Welcome to the Big Leagues

So I guess you could say I am all settled in at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO. After three long winded days of orientation I am definitely ready to start hitting the pavement running with classes and modules. The thing that is especially exciting for me is that my dad is in the Synod's new distance education program called the "Specific Ministry Pastoral Program" (SMP). So Dad has been out here all week orientating as well, most people react to that with words like, "sweet," "awesome," "cool," etc, etc. In fact, the coolest thing for the two of us is that we will both be enrolled in Intro to Pastoral Ministry beginning Tuesday. We just may have to compare notes!

In all honesty the most interesting and lasting things that we heard from orientation were on day one. Dr. Hartung talked about how Satan comes after seminarians because we are deep into the study of God's Word and are preparing to be ordained ministers of the church. That is no small task evidently. President Meyer spoke to us first thing Wednesday morning and stressed the importance of getting off of this 72 acre gothic campus and hitting the surrounding neighborhoods and seeing all of the things St. Louis has to offer.

What I've heard from many pastor mentors here as well for SMP orientation is that those two things that Dr. Hartung and Pres. Meyer brought up were beyond refreshing because in their time at the seminary they were never spoken about or encouraged. I feel excited to be at a crossroads for this seminary and how they are looking to awaken the sleeping giant that is the LCMS and bring the world's best theology, that which is the teachings of the church, into the brokenness of the world.

Buckle up....and keep us in prayer.