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Autumn 2015

The North American Lutheran Seminary

is centered at Trinity School for Ministry

in Ambridge, PA

The House of Studies at Gordon-

Conwell Theological Seminary is located

at 14546 Choate Circle, Charlotte,

NC.

For more information about the NALS and the

House of study please see the

NALS webpage: thenals.org

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McDaniel Reformation Conference, Oct. 29, 2015 Michael McDaniel was noted for his faithfulness to God, love for the Biblical foundation of the Christian church, allegiance to the confessional tradition of the Lutheran church, and his commitment to making known the gift and task of unity which Christ gives to his church. Our Reformation lectures this year will feature a noted New Testament scholar from the Association of Lutheran Congregation in Ministry to Christ (LCMC), the Rev. Dr. Steve Turnbull. Dr. Turnbull will lecture on “Evangelical Discipleship”. Our other lecturer will be the Rev. Dr. Roy Harrisville III, a noted New Testament scholar from the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Dr. Harrisville will lecture on “St. Paul and the Faith of a Disciple”. Both of our lecturers are not only scholars but actively involved in parish ministry. They not only have theoretical knowledge about discipleship, but are in the trenches being disciples and making disciples. Their lectures will inspire and enlighten us as we continue toward fulfilling Muhlenberg’s mission “ecclesia plantanda,” planting churches. Our worship service will be led by the Rev. Ed. Thomas, Spirit of Joy Lutheran church (LCMC) in Weddington, NC and our seminarian, Conda Lashley. The Spirit of Joy Praise Band will provide music leadership. Ms. Stephanie Burke will be proclaiming the gospel to us through her liturgical art. The Rev. Dr. Mary B. Havens, Director of the Lutheran Program at Gordon-Conwell, will be the preacher. This year all events: lecture, meal and worship will be at GCTS. The new David M. Rogers Hall of Mission is now built and already in use for classes. Our lectures will be in the new state-of-the-art classroom, complete with comfortable chairs and tables. We will move to the chapel for our evening worship. Please join us for what promises to be a very faith-filled day of renewing friendships, praising God, enlightening of mind, and enlarging of heart!

The North American Lutheran Seminary

House of Study at GCTS

Steve Turnbull

Roy Harrisville

Stephanie Burke

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COME TO LUTHER CLASS!

So what are you doing on Monday nights from 6:00 to 9:00 pm? Are you expanding your mind? Are you spending it with earnest Christians talking about Martin Luther? If not, here is that opportunity! It is possible to audit this class at GCTS, taught by Dr. Mary Havens. Lots of information, lots of discussion, lots of formation. The cost of auditing a course is $100.00. Classes start on Sept. 14. If you are interested, please contact: MHavens@gordonconwell.edu

PARTNERS! Our students continue to benefit from your support of them through the Partnership Program. It enables our students to pursue their theological education without piling up a mound of debt. Most importantly, it allows you to be an integral partner in training pastors for the church in the 21st century. When our Partnership students graduate they are well prepared and can be about the ministry to which God has called them. If you feel that God is calling you, and has blessed you with the ability to pray and financially support a seminarian, please contact us (contact information on front of this newsletter). The amount of financial support can be as little as 25 dollars and as much as 6,000 dollars a year. We do have a student who is still seeking Partners for this fall. One student will be beginning the partnership program in January and will be grateful for any who would like to partner with him on his seminary journey.

DMIN: PASTORAL SKILLS

Anyone interested in the Pastoral Skills track of the GCTS D.Min program should be sending in their application now. There are readings that one needs to complete before the February 2016 residency. Questions can be directed to: dmin@gcts.edu or by phone (800-816-1837) Applications and information are available online: http://www.gordonconwell.edu/doctor-ministry/

WE WANT TO COME TO YOU, TOO!

If you would like the Director of Lutheran Studies, GCTS personnel, and/or our students to visit your church or group, just ask! We would love to do so. We are all available for supply preaching in NC and SC as well as leading classes or bringing greetings to groups. If you are interested, please contact: MHavens@gordonconwell.edu

CHURCH BUDGET TIME!

As you are preparing your 2016 church budgets, please consider a donation to the North American Lutheran Seminary.

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BRING YOUR GROUP TO GCTS & THE BILLY GRAHAM FARM

AND LIBRARY

Looking for something to do with your group? How about a field trip to your seminary and then to the Billy Graham library and farm! We would love to welcome you to GCTS and give you a tour. The Billy Graham farm is a 15 minute drive from GCTS. The tour of the Home, Farm and Library takes approximately two hours. It is also possible to purchase lunch from the “Graham Brothers Dairy Bar” and shop in their bookstore. Closer to Christmas there is a special Christmas tour (including carriage ride and Christmas Dinner) which will be available. If you are interested in that, plan it now so that reservations can be made in a timely manner. The Christmas tours are very popular and fill up quickly. For more information about the Billy Graham Library tour view the website: www.billygrahamlibrary. org. We will be glad to help you plan your visit.

BRING YOUR YOUTH GROUP TO GCTS & SCAROWINDS

For a totally different experience, plan a visit to GCTS, and then a five minute drive to Carowinds for roller coasters, games and rides with a Halloween twist! Scarowinds is open September 18,19, 25, 26, October 2,3,4,9,10,11, 16,17,18, 23,24,25,30, 31 from 7:00 pm to midnight. The Halloween Haunt is PG-13. For more information as to hours of operation, prices, and parking, see their website: www.carowinds.com. It is usually cheaper and faster to purchase the tickets online rather than at the gate. We will be glad to help you plan your visit.

IT WAS THAT SUNDAY SCHOOL

TEACHER….THAT PASTOR…

Time and time again this is what we hear when we ask our students “what brought you to seminary?” It was a Sunday School teacher who simply asked “Have you considered going into the ministry?” Or it was a pastor who encouraged them to help with the worship service. It is YOU! God uses us to help call men and women to ministry in his church. So if you know of someone who has demonstrated a passion for the Gospel and compassion for God’s people, ask them if they have considered a ministerial vocation.

WORSHIP ITEMS

If your church has communion vessels, altar books, etc. that are looking for a new home, we would welcome them at GCTS.

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Pensées By Mary Havens

Devil! Satan! Spiritual Warfare! Powers and

Principalities! All of these seem like words from a

by-gone unenlightened age. Perhaps words

found on some desert scrolls in the King James

English Bibles thumped by “those who are not like

us.” We can talk about 16th century inter-

Lutheran controversies with fond remembrance or

laud Bonhoeffer and others for their brave stand

against the “foes that seek to work us woe,” but

we become severely tongue-tied and

embarrassed if someone raises the question of

spiritual warfare today. Fighting Satan! Exorcising

the devil! Isn’t that just the enthusiasts, the

Schwärmerei, who engage in such fanaticism?

Billy Graham remarked, “Don’t think of the devil

as a cartoon character with a red suit and a

pitchfork. He is very clever and powerful and

his unchanging purpose is to defeat God’s

plan at every turn—including God’s plan for

your life.”1 And that is precisely the best trick of

the devil—to convince us that he or she does not

exist, that he is just one along with the tooth fairy,

leprechauns, the Easter bunny, and unicorns. Is it

no wonder that current research marks the decline

of mainline denominations?2 A mythologized devil

results in a truly mythologized gospel. For without

recognition of Satan’s power, belief in Christ is

reduced to just an idea about Christ. If Satan is

not real, what need is there for Christ? If Satan is

not real, then what are we praying for when we cry

out “deliver us from evil”? If sin is just weakness

or wrong choices and not the pervasive mal-

alignment of God’s creation by missing the mark

of integral living as God’s creation then there may

be need for better nutrition and therapeutic

intervention, but not the radical transformation and

redemption that the Gospels allege to be God’s

grace in Christ.

And so just where is this devil Satan to be

found? Luther was so very clear about this.

The devil is real. “He who will have for his

master and king Jesus Christ, the Son of

the virgin, who took upon himself our flesh

and blood, will have the devil for his

enemy.”3 Christians will encounter Satan, will

engage in spiritual warfare because, so Luther

maintained, the devil’s battle is precisely with

those in whom the devil “smells Christ.” And is

that not the eau d’ baptism” scent? Similarly,

Luther referred to the devil as one who “apes

God”. So when Christians build a church, the

devil will mimic this and build his chapel next

door or maybe right in the midst of the Christian

church. For Satan the battleground is not in

pagan land or among voodoo practitioners, for

he already has them on his team. No, he

recruits from those not yet on his team, those

who belong to Christ, smell of Christ, bear the

mark of the cross by their way of life. It was in

so strongly believing and experiencing this that

Luther listed “suffering” or “bearing the cross”

as the seventh mark of the one, holy, catholic

and apostolic church. 4

When we hear about the terrible beheadings

and persecution of Christians at the hands of

ISIS it is easy for us to identify Satan’s work

over there, among “them”, but not here, among

“us”. Yet is it not as real and destructive a

persecution of the church when Satan brews

trouble and dissent in congregations, among

Christians? The devil in the very midst of the

church? Absolutely! Not a week goes by that

there is not report of controversy, fighting,

devilment in congregations. Not a day goes by

that clever arguments, novel interpretations are

put forth to draw God’s people away from His

holy Word. Not an hour goes by that “Christ

under culture” is accepted by the church as the

way it must be. And those causing all this

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disorder appear wearing business suits, dresses, shorts, and clerical collars and, it is true, they have many tales to spin, but they are NEVER wearing a red costume with a tail. The fruit of such disorder is that pastors leave, parishioners leave, the church is weakened and Satan smiles. Sure the gospel promises that ultimately he is a defeated foe but that does not give us permission to give evil free reign today. There is battle to be fought and we must be well armed to fight “the prince of darkness grim”.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against

the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

+++++++++++ I. Billy Graham, The Journey: How to Live by Faith in an Uncertain World. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006., p. 35.

2.Michael Lipka, “Mainline Protestants Make up Shrinking Number of U.S. Adults” Internet site: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/18/mainline-protestants-make-up-shrinking-number-of-u-s-adults/. Accessed September 1, 2015. 3.William Hazlitt, trans."The Table Talk of Martin

Luther." DLXXXIV. Center for Reformed Theology

and Apologetics. June 1, 1997. Internet site:

http://www.reformed.org/master/ index.html?

mainframe=/documents/Table_talk/table_talk_

5.html. Accessed September 1, 2015.

4. Martin Luther, “On the Councils and the Church”

Internet site: http://www.godrules.net/library/

luther/ NEW1luther_e14.htm.

Please join us for the Gordon-Conwell 2015 Golf Tournament to benefit the Urban Ministry Program & Partnership Scholarship on Columbus Day, Monday, October 12, 2015. We will have a great day of golf at the beautiful Stonebridge Golf Club in Monroe, NC (www.stonebridgegolfclub.com). The event will include a Captain's Choice, 4-player scramble, dinner and awards receptions following the golf. Shotgun start is at 11 am. Cost per player is $100.

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PRAYER LIST

Our students who are so courageously and delightfully responding to God’s call to ministry. Our NALS faculty, called to the teaching ministry of the church. Our faculty at GCTS, Charlotte who teach our students and are colleagues with our faculty. Our staff at GCTS, Charlotte who so graciously welcome us and assist us. Our partners in the Partnership Program and for all those who support our Department of Lutheran Studies, GCTS. For Bishop John and the Executive Council of the NALC. For the North American Lutheran Seminary and for all those who study and teach under its auspices. For the persecuted Christians throughout the world who take a bold stance for Christ in the midst of unimaginable and demonic forces that seek to “work us woe”. For us all...that our minds may be open to learn, our hearts to love, our lives to serve to the glory of God and the expansion of His Kingdom. AMEN “What does this mean? That I should be certain that such prayers are acceptable to the Father in Heaven and will be granted, that He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way and that He promises to answer us. Amen. Amen. This means: Yes, yes it will happen this way”.

(Luther, The Small Catechism)

PULPIT SUPPLY

There are several seminarians, as well as the Director, who are available for pulpit supply. There are some Sundays when all of us are already committed to a church, but there are many other Sundays when we might be able to worship with you. We are also available to talk with groups about the Department of Lutheran Studies. Contact:: mhavens@gordonconwell.edu

DONATIONS AND THRIVENT CHOICE DOLLARS

Please send your donations for the North American Lutheran Seminary to:

NALS Fund 2299 Palmer Drive, Suite 220 New Brighton, MN 55112 The NALS is also an approved institution where Thrivent members can designate Thrivent Choice Dollars.