ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 25, 2007
Lutheran Campus Ministry Celebrates Centennial June 25-29
07-111-LL*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America's (ELCA) Vocation and Education unit will celebrate
Lutheran campus ministry's centennial anniversary, which will
coincide with the annual continuing education conference at
Loyola University Chicago, June 25-29.
"The centennial theme is comprised of three phrases, each
emphasizing the ongoing mission of campus ministry: expanding
minds, deepening faith, and inspiring service. These themes will
be lifted up at our conference and echoed by our keynote speakers
and various workshop presenters," said Sue Rothmeyer, director of
campus ministry, ELCA Vocation and Education.
She said that 100 campus ministry staff members from a
number of campuses are registered to attend.
On June 26 Sharon Daloz Parks, director of Leadership for
the New Commons - an initiative of the Whidbey Institute,
Clinton, Wash, will serve as the keynote speaker. Daloz Parks has
held faculty and research positions at the Harvard Divinity
School, Harvard Business School, and the Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. She also
serves on the project staff of the Valparaiso Project on the
Education and Formation of People of Faith. Valparaiso is an
independent Lutheran institution.
Daloz Parks is the author of several books.
Christian Scharen, director of the Faith as a Way of
Life/Pastoral Excellence Program and assistant professor
(adjunct) of Congregational Studies and Practical Theology, Yale
Divinity School, New Haven, Conn., will speak on June 26. His
most recent book, "One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those
Seeking God", is a theological evocation of the Christian faith
seen through the lens of the rock band, U2.
The conference and centennial celebration will culminate on
June 28, with worship to be held at Fourth Presbyterian Church,
Chicago. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, will
preach and a celebration will follow the service.
Conference participants will have the opportunity to share
experiences through a number of workshops and recognize alumni in
attendance with awards of recognition for their contributions to
campus ministry.
Lutheran Campus Ministry began in 1907 with the calling of
the Rev. Howard Gold to the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
"It's the first time the Lutheran church identified a pastor
specifically to be in ministry to and with the students on a
public campus," said Rothmeyer.
By 1921 Lutheran student groups and individuals were
interested in holding a national meeting. Thirty-nine students
from 16 colleges and universities attended a conference at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). LTSP is
one of eight ELCA seminaries. In 1922 the former Lutheran
Brotherhood of America sponsored a gathering of students to an
organizational meeting in Toledo, Ohio. At that meeting the
Lutheran Student Association of America, now the Lutheran Student
Movement, was formed, according to Rothmeyer.
One hundred years after its beginning, ELCA Campus Ministry
continues to focus on student ministry from the base of Word and
Sacrament. Its mission is to "invite people in academic settings
more deeply into Jesus Christ and the community that bears his
name, so that they can discover and fulfill their vocation as
disciples."
There are 190 campus ministry agencies across the country,
working with more than 400 Lutheran congregations. These efforts
attract an estimated 4,400 students to worship each week,
according to Rothmeyer.
Hanson reflected on his experiences with campus ministry in
the introduction to "A Centennial Book of Essays Honoring Campus
Ministry's 100th Year."
"My personal gratitude for campus ministry has deepened
throughout my ministry. As the pastor of a large congregation at
the edge of a Big Ten university campus, as bishop of a synod
committed to deepening its relationship to campus ministry, and
now from the perspective of the presiding bishop of the ELCA, I
have rejoiced in campus ministry's mission to expand minds,
deepen faith, and inspire service," Hanson wrote.
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Information about ELCA Campus Ministry can be found at:
http://www.ELCA.org/campusministry/ on the Web.
*Lauren A. Lamb is a senior public relations and speech
communication major at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
