Proud to be a member of the ELCA!

I mentioned in a recent post how disgusted I was to be a documented citizen of this country because of some of the actions of this administration targeting undocumented immigrants and the inaction of the powerful in Congress to enact the DREAM Act or repeal DADT.

In this posting, I want to talk a bit about my pride in our church and our congregation!  It is a great time to be connected to this church, to be a card-carrying member of the ELCA, and to be part of a community of faith "at work in the world" like the Chapel.

The wave of welcome continues throughout our church.  Tomorrow, Sunday September 27, Pastor Jen Nagel of Salem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis will be received onto the ELCA's roster.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Last Saturday saw the festive reception of Pastors Anita Hill, Ruth Frost, and Phyllis Zillhart onto the clergy roster across the river in St. Paul.  Click here to see the service for yourself or check out the story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  This was an especially moving service to me as I was ordained with Ruth and Phyllis back in 1990 in San Francisco.  I was deeply happy to see our ELCA recognize their ordinations, their giftedness, and their ministries.  If you want a first hand report about what it was like to be there, ask Bennett Falk and Margaret Moreland from our parish.  They flew back and were in attendance at this liturgy.

Pastor Erik Christensen of St. Luke Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago will be received in October.  The wave of welcome continues to roll across this church!

It's not only a great time to be part of this church, but to be preparing for leadership in this church.  The Chapel is stepping up as a community of discernment helping everyone with next steps, but especially assisting seminarians who are preparing for ministry in a Lutheran context.  This fall we have seen many of the newcomers to the seminary check us out on Sunday mornings and on Thursday evenings.  A couple of weeks ago after church on Sunday, Pepe and I had the pleasure of hosting a brunch at our home for a couple dozen seminarians.  The 11 am Wednesday Eucharist at PLTS is on my calendar each week and I'm making time to get up the hill as often as I can.  Take a moment to find ways to support and encourage our seminarians who are a part of our community.  If you don't know them, try to meet them.  There's Maria Anderson and Gretchen Colby who have been very active at the Chapel this past year and are now in their first year at PLTS.  Casey Tinnin is in his second year is a gifted youth minister and may be working with our joint Berkeley confirmation class.  Ben Colahan is back worshipping with us after spending last year on internship in Arizona and will be helping out on our "Liturgical Team Matthew!" Laura Stephenson is with us after a summer of CPE (clinical pastoral education) in Alaska and is our current teaching parish student through the spring.  Also, you might see more of Brian Ballentine, a seminarian at the Jesuit School for Theology who is the coordinator of Seminarians for Worker Justice at the GTU.  These are just some of those you might want to go out of your way to meet, support and encourage.

You might think about making a contribution to our newly established fund for seminarians.  This fund will provide short term loans to these candidates for ministry to help them proceed with the next steps in their process.  Not only does it cost a lot to go to seminary, but there are fees/costs associated with the ELCA's candidacy process which students are required to pay for.  The psychological exam required for "entrance" for example costs $1,000.  This fund will help seminarians who don't want to fall behind in candidacy but need a bit of time to come up with the necessary money to cover these costs.  At the Synod Council meeting which began Friday, I asked that we form a synodical task force to begin work on this issue at a synodical level as well.  Wouldn't it be great if we had a synodical fund to help with short-term loans for seminarians in these situations?  

Pray for our seminarians and seek ways to generously support this fund that allows us to accompany these students in needed and tangible ways.   $2,500 doesn't seem like an unreasonable goal for us to shoot for.  Would you help us meet this goal?  Help us out by sending a check or email me to let me know that you can help out.  

It is a great time to be a part of this church and to be helping to prepare young pastors for ministry!  

Blessings,


Pr. Jeff