Life of theWorld Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne October 2007, Volume Eleven, Number Four Fo r th e Vocation: A Defining Point for Lutheran Campus Ministry Prof. John Pless Real Time Campus Ministry Rev. Derek Roberts The Beginning of Wisdom Rev. Stuart Crown For The LIFE of the World F E A T U R E S PRESIDENT Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe PUBLISHER EDITOR Rev. Steven Cholak Rev. John Pless COPY EDITORS ART DIRECTOR Trudy Behning Steve Blakey EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES Rev. James Bushur Dr. Charles Gieschen Dr. Naomichi Masaki For the Life of theWorld is published quarterly by Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 6600 North Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher of For the Life of the World. Copyright 2007. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Huntington, Indiana. For the Life of the World is mailed to all pastors and congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the United States and Canada and to anyone interested in the work of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. CONTENTS 6 Vocation: A defining Point for Lutheran Campus Ministry by Prof. John Pless Campus ministries exist to maintain young Christians “in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Given the pressures of campus culture, this is no small task. 11 Real Time Campus Ministry by Rev. Derek Roberts I expect basic questions about when we meet, why there’s more than one Lutheran group on campus, plus a surprise question or two like, “Why do Lutherans think that water baptism saves?” It’s times like these that it’s good to have the Small Catechism memorized. 16 The Beginning of Wisdom by Rev. Stuart Crown Stanford’s physical scenery differs, its religious life holds up pluralism and post-modern thought, and its academic prestige and rigor can be intense, but the needs of the faithful at this private university differ little from any other school. 22 Campus Ministry: Scripture, Sisyphus, and Sophomores by Rev. Steven Smith In Mequon, Wisconsin, and at our sister schools around the country, Concordias start to live up to their names. That Latin word concordia implies a connection of faith, meaning something like “with one heart” or “with the same heart.” We who are privileged to serve on campus once again get a chance to live and forgive and grow and show Christ’s love to each other - to be Concordia. For your free subscription, please send yourname, address, city, state, and zip code to:For the Life of the World, 6600 N. Clinton St., Fort Wayne, IN 46825. If you would like to see For the Life of the World on the World Wide Web, go to web site: www.LifeOfTheWorld.com. The current issue, as well as previous issues, can be found at this interactive portal. For the Life of the World How to subscribe to and find . . . For the Life of the World 2 Volume Eleven, Number Four Begin Wisdof The For the Life of the World16 Thus was she greeted in an official correspondence from Stanford University, honored with a privilege and welcomed with a distinctive letterhead. Take for granted the incessant push to refine lab methodologies, Sunday night revisions of research papers, and looming grant deadlines – common hurdles for the nascent generation of scholars in public and private institutions. And then there’s the label of “Stanford student” to bear. But how will she as theologian be challenged by the world-renowned research institution? Stanford, a private institution, has always made room for students’ spiritual growth ‒ sitting prominently at the hub of campus is Memorial Church ‒ but the University’s motto, “the wind of freedom blows,” suggests other familiar and soul-proving tests: the professor who publicly has derided the Christian faith and organizations that advocate every alternative to God’s created order. Yes, the proverbial challenges to the faithful, those that aim at the identity, security, and meaning of the Christian, seem to have gathered at Stanford and to stand aligned against this young woman (which parish pastor hasn’t warned the departing student of a freedom that leads to a slavery?), other faith-testing issues should be acknowledged. For what purpose is this education at Stanford – a reputation that allows greater flexibility of service? But what about the two- week long biology lab that failed? Or the antipathy or even bitterness in the fraternity house? Whether by a single massive problem or by the accumulation of many irritants, weaknesses are revealed, and the chastened student is urged to pray, Congratulations! Based on your excellent academic record, I am pleased to offer you admission to the Coterminal Master of Science program in Mechanical Engineering.” nning dom By The Rev. Stuart Crown “ Stanford’s physical scenery differs, its religious life holds up pluralism and post-modern thought, and its academic prestige and rigor can be intense, but the needs of the faithful at this private university differ little from any other school. 17OCTOBER 2007 “What, Father, are You teaching me? What am I to learn by these distractions and setbacks?” With a smorgasbord of generic spirituality and decidedly unorthodox philosophy and practices, one could be dismissive to Stanford’s Office of Religious Life and the Deans of Memorial Church. Even though the increasingly diverse staff of the Office of Religious Life seeks to protect the integrity of every religious gathering, should we depend upon a private, secular institution to support an orthodox confession of the Christian faith as generously and purposefully as it builds labs and libraries? No, Stanford fashions students with a demanding academic training to fit them for a particular trajectory into the world, even as emissaries for a Stanford education. This private institution thrusts the student into a modern Areopagus, by God’s grace to take her stand with Paul (Acts 17:22-34). Stanford’s physical scenery differs, its religious life holds up pluralism and post- modern thought, and its academic prestige and rigor can be intense, but the needs of the faithful at this private university differ little from any other school. Viewed from within Luther’s dictum oratio, meditatio, et tentatio faciunt theologum, the pursuit of scholarly knowledge and the official spirituality at Stanford often serve as an instrument of tentatio, demonstrating how flesh and heart may fail. As for oratio and meditatio, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (about two miles from the campus center), through Lutheran Student Fellowship (LSF) and Christ on Campus (CoC) serves as their location, for we preach and distribute through “foolish means” that God is the strength of the heart and the fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom. The community of LSF/CoC is a refuge and place of solace – not an escape from the demands of Stanford, but by the wisdom and understanding that Stanford cannot produce through academic rigors. (If there are degrees of glory, they will not have been granted by any department at Stanford.) To gather at the Table of the Lord, invited by grace and fed by mercy, recreates and strengthens the student, whose life on campus is defined by merit through class achievement and surrounded by the icons of different creeds. By its regular studies of the Word, LSF/CoC reinvigorates the students with enduring knowledge; study weekends occupied with C. S. Lewis, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Christian faith and history, and retreats with other LSF groups offer the students opportunities to integrate the faith with the academic world. Trinity’s campus ministry cultivates thoughtful, lively theologians who contend in the public arena; the young woman’s vocation will be grounded in the life of faith, and will be enhanced by a right understanding of the First Article. And as those well-versed in the language of the culture, we will not be conformed to any trite caricature of Christians. This pluralistic private institution, though facilely labeled as adversary, serves as God’s tool through tentatio to refine the student vocationally as one who understands creation and perceives it through genuine wisdom, God’s recreation in Christ. Christian tradition will not allow us to relinquish the realm of the First Article to the campus; and while we do not believe that we can recreate the world through our vocations, the students, in oratio and meditatio, grow as theologians by studying His creation in conjunction with the wisdom that is in Christ alone. When I landed as a student freshly tossed into the salad of university life, the Dean of the Chapel of the Resurrection and the Vicar served me well, enfolding me in the fellowship of the Church through the Father’s Word and by the Body and Blood of Christ and surrounding me with brothers and sisters in Christ. Through Trinity, LSF, and CoC, I pray that this young woman and the other students find the same solace and understanding that I was given. The Rev. Stuart Crown is pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, California. With a smorgasbord of generic spirituality and decidedly unorthodox philosophy and practices, one could be dismissive to Stanford’s Office of Religious Life and the Deans of Memorial Church. Even though the increasingly diverse staff of the Office of Religious Life seeks to protect the integrity of every religious gathering, should we depend upon a private, secular institution to support an orthodox confession of the Christian faith as generously and purposefully as it builds labs and libraries? For the Life of the World18