News
Teaching So That You May Believe – Seminary Partners
May 16, 2022
“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
The Good News of Easter continues. Jesus Christ is for you, with you, and loves you, and we are not alone. Whether we keep all the commandments, or inevitably fall short, we are not alone, for the love of God in Christ is with us. The Word is with us. The Holy Spirit as God’s on-going presence is with us, just as Jesus promised. And the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding is with us.
This story is one that we might hear at Pentecost. It might sound a bit like a benediction. In them Jesus is preparing his disciples and reminding them that they are not alone. And Jesus says them, just as he does all that he does, in the hope that “you may believe.”
Since Jesus has said these words, the church has raised up leaders following the Holy Spirit’s movement who are called and set apart for various vocations to walk alongside God’s people and proclaim God’s promises. The words we hear this week in particular call forth the mission and work of the ELCA’s seven seminaries. Words and purpose that ground and guide especially the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and Wartburg Theological Seminary, the Nebraska Synod’s two partner seminaries.
LSTC lives out this call to teach and join in with God’s work in the world by forming “visionary leaders to bear witness to the good news of Jesus,” and “to build up the Body of Christ and work for a world of peace and justice that cares for the whole creation.” As a seminary discerning its faithful future, it does so by leaning into Jesus’ promise of peace, and his assurance, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Wartburg embodies this too as a “worship-centered community of critical theological reflection where learning leads to mission and mission informs leading.” And one where God’s mission, like Jesus points to with the coming of the Holy Spirit, is lived out through “engaging, equipping and sending collaborative leaders who interpret, proclaim and live the gospel of Jesus Christ for a world created for communion with God and in need of personal and social healing.”
As places of learning and preparation, they are two of the seven seminaries where the leaders of congregations like yours are taught, supported, equipped, and sent out from. In this season of commencements and graduations, we especially give thanks for the faculty and staff of these seminaries, and the seminarians who are about to, or have just recently graduated. They are sent out at commencement prepared for calls as deacons, pastors, and other ministry leaders. We give thanks for our partner seminaries and the good work they do in developing co-workers in the gospel who are called and sent, and especially for the many who walk alongside the disciples and congregations of the Nebraska Synod- listening to the Holy Spirit’s movement and teaching and following the Spirit’s lead, to help all of God’s beloved to believe.
Throughout the season of Easter, the Nebraska Synod will continue lifting up various Nebraska Synod ministries and serving arms that have a connection to the upcoming worship text. This reflection is based on the Gospel of John 14:23-29, the gospel lesson appointed for this coming Sunday, May 22, 2022, the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C).