Concordia Seminary

When you’re a Ministerial Formation student, you don’t just learn theology. You DO theology. Learn about our pastoral and diaconal formation programs at csl.edu/programs. #whowillgoforus

Registration closes today for Contemplate, a free visitation event held March 12 for college-age and older men and women. Participants will explore Seminary life and the preparation that leads to service as a pastor or deaconess. Reserve your spot now: http://ow.ly/EQkw50DhW6R

#MeyerMinute for Thursday, March 4, 2021 Two questions. The first is about Psalm 32, which is the second penitential psalm. Who is you? I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you maybe found" (Ps. 32:5-6). When you read that, who did you think you is? I expect most of us would say... you is God. Certainly not wrong, but how helpful is that answer? God is hidden, so where do we put our confession? If we read you in the psalm as the hidden God, our confession of sin can just go out into the air, not finding a place to stick. Let’s bring to bear a truth of Christian interpretation, that the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament, and the Old is revealed in the New. So when the psalmist is speaking about God, we understand you to be God specifically in the person of Jesus. Now our confession isn’t just into the air but has a place it sticks Jesus’ passion and cross. Second question: If your Christian faith tradition observes midweek services during Lent, what’s the focus? Here’s where I’m coming from. Conservative Christians gripe about how our consumer culture makes Christmas a two-month holiday. Over and over we hear, Keep Christ in Christmas. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Matt. 7:3). Lent is 40 days that are not commercialized when we can show society the truth about Jesus, but midweek attendance (yes there’s COVID-19 and I’m coming from my own faith tradition) is paltry. Does your community see you and fellow Christians and we are a sizeable group pause normal weekday life for worship? Are we playing the hypocrite? Poor attendance contradicts so much of our evangelism talk. I wonder how much focus Lenten services are putting on the biblical accounts of our Lord’s passion. Or are we assuming that and drifting into less specific general penitence and Christian living? Let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you maybe found... General penitence and Christian living are not where sins stick, not where we put our sins for forgiveness. Jesus, I will ponder now on Thy holy passion (Lutheran Service Book, 440:1). Dr. Dale A. Meyer President Emeritus Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

This morning during chapel, 18 staff and faculty were recognized for their years of service at Concordia Seminary. While not all were able to be in attendance, we still were able to celebrate these important people in our community and thank them for their service. Thanks be to God for these workers in His Kingdom! #ConcordiaSeminary

Registration is now open for the Seminary's online 2021 Multiethnic Symposium, set for May 45. The symposium brings together missional leaders including pastors, congregational lay leaders and others from across The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod (LCMS). The symposium explores what it means and what it will take to become a truly multiethnic church. The theme of this year’s symposium is The Rest and the West: What the West Can Learn from Global South Christianity with a focus on how Global South customs can contribute to practices such as preaching, teaching, worship, arts, evangelism and social engagement. Read more: http://ow.ly/V1UB50DPaDm

Registration closes soon for Contemplate! This free online March 12 event offers college age or older students the opportunity to experience Seminary life and learn about becoming a pastor or deaconess. Hurry! Register by this Friday, March 5: http://ow.ly/NmoL50DhUJd

The fifth episode of "Mission Works: Thanks to Donors" is now available! In addition to the update from President Emeritus Dr. Dale A. Meyer on the recent renovations to the Seminary’s original 12 faculty houses, enjoy a video highlighting the amazing transformation the homes have undergone. These old homes symbolize our historic and continuing commitment to the mission of this campus, Meyer says. We thank the donors who made these renovations possible! See these beautiful homes and watch the episode here: http://ow.ly/XK1j50ChUAd Mission Works is a weekly vlog that celebrates the significant role of Seminary supporters and highlights how donor gifts are making a difference in the Lord’s mission. Learn more at www.csl.edu/support.

Mark your calendars for the next Lay Bible Institute, "Galatians: Hearing Paul's Gospel Afresh," from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6. During the workshop, Dr. Mark Seifrid, professor of Exegetical Theology, will explore how Paul's message to the first century Galatians still applies today. Paul's message to the Galatians is that their lives Gentile lives matter. As Christians, we should find our identity in Jesus Christ and His saving work for us, Seifrid said. The... answer to the question, ‘Who am I?’ is found in Jesus. In finding ourselves in Jesus, we find one another, too. True Christian fellowship does not lie in what we do, but in Jesus Christ, Who has taken down all barriers and made us one. Registration closes Jan. 24. Cost is $20 per person. Register now: http://ow.ly/LnMD50CiVQ8 Your safety is important to us! Workshop participants will be spaced at least 6 feet apart. Face coverings must be worn inside campus buildings and outside when social distancing of at least 6 feet cannot be maintained.

Tune in to KFUO Radio at 2 p.m. today for today's episode of Word and Work: An Intersection. Hear President Emeritus Dr. Dale A. Meyer talk all things recruitment and admissions with Associate Provost Dr. Benjamin Haupt. Haupt shares about enrollment increases, "The good news is, God listens to the prayers of His people, Haupt says. People have been praying for this institution for a long time. To hear more about this exciting update, including the top two reasons students chose to come to the Seminary this fall, don't miss this episode! Find the episode anytime at concordiatheology.org/. #ConcordiaSeminary #Enrollment #Recruitment #Seminary #HigherEd #ConcordiaTheology

In the coming decade, Concordia Seminary will make some 10,000 books and manuscripts, including more than 6,000 volumes in its rare book collection, available to scholars worldwide thanks to the mobilization of a monumental digitization effort. The Seminary’s Kristine Kay Hasse Memorial Library, the largest Lutheran library in North America, will begin using state-of-the-art technology in the coming months to photograph, scan and convert its most fragile and unique manuscripts and books into electronic files. It will take about a decade to complete the process of digitizing all of the materials. Read more: https://www.csl.edu//concordia-seminary-library-begins-ma/

#GivingTuesday is Dec. 1! Every gift helps Concordia Seminary carry out our mission: bringing Christ to the world. No gift is too small! Your support provides Gospel-centered education and leadership for men and women preparing to be pastors, deaconesses and missionaries, equipping them to bring hope to a hurting world. Learn more or give at grouprev.com/cslgivingtuesday2020. #PrepareAPastor #PrepareADeaconess

#MeyerMinute for Nov. 11 This morning’s newspapers, we get three delivered, all have front page stories honoring veterans and reporting today’s observances. Some photos and many words. True eloquence is often briefer, and certainly more memorable. If you visit the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in Washington D.C., as I once was privileged to do, you see a plaque at the main entrance. To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan. The quo...tation, from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, has put in my mind that honoring those who serve, just like saving faith in religion, shows itself in works. On another trip to D.C., I visited the Vietnam Memorial. Conversation among the visitors to the wall was quiet, subdued. Some people were tracing out the names of family and friends to take home, making this day of honor something to be daily in their homes. Not far from the wall stands a sculpture group, The Three Soldiers, three servicemen in combat gear from different ethnic backgrounds. I was keeping a distance, but an older couple went right up to the statue group. The wife urged her husband to stand near the statues so she could take a picture of him with the statues as background. He motioned no. It was too solemn a moment. Martin Luther, born Nov. 10, was baptized the same day and given the name Martin after Martin of Tours, whose feast day is today, the 11th. Legend has it that when Martin met a poorly dressed beggar, he took his military sword, cut his cloak in half and gave half to the cold beggar. That good work was motivated by love. What follows may first seem strange. While there are many reasons why our veterans served, Christian faith sees military service as a demonstration of love. Martin Luther put it famously, Christians live not in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor. Otherwise they are not Christian. They live in Christ through faith, in their neighbor through love. By faith they are caught up beyond themselves into God. By love they descend beneath themselves into their neighbor (Freedom of a Christian, 1520). Today we display the flag on our front porch, and take in the many photos and countless words, but it’s in quiet reflection we best honor our veterans. And with good works: To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan. Dr. Dale A. Meyer President Emeritus Concordia Seminary, St. Louis