a Certificate in Youth and Family Ministry from Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, IA, and an undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts/Social Science from Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg, PA. An experienced worker with youth, she has served as Coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Cumberland, PA, Coordinator of Family & Youth Ministries at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Mechanicsburg, PA, and Parish Associate at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Shiremanstown, PA. Huth has served on the staff of national youth gatherings of the ELCA, taught in the seminaries’ shared TEY programs and Gettysburg Seminary’s Youth Certification School, as well as other events in the region.

Huth said “I am thrilled to be called as the Director of Theological Education with Youth. I have served this ministry in a variety of ways even before its inception, helping to write the original grant proposal for LTSG. I look to continue building on the amazing foundation of TEY and am excited to see where the Holy Spirit will take this ministry in the future.”

The Rev. Dr. John Hoffmeyer, Professor of Systematic Theology at Philadelphia Seminary, expressed his excitement in welcoming Chelle as the new TEY director. "Her immense experience and expertise in youth ministry, including her deep knowledge of TEY as a program, will enable her both to build on the strong foundation past directors have laid and to take TEY in important new directions.”

Gettysburg Seminary’s Associate Director of Admissions, Ms. Julie Stecker, noted that “Chelle Huth not only brings incredible gifts for organization and leadership, but also for challenging young people to think theologically about how the biblical witness is relevant to their everyday lives in creative and faithful ways.”

Gettysburg Seminary President Michael L. Cooper-White commented on the selection of Huth, and the continued collaborative work by both Philadelphia and Gettysburg seminaries, “working in ongoing partnership to support this vital ministry, I know we will continue to do faith-filled, theologically grounded ministry with youth, and do it extremely well under her leadership.”

Learn more about TEY on their website: www.theologicaleducationwithyouth.com

Contact Chelle Huth at 717.338.3038, or email chuth@ltsg.edu

Download a publication quality photo of Chelle Huth

Is God Calling You? Lutheran Seminary can help you answer.

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:19:25 PST

Is God calling you … to preach, teach, lead, learn, or grow in faith? The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) has a program that’s right for you. A world-class faculty, flexible schedules, a diverse student body – LTSP delivers affordable excellence in theological education. Learn more about how a seminary education can help you answer God's call at these upcoming events:

Project Connect Annual Gathering of Pre-Seminary Students

February 10-12, 2012 at LTSP

Think + Pray + Discern

Attending the pre-sem gathering will allow time for:

• Interacting with others about Hearing God's Call to serve

• First-hand, bird's eye view of a seminary

• Worship and faith community opportunities

• Sharing with others what's happening at your college

• Information & help regarding candidacy, admissions and the biggie...financial aid

• Meeting and talking with seminary faculty

• Exploring your future

Students and Graduates, ages 18-30 from Regions 7, 8 & 9 of the ELCA, are invited to attend. We encourage the participation of Chaplains and Campus Ministers as well. Meals, housing and program are FREE – NO CHARGE! Transportation reimbursement is available upon request.

Learn more and download the registration form at www.Ltsp.edu/pre-sem.

Prospective Student Days
Thursday, February 16 and Thursday, March 29, 2012, 6 - 8 pm

Come and See what is available for you at LTSP! Prospective Student Day events are open to anyone interested in lay theological education opportunities, certificate, Master of Arts in Religion, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry, Master of Sacred Theology, or Doctor of Philosophy. Whether you are a lay leader in your congregation who is interested in learning more about the bible, the church's traditions and leadership, or you feel called to serve the church and the world as a public minister of the gospel or as professor at a seminary, we offer education opportunities for you. Please join us for refreshments; conversation with students, faculty and staff; and information about education opportunities, financial aid and admission processes.

Learn more and registrar online at www.Ltsp.edu/visit.

The Philadelphia Weekend Visit

Friday - Sunday, April 13-15, 2012

Do you have a passion for service and a love for the gospel? Are you interested in meeting others who are exploring their call? Are you wondering if LTSP is the place for you to study? Then plan to attend our Philadelphia Visit where you'll have the chance to explore God's call on your life, meet current students, staff and faculty, explore the wide range of possibilities LTSP has to offer and experience community life here in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Weekend Visit is designed for those at a distance from Philadelphia who would like to experience the seminary and region close up. Housing and meals are provided. Assistance with transportation is available by request.

Learn more and registrar online at www.Ltsp.edu/visit.

If you have questions or need further information on any of these events, contact seminary admissions at admissions@Ltsp.edu or 215-248-7302.

Seminarian Yvonne Lembo first recipient of the Dr. Grover C. and Irma S. Wright Scholarship

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:46:05 PST

Effort to fully fund the scholarship continues

Yvonne Jones Lembo, a third-year scholar at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), is the first recipient of the Dr. Grover C. and Irma S. Wright Scholarship for African American Lutheran Students.

The Wright Scholarship Fund was established with a $75,000 gift from Irma Wright, the widow of African American Lutheran pioneer, Grover Wright, who persuaded dozens of Black scholars to serve as Lutheran professional leaders. The gift was made possible through proceeds from the dissolution of the Black Lutheran Community Development Corporation (BLCDC), a non-profit enterprise founded in 1987 by Grover Wright to provide affordable housing and support services to single parent families in order to help them become self-sufficient. This is the single largest African-American Lutheran gift to LTSP in its nearly 150-year history.

Lembo is a candidate for rostered ministry with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She joined Little Zion Lutheran Church of Telford, PA in 2006 and in 2008 began Master of Divinity studies at LTSP. As a field education student, Lembo served as Vicar with St. Mark's Lutheran Church, where the Rev. Dr. Charles Leonard serves as pastor. Leonard also is director of Contextual Education at LTSP. Recently, Lembo assisted the Rev. Claire Burkat, Bishop of the ELCA’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (SEPA), as pianist and worship leader for the Synod’s “God is Doing Something New” series of three Fall Gatherings She has served as part of LTSP’s Office for Philanthropy since 2009, first as a work-study student, then as an administrative assistant and since October 1 as a Philanthropic Advisor. In this capacity, she is devoted to cultivating strategic relationships in support of LTSP’s Urban Theological Institute (UTI) and funds like the Grover and Irma Wright Scholarship, which provide resources for equipping African-American scholars and Black Church leaders for 21^st century ministry.

Lembo has excelled as a student. During her second year as a seminarian two years ago, Lembo was honored with the Karl Elster Wurster Award, recognizing her academic merit and “promise of ministry.”

Sharing her thoughts on receiving the first Grover and Irma Wright Scholarship award, Lembo said: “I’m inspired and deeply, deeply moved by Grover and Irma's life of faith, courage, hope, perseverance and humility and incredible investment in raising up African-American Lutheran leaders for the Church. Mrs. Wright could have chosen to do many things with the funds she received from the BLCDC. But she chose to invest in the future of African-American Lutheran leaders. I feel as if God has lavished these gracious gifts -- of receiving the scholarship and this opportunity to raise funds for the seminary --- as part of a wonderful plan to extend and enlarge Grover and Irma's incredible legacy. So it’s not only the financial gift, but also the Spirit behind the gift that is a blessing to bequeath to each succeeding generation. It's a vision of hope and promise for the future of African-Americans in the Lutheran Church. It's an investment in the future of our communities-- to raise up caring qualified leaders who are sensitive and responsive to giving a hand up to those in need. In Grover’s words, it’s ‘a challenge, an opportunity and a dare’ to minister with integrity in new ways and new settings to expand the frontiers of the Gospel. When I’m moving in that direction, I feel their wind beneath my wings.”

Since the Wright Scholarship was established in 2010, there has been a wellspring of support from African-American Lutherans. A Celebration of Thanksgiving Service this past May generated nearly $3,500 in additional gifts for the Grover and Irma Wright Fund. This August, New Hope Lutheran Church in Jamaica, NY, an African-American Lutheran congregation designated a gift of nearly $6,000 to the Wright Scholarship Fund.

In her capacity as Philanthropic Advisor, Lembo has organized a Grover and Irma Wright Fund Task Force to follow through with the goal of increasing the Fund from the original $75,000 gift to $100,000 or more in 2012. The Task Force includes the Rev. Jessie Brown, Dr. Addie Butler, the Rev. Daniel Shook and Sister Cecilia Wilson -- all of whom have been longtime friends of Grover and Irma Wright and who served on the original Scholarship Task Force.

Lembo is excited about continuing to build momentum and support for the Wright Fund. “The Task Force is working with Dr. Charles Leonard, Larry House and, of course, Mrs. Irma Wright, to produce a short DVD that will tell the Grover and Irma Wright story through footage and photos from Grover's life and interviews with Irma and several of Grover's key colleagues and protégés.”

The DVD will be used to invite others to join in the Wright’s spirit of philanthropy and investment in African-American Lutheran leaders. It is scheduled to be ready by Spring 2012 and to be introduced at an African-American Lutheran History Day at LTSP that Lembo is working on with LTSP faculty member, the Rev. Dr. Richard Stewart. The History Day is tentatively scheduled for this coming April or May. Pastor Larry Smoose and Reformation Lutheran Church of Media, PA have taken the lead in supporting the Grover Wright DVD and 2012 fundraising initiative by pledging $2,500 for DVD production costs and an additional $2,500 matching gift that will double the impact of those who contribute to the Grover and Irma Wright Scholarship over the next year.

For more information about the Grover and Irma Wright Scholarship Fund contact Yvonne Lembo at the LTSP Office for Philanthropy- 215-248-6318 or ylembo@ltsp.edu. The LTSP website also features information about the Grover and Irma Wright Scholarship and the signing ceremony celebrating the establishment of the scholarship: http://ltsp.edu/GroverIrmaWrightScholarship.

In the photo: Yvonne Lembo (left) with Irma Wright and The Rev. Dr. Rudolph Featherstone at the May 1, 2011 celebration. Photo courtesy JesseBrown.com

Written by seminary writer Mark Staples

Starting this February and March: LTSP Not for Credit Course Offerings

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:18:50 PST

This spring semester, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) is offering a not-for-credit course in Basic Spanish, along with a series of five one-day seminars/workshops exploring various facets of educational ministries in congregations. The Spanish course is taught by LTSP Professor Nelson Rivera - no previous Spanish experience

required. Each day long educational ministries seminar is taught by a qualified practitioner and aims to provide a concentrated focus on a theme. The seminars are open to interested Pastors and Christian Educators (for non-credit or continuing education credit). Sessions will be held on the seminary campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. We invite you to join us!

Detailed information and registration are available online at Ltsp.edu/non-credit, or contact Kathie Afflerbach, LTSP Coordinator for Non-Credit Education, at kafflerbach@ltsp.edu.

Here are some details:

Basic Spanish

Offered by LTSP Prof. Nelson Rivera. For those who have taken little or no Spanish before - no prerequisites! Classes are scheduled for Wednesday evenings starting February 8, 5-6:30 pm.

Seminars on Educational Ministry in Congregations

Five one-day seminars/workshops exploring various facets of educational ministries in congregations. Open to Pastors and Christian Educators of all denominations (available for CE and not for credit - see the website for details and to register.

Friday, March 2, 9 am - 4 pm: Technology and Adult Education in Congregations offered by the Rev. Keith Anderson, Pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Woburn, MA and co-author of the forthcoming book Click2Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (Morehouse 2012).

Friday, March 23, 9 am - 4 pm: Biblical Literacy in Congregations offered by Dr. Erik Heen, John H. P. Reumann Professor in Biblical Studies, LTSP.

Friday, April 13, 9 am - 4 pm: Education for Interreligious Engagement offered by The Rev. Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar, Luther D. Reed Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean, LTSP.

Friday, April 20, 9 am - 4 pm: Sunday School and Young Adult Ministries offered by The Rev. Dr. Jessicah Krey-Duckworth, Assistant Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership, Luther Seminary, St. Paul. MN.

Friday, May 4, 9 am - 4 pm: Multicultural Religious Education in Congregations offered by The Rev. Dr. Nelson T. Strobert, Professor of Christian Education in the Paulssen-Hale Chair of Church and Society and Director of Multicultural Programs, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, PA.

See the website for details, fees and to register online at Ltsp.edu/non-credit.

A Tree Grows in Wittenberg - and in Philadelphia

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:37:56 PST

To close 2011 and continue the Tercentenary story of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, here's a story you may have missed from earlier in the year. The Legacy of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg celebration at LTSP continues in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

Seminary plants a tree in Wittenberg, Germany; 'Luther Garden' commemorates the Reformation

A Flowering Ash tree sponsored for planting by The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) on May 28 became the 76^th tree to be placed in a commemorative “Luther Garden” in Wittenberg, Germany. The garden, designed as a symbol of the global magnitude of the Reformation, also is intended to mark the interconnectedness, interaction and reconciliation between Christian churches.

Groundbreaking for the garden, located near the Lutheran World Federation Center in Wittenberg, took place Oct 31, 2008. The goal is to attract the planting of 500 trees there from Christian Churches on five continents by the time the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation is celebrated Oct. 31, 2017. The May 28 tree planting was the first to be placed in the garden by a seminary. Wittenberg is the City of Reformer Martin Luther.

Planned by renowned landscape architect Dr. Andreas Kipar, the garden features a public square shaped around a Luther Rose created from a variety of cobblestones. The trees surrounding the square are in the design of an oval. The garden is part of a greenbelt triangle in Wittenberg, connecting the garden to Wittenberg’s Castle Church and City Church. The garden connects the town center to the Elbe River, with the garden pointing toward the river, symbolically opening itself toward the world. Kipar says the trees overall will represent the events in Wittenberg 500 years ago that fundamentally changed the world, and the trees will provide the opportunity for people of today to reflect on those developments.

Representing LTSP at the tree planting here were the Rev. George E. Keck, retired director of admissions for the seminary and a member of the LTSP President’s Advisory Council, and the Rev. Stephen Godsall-Myers, pastor of Advent Lutheran Church, Harleysville, PA, one of the many congregations planted in North America with connections to Lutheran Patriarch Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. Godsall-Myers is a 1983 graduate of LTSP.

“The garden is not only a living monument to the Reformation, but also an ecumenical monument,” Godsall-Myers says. “It recognizes that what happened in Wittenberg did not stay in Wittenberg.” The first trees planted in the garden (in the petals of the Luther Rose) were “ecumenical trees” representing the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed and Methodist communions. “A lesson we took from our Wittenberg visit is that whatever happens in the church, no matter where it is, should not stay in the church but be spread out in all directions.”

After the planting, the seminary was awarded a certificate commemorating the event and signed by the Rev. Hans W. Kasch, director of the LWF Center in Wittenberg.

The agreement with the seminary to plant the tree, signed by LTSP President Philip D. W. Krey, also calls for each Wittenberg Garden sponsoring church organization to plant a tree in its own setting connecting the local planting to the “Luther Garden” in Germany. The dual planting approach aims to emphasize the worldwide significance and influence of the Reformation started by Martin Luther in Wittenberg. The seminary campus’s “partner” tree is located near the main entrance of the Wiedemann Center, LTSP’s main residence hall. LTSP is the first of the seminaries in the United States to have a partner tree at Wittenberg.

Pr. Steve Godsall-Meyers planting the tree

(photo courtesy George Keck).

Watering the tree in Wittenberg with the U.S. contingent watching

(photo courtesy Steve Godsall-Meyers).

Story by seminary writer Mark Staples.

LTSP Alumnus Steve Jensen finds a Wounded Warriors ministry in retirement

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:24:22 PST

It began in February with a request from a former officer in charge of a Wounded Warriors ministry in Hawaii. Would retired U.S. Navy Chaplain Steve Jensen, an alumnus of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), provide pastoral counseling to a couple having a particularly difficult time with the husband’s IED wounds, traumatic brain Injury, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and coping with a dozen or more medications?

"There was no funding for a chaplain’s position,” Jensen explains. “However, I quickly was embraced by the patients and families I met – hungry for someone to help them deal with the spiritual issues you might expect: Why was God AWOL when I was injured and my friends killed? Why did the best of us die and I was kept alive? Is there a purpose for me to be here?

"I spend a great deal of time encouraging them (Wounded Warriors) to work on their medical, mind, body, spirit, relationship issues, but also building trust," Jensen explains. "They come to my home regularly for a cookout and discussion, finding it a safe place where people don't ask probing or uncomfortable questions. There aren't large crowds, and no loud noises startle them.

"Since I didn't have access to any funds to help with emergent needs, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (LCH) established a discretionary account, and with local support I was able to create Friends of Windward Wounded Warriors," Jensen continues. Local church conference lay members help as mentors, he notes, provide intern positions at their businesses, host monthly barbecue meals at the barracks, invite individuals and small groups to sail, fish, and play golf, sponsor family days at places like Wet 'N Wild, and more.

"In turn, the Wounded Warriors enjoy giving back to the community by painting out graffiti or doing beach clean-ups, bringing their service dogs to encourage children to read or allow homeless kids in a local program to pet them," Jensen continues. "They send notes and Christmas gifts to Silver Springs-Martin Luther School [located near LTSP in Plymouth Meeting, PA], assist with Special Olympics or Veteran Paralympic games; and much more.” Friends, churches and strangers contribute to the fund so Jensen can buy new baby items, provide work clothes for internships, sponsor a date night for two couples a month, celebrate birthdays with cake and ice cream, and the like," Jensen says.

“I take about a dozen with the most severe PTSD each quarter for a retreat to a neighbor island,” Jensen explains. "The United Service Organization and Armed Services YMCA help underwrite the costs of lodging and transportation, while Lihue Lutheran [Church, Kawai] for example, uses their contact or funds to provide recreational activities and meals. LCH provides free tickets to church/symphony concerts and St. John [Lutheran Church, Kailua] cooks at barbecues and provides secretarial support for me. Prince of Peace [Lutheran Church, Waikiki] is paying for the Thanksgiving meal at my home. Other churches have gathered materials for care packages to the units from which these Marines and Sailors came, still fighting in Afghanistan. And on it goes.

"Because I am also greatly concerned about what happens to them after they are discharged, I am now a member of the Veterans Administration's Institutional Review Board, at which we scrutinize all new programs and services being developed for veterans and their families," Jensen says. "I have agreed to be a Navy League board member beginning in January so I can further develop contacts and resources for the detachment. The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) has invited me to join as well so I can advocate for donations of materials and jobs for Wounded Warriors. I'm promised four refurbished computers and printers soon, for example, so patients can do their college homework and check e-mail in the lounge. I regularly speak at churches, Rotary clubs, military organizations, yacht clubs, and so on to get out the story and invite people to think about how they personally can get involved."

Slowing down in retirement? What’s that? As Jensen puts it, "It seems I have been given a second chance at ministry for which all other military and civilian experience and training has equipped me. I don't want to squander a day of this opportunity, so I go at it ‘all ahead full.’ As a friend says, I want to be all used up when my time comes, and I can't think of a better way to expend myself in service to others."

Photo caption: LTSP Alumnus and retired US Navy Chaplain Steve Jensen enjoys a visit in Hawaii with First Lady Michelle Obama, who was on hand to encourage Wounded Warriors in Hawaii that Jensen ministers to as a volunteer chaplain.

Written by seminary writer Mark Staples, photo courtesy Steve Jensen.

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg & Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg: Fall Forum Reflections

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:00:03 PST

Reflections on the LTSP 2011 Fall Forum

by Clair Anderson

What does Henry Melchior Muhlenberg have in common with Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg? At the November 7 Fall Forum at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), an animated, engaging LTSP professor, the Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian, acknowledged that both men were sent out as missionaries by the University of Halle, Germany, to spread Lutheran pietism beyond Europe.

In 1706, Ziegenbalg brought the message of salvation through Jesus Christ to South India as the first Protestant missionary, sponsored by the Royal House of Denmark. Realizing the importance of understanding the Indian people before converting them, he engaged them in disputations and published his findings in the book Detailed Description of South Indian Society, showing their need for the Gospel. The book had an impact upon Europe and may have inspired Muhlenberg to seek a missionary appointment to South India. However, Halle responded to the need for pastoral leadership among the infant congregations along the eastern seaboard of America by sending Muhlenberg there. His ministry is described in his Journals and in his Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman. Ziegenbalg imported a printing press so he could have the Bible printed in the Tamal language, as well as a Tamal grammar and dictionary.

Dr. Sebastian began his afternoon presentation with a touching personal story about the impact of missionaries on his own life. The tragic death of his Hindu grandfather led his grandmother to seek refuge in a Christian mission in India, where Dr. Sebastian's father was raised. As a teenager, his father cranked a missionary's Victrola and listened to J.S. Bach records. When asked what name he would take, his father requested "Sebastian."

Moving from mission past to mission now, Dr. Sebastian raised the question, “What is the paradigm or motivation for missiology today?” The last 50-60 years have been dominated by Missio Dei, or the mission of God. A theological critique of this paradigm is needed and begins with the question who is responsible for mission? He advocates a new Missio Humanitas, or mission to God, which takes seriously the human condition as well as human responsibility for mission in a pluralistic, post-colonial world. What does the Bible mean for people in our society now? Mission to God forces us to contemplate who God really is and who we are in relation to neighbors we have, not those we might choose. What are the consequences of our choices and actions? How does mission relate to the victims of globalism, those who have suffered and continue to suffer?

When asked what mission to God would look like, Dr. Sebastian drew upon a Buddhist image of the person who reaches bliss, but waits to cross over so he or she can help others to cross. Jesus accompanies us on the pilgrim journey as our guide, but instead of going on ahead of us, stands along side and encourages us to pass on. We too serve as guides pointing to God. There was a good question and answer exchange at each session.

Dr. Sebastian's spirited, personal, relational style was well-received by those present who greatly appreciated being opened to an unknown area in a stimulating, thought-provoking manner. Dr. Sebastian was born in Bangalore, India, and educated there and in Germany. He served several congregations in India and taught at an Indian seminary for 10 years before joining the faculty at LTSP in 2008 as H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures, and Director of the Multicultural Mission Resource Center.

The Rev. Dr. Clair Anderson is a retired ELCA pastor and LTSP alumnus, living in Hanover, PA. He tells his connection to the Muhlenberg Legacy on the Muhlenberg 300 website at Ltsp.edu/MuhlenbergStories.

Rest, Refreshment, Renewal March 17, 2012: Early Registration Discount now available

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:39:56 PST

“A Great Cloud” is the theme for LTSP’s annual Rest, Refreshment and Renewal Women’s Day 2012.

Our day will center on the celebration of the 300th birthday of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran church in North America, and the great cloud of women witnesses from Katie Luther and Anna Muhlenberg to all women who will gather on Saturday, March 17, 2012.

Those who register by January 1 get a discount – and remember your friends by giving them a gift of rest, refreshment and renewal!

Brochures will be sent to those who have participated before and to congregations. Registration deadline is Monday, March 12^th. Open to women of all faiths!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” Hebrews 12:1

Learn More: | Schedule | Gatherings | Register Online |

John and Robert Asher honored with Soli Deo Gloria Award at Philadelphia Seminary’s annual Advent Vespers Dinner

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:37:09 PST

For noted candy executive and philanthropist John L. “Jack” Asher, Jr., the dinner honoring him and his brother, Robert, featured a big surprise.

Asher and his brother were this year’s recipients of the Soli Deo Gloria Award for outstanding leadership and service to the church and to the mission of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). (Robert was unable to attend the annual Advent Vespers in the seminary’s Brossman Center.)

LTSP Trustees Robert Blanck and Board of Trustees Chair John Richter presented the award to Jack Asher, and just as he stepped to the microphone to extend remarks of gratitude, Blanck asked him to stop. And into the hall for a surprise performance tribute to Asher and the dinner audience came 60 members of the 150-member Keystone State Boychoir featuring directors Joe “Fitz” Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher. Jack Asher is the choir’s founding Board member. The surprise tribute was arranged by the seminary’s interim Director of Communications, Merri Brown. Her son, Graeme, was a soloist for the occasion.

Visibly proud and moved, Asher explained the accomplishments of the vocal group, who call his congregation, The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, their home. The choir, he said, has performed on every continent.

Jack Asher, who has served on LTSP’s President’s Council, has been a driving force behind the seminary’s capital campaigns and strategic planning. In opening remarks LTSP President Philip D.W. Krey thanked Jack Asher “for helping me to make the right associations and meet the right people when I became President.” In expressing appreciation for the honor, Jack Asher, a native Philadelphian, called LTSP “one of the signature places that I always remember.”

In his greetings to dinner attendees, Krey noted that the annual Advent Vespers program to follow under the direction of Michael Krentz, seminary Director of Music Ministries, is in honor of The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Bornemann, the late professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at LTSP, who directed the Seminary Choir he founded from 1955 to 1990. Krey told the audience that gifts to the Bornemann Memorial Fund secure the present and future of a vibrant program of music at the seminary. The vespers were held in the Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel following the dinner. Krey told his audience of invited donors, “We live in troubled times. This is a challenging time for the church, institutions and the country. It is a tall order to keep venerable institutions like the seminary stable and thriving. Thank you for understanding the challenge. I count you as our best friends…” Krey said in the current time of transition, improvements to the seminary’s Krauth Memorial Library, including a connector to The Brossman Center, are beginning to unfold. Highlights of current seminary life include plans for a new curriculum, the ongoing 300th birthday anniversary celebrating of the life of Lutheran Patriarch Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, and a recent gathering of Philadelphia religious leaders, who strategized over “the increasing challenge of hunger in our city.”

Seminary Student Body President Laura Gorton, who is studying for a Master of Arts in Religion with a focus on Christian Education, told the audience she is striving for a career as a director of Christian Education (DCE) and urged the audience to keep in mind the rich diversity of graduates, including pastors, DCE’s, directors of music, social workers and diaconal ministers. “Thank you for supporting us with your gifts in these tough economic times,” she said.

“We watch and wait expectantly for the Christ who was given to us as a child, brother, and Savior,” The Rev. John Puotinen, said in brief remarks. Puotinen is Vice President for Philanthropy and Executive Director of the LTSP Foundation. “I welcome you to this celebration of God’s generosity,” Puotinen said. “I thank you and thank God for sending you here to provide leaders for the church — making use of gifts already given to you by God.”

With Soli Deo Gloria Award recipient Jack Asher (center), (l-r) Bishop Claire Burkat, The Rev. Dr. John Richter, Carolyn Asher, Dr. Robert Blanck, Rene Diemer, President Philip Krey

Brief remarks were also delivered by Richter and seminary Dean J. Paul Rajashekar. Rajashekar introduced The Rev. Dr. Jayakiran Sebastian of the seminary faculty. Sebastian becomes LTSP’s new Dean next academic year as Rajashekar returns to the classroom. The Dean also introduced The Rev. Dr. Richard Stewart and his spouse, Dawn. Stewart retires from the faculty at the end of this academic year. The opening prayer for the dinner was given by Trustee, Dr. Addie J. Butler. The closing prayer was delivered by Bishop Claire S. Burkat of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

After his father’s death in 1966, Jack Asher and his younger brother, Robert, took over Asher’s Chocolates in Philadelphia’s Germantown section and expanded the business. In 1991, Asher’s acquired the Goss Candy Co. in Lewistown, PA, and renamed it Asher’s Chocolates, Lewistown. The enterprise has grown dramatically over the years to become nationally known. In 2006, Jack Asher was elected to the Candy Hall of Fame while serving as president of the firm and co-chair of Asher’s Chocolates. His honors have included being named Small Business Person of the Year (Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, 1988). He’s served on many boards including as President of the Germantown Business Association, President of Whosoever Gospel Mission, Germantown, President of the Germantown Historical Society, and the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. He’s served as a volunteer firefighter for 35 years and today helps direct re-enactments of the Battle of Germantown from the Revolutionary War period. He has served his congregation, The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, as Deacon, Trustee, Elder, Head Usher, and President of the Couples Club. Jack and his wife, Carolyn, have three adult children.

Native Philadelphian Robert “Bob” Asher serves as co-chair of the Board of Asher’s Chocolates as well as President of Robert Asher Associates. He is a member of the Session of Oreland Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Oreland, PA. He is a Pennsylvania member of the Republican National Committee and served as co-chair for the Tom Corbett for Governor Campaign. Bob Asher serves on several boards including the Delaware River Port Authority, Philadelphia Hospitality, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and Greater Philadelphia Executive Committee Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Commerce and is a U.S. Army veteran. He has been recognized for public service by the Montgomery County Association for Retarded Citizens, Boy Scouts of America and the Union League of Philadelphia. Bob Asher has been a key networker on behalf of LTSP, facilitating the securing of grants for seminary capital projects. Bob and his wife, Joyce, have three children and seven grandchildren. Both brothers are members of the Union League of Philadelphia.

Soloist Graeme Brown performs as a highlight of the Keystone State Boychoir musical tribute to Jack Asher.

LTSP Vice President John Puotinen: “Welcome to this celebration of God’s generosity."

Click any image to view a larger version, Right-Click to download the image.
Story and photography by seminary writer Mark Staples.

UTI 2011 Lecture & Worship Celebration - Videos of the Day

media@ltsp.edu (The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:16:02 PST

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

11:15 am Lecture

7:00 pm Evening Worship

The Rev. Dr. William J. Shaw

Lecturer and Preacher

Past President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

Gifts for the annual lecture benefit the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr., Chair in African American Studies. Learn more and give online here.

Learn more about Dr. Shaw, the 2011 lecturer and preacher, here.