We are excited to announce that the Lord has blessed us with our second son, Philip Lane, on Easter morning. While we continue to learn how to parent two children at once, blogging, unfortunately, fell by the wayside. Therefore, this post will wrap up the end of my education and pastoral formation at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. The Winter Quarter looked a little like this:

Thankfully, at this point in my pastoral formation I had accumulated many required textbooks, either in used condition or utilized previously in other classes, in order to relieve some of the financial burden of building my pastoral library. This Winter my classes were as follows:

• Dogmatics III
• Pastoral Theology II
• Psalms
• Puritanism

Winter 2022-2023 Classes

Dogmatics III: This was a four-credit systematic theology course that met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Naomichi Masaki. The major topics covered in this class were:

1. The Church
2. Preaching the Gospel
3. Holy Absolution
4. Holy Baptism
5. The Lord’s Supper
6. The Office of the Holy Ministry

This was an in-depth class on the above topics and the required textbooks were:

• Francis Pieper. Christian Dogmatics. Volume 2. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1951.
• Francis Pieper. Christian Dogmatics. Volume 3. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953.
• Hermann Sasse. We Confess Anology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999.
• C.F.W. Walther. The Church and the Office of the Ministry. Translated by J.T. Mueler and Matthew Harrison. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2012.

Pastoral Theology II: This was a four-credit pastoral ministry course that met three days a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. John T. Pless. This class delved into the caring side of the pastoral office as pastors care for the souls of their people with God’s Holy Word and Sacraments. Dr. Pless is one of my favorite professors who has grown to be a wonderful friend. I was blessed to have taken this course with him. In this course, the required textbooks were:

• Matthew Harrison. At Home in the House of My Fathers. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.
• Hans Joachim Iwand. The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther. Translated by Randi Lundell. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2008.
• Martin Luther. Luther’s Works: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John 17-20. Volume 69 in the American Edition. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.
• Richard Warneck. Pastoral Ministry: Theology and Practice. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018.

Psalms: This was a three-credit exegetical theology class that met three days a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Ryan M. Tietz. This class aimed to dive deep into the psalter’s structure, Hebrew grammar, and devotional/ pastoral use in our callings as pastors. What I appreciated most about this class was the broad overview of the entire Psalter. Being able to spot these structures throughout the book aided me in learning how to use this powerful poetic Scripture. In this class, the required textbooks were:

• Todd Billings. Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer & Life in Christ. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015.
• Allen Ross. A Commentary on the Psalms. Kregel Exegetical Library. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic & Professional Press, 2011.

Puritanism: This was a three-credit historical theology course that met three days a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Cameron MacKenzie. This class was a look into the history of the Anglican church, the Puritans who formed within the church, and the subsequent groups influenced by Puritan ideologies within English-speaking Christendom. For those who have read these blog posts over the year, you may recall that Dr. MacKenzie is one of my favorite professors. I was overjoyed to take one final class with him during my fourth year. In this class, there were no required textbooks as we read original source documentation which is all in the public domain. My wallet appreciated this class, but my folders full of printed material were none too thrilled.

Spring Quarter 2023

Amid the joyful anxiety of my classmates preparing for Call Day, I was blessed to end my pastoral formation on a high note! This quarter I was blessed to have many professors whom I’ve enjoyed during my time at the seminary, and I was honored to finish my seminary education on a high note. I was especially glad to conclude my seminary studies with two exegetical theology classes. At Concordia University Chicago, the exegetical classes taught to me by Dr. Andrew Steinmann truly kindled my love for theology. I was glad to conclude my education with the exegetical theology I first fell in love with. This quarter I took:

• Christology of the Gospels
• Revelation
• Sanctification
• Theologia III – Lord’s Supper

Christology of the Gospels: This was a three-credit exegetical theology course that met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. David Scaer. This class primarily worked on analyzing the hermeneutical principles put forth by Richard Hays. By analyzing and criticizing Hay’s method, Dr. Scaer was able to argue various points which he found important for us training for the pastoral ministry. The required texts in this class were:

• Richard B. Hays. Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016.
• Richard B. Hays. Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2014.

Revelation: This was a three-credit exegetical theology class that met three days a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Charles Gieschen. This class took us through the text of Revelation, common misinterpretations of the book, and some good practices in teaching Revelation in congregation Bible class. The required texts of the course were:

• Richard Bauckham. The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
• Louis Brighton. Revelation. in the Concordia Commentary Series. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999.

Sanctification: This was a three-credit systematic theology course that met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobien. This course aimed to provide a Biblical definition of sanctification, analyze the Biblical definition with what is put forth in the Lutheran confessions, and seek how this teaching is applicable in the everyday life of the Christian. In this class, we read:

• Diogenes Allen. Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today. Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1997.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Life Together. In Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 5. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.
• David Peterson. Possessed by God: A New Testament Theology of Sanctification and Holiness. New studies in Biblical Theology 1. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995.

Theologia – Lord’s Supper: This was a three-credit systematic theology course that met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobien, Rev. Jakob Appell, Rev. Dr. Roland Ziegler, Rev. Dr. William Weinrich, and Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle. This course aimed to provide the Biblical foundations for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and why we practice it. This class covered many subjects related to the Lord’s Supper, the faithful administration of the sacrament, and the pastor’s role in admitting the communicants to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. In this class we read many sections of Holy Scripture, theological articles, chapters of books, and Luther’s writings regarding the Lord’s Supper; therefore, we had no required textbooks for the course.

Conclusion

While no words can properly summarize the theological education and pastoral formation I’ve received throughout my time at Concordia University Chicago and Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, I am forever grateful to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the many gifts and experiences over these past eight years. I am blessed to have undergone one of the greatest pastoral formation processes in the world and I pray to never take it for granted and that it will remain for the generations of Lutheran pastors to follow me. Soli Deo Gloria!

…But Not Really the Conclusion — Elizabeth’s Part

While Benjamin was busy with school, I (Elizabeth) stayed busy with one — and then two — kiddos. Although I technically had a PRN job as an occupational therapist, I never got called in after September — and I later found out that the facility had closed at some point since then — guess that explains why I didn’t get called in to work! Nathaniel and I continued to explore Fort Wayne as the weather allowed, but also spent lots of quality time in our own backyard and house. We all enjoyed this final year of being able to travel to see family over Christmas. We spent a week in Chicago with my family. Highlights included witnessing our nephew’s baptism, decorating Christmas cookies, walking through a holiday lights display, and celebrating on Christmas day. This was followed by a few days in Martinsville. Highlights included lots of time with the crazy cousins, a visit to the Eiteljorg in Indy to see a train exhibit, and lots of good outside time. The new year brought more outside time (we’ll see if we reach 1,000 hours this year!), several visits to the Firefighter Museum in Fort Wayne, sledding and playing in the snow, Nathaniel’s first haircut (my mama heart was unprepared for how old he looked!), several trips to see various family members, celebrating Nathaniel’s second birthday (Choo choo! Nathaniel is 2!), and finally…the birth of little Philip!

As mentioned above, Philip was born on Easter Sunday at 37 weeks (thanks to another induction due to high blood pressure — not a pattern we want to continue). He was born at 12:01pm, weighed 5 lb 13.1 oz, and was 18″ long. Nathaniel was able to meet his little brother a few hours after he was born, which was very special. Since then, it’s definitely been a transition. We have good days and bad days, but are looking forward to seeing how our family continues to grow together. Nathaniel is, at times, an aggressive lover so we’ve been working on “gentle hands”. But he does love to help us by throwing away diapers, bringing us burp clothes, and trying to put Philip’s paci in when he’s crying. Philip is definitely getting a taste of second child life by getting dragged along on all of our adventures — walks to Zesto for ice cream, trips to Home Depot for their monthly kids craft, many playground trips, a Touch-A-Truck event, several outings to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, and lots of backyard time. We love both of our little guys so much! We ask for your prayers as we continue to adjust to life as a family of four — especially with all of the other life changes coming soon!

September 6th, 2022 was the first day of class at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, marking the first day of my final year of theological training and pastoral formation. That first day in many ways was bittersweet. While I am look forward to finally putting away late evenings typing exegetical papers, hours of intense study sessions, and the financial struggles of raising Nathaniel while still in school, I am also sad to think this is the end of an era. At Concordia Chicago, I always looked forward to seminary. After arriving at the seminary, my first two years always looked forward to vicarage. And now that vicarage is behind me, I look forward to the Divine Call into the office of the Holy Ministry. While I do look forward to becoming a pastor, once placed into the parish, I will find new things both in familial and ecclesiastical life to look forward to, but the intense excitement of my pastoral formation is coming to an end. I am unbelievably grateful for the institutions of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod which have trained and taught me in the Christian faith and in my various vocations, and I will continue to pray for their survival for the generations of American Lutherans to come.

While it is sweet, the placement director of the seminary is quick to remind my classmates and me that we haven’t graduated yet! Therefore, let’s continue on to what many friends looked forward to in each post…. THE BOOK PILE!!! (Which is also the name of a wonderful podcast that Elizabeth and I highly recommend).

As fun as the stack is, I do look forward to not having to lug this many books across a seminary campus each week. As always, these texts contribute to my professional library which will continue to aid my preaching, teaching, and soul care in the parish, but also form the majority of my required readings during the quarter. This Fall, my classes were as follows:

• Homiletics III
• Luther Texts
• Major Prophets
• Ministry in a Pluralistic Context
• Theologia II – Preaching

Fall 2022 Classes

Homiletics III: This was a three-credit pastoral ministry course that met three times a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle. While Dr. Boyle is only in his first year teaching at the seminary, I gleaned many wonderful insights from him as he came straight out of the parish and is a well-seasoned preacher. In this class we studied classical rhetoric and how we can apply it to preaching and teaching in the pastoral ministry. This was my favorite class in the Fall and I’m very grateful I was able to have Dr. Boyle in my final year at the seminary. In this class we used:

• [Cicero]. Rhetorica ad Herennium. Loeb Classical library 403. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954.
• Jaroslav Pelikan. Divine Rhetoric: The Sermon on the Mount as Message and as Model in Augustine, Chrysostom, and Luther. Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001.
• Ryan P Tinetti. Preaching by Heart. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2021.
• Augustine of Hippo. Sermons to the People: Advent, Christmas, New Year’s, Epiphany. New York: Image Books/ Doubleday, 2002.
• Wilhelm Loehe. The Pastor: The Pastoral Theology of Wilhelm Loehe. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2015.
• Martin Luther. Luther’s Works – Volume 75: Church Postil I. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2013.
• Norman Nagel. Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.

Luther Texts: This was a three-credit seminar course that met three times a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Roland Ziegler. In this class we read through a couple of Dr. Martin Luther’s major works, namely On Bondage of the Will and his “great” Confession on the Lord’s Supper, along with a few of his shorter writings. Most of the texts we covered have immensely influenced Lutheran theology, the writing of the Formula of Concord, and the entirety of the Western Church. The format of this class was unique in that it was a seminar course. Simply explained, each day a different student presented and led the discussion based on the reading assigned for each day. This was not a traditional lecture-style class, but one which encouraged and was filled with discussion on the assigned readings. In this class we used:

• Martin Luther. Luther’s Works – Volume 35: Word and Sacrament I. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1960.
• Martin Luther. Luther’s Works – Volume 37: Word and Sacrament III. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1961.
• Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus. Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation. Edited by E. Gordon Rupp and Philipp Watson. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969.

Major Prophets: This was a four-credit exegetical course that met three times a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Ryan M. Tietz. In this class we translated from the Hebrew text and focused on Old Testament readings in the three-year lectionary taken from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Since this class was structured by lectionary readings, it forced us to think about how we would preach on these texts and their timeless significance in the life of the church. In this class we used:

• Michael Morales. Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption. Essential Studies in Biblical Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2020.
• John N. Oswalt. The Book of Isaiah. 2 Volumes in New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1986, 1998.
• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Volume 6. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.

Ministry in a Pluralistic Context: This was a three-credit pastoral ministry course that met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Don Wiley. In this class we looked into various mainstream beliefs and philosophies present in the contemporary North American context. Beginning with theism and traditional orthodox Christianity, we then delved into deism, naturalism, post-modern philosophy, etc. This class contained myriad readings from organizational websites and sacred books for various groups and beliefs present in North America. While this class didn’t have the time to delve deep into each group and ideology we looked into, this class provided us with the appropriate resources and means to further investigate these groups and beliefs once called into the office of the Holy Ministry. While not my favorite class, I found the topics and reading necessary to engage those who hold views that are contrary to or hostile to Christianity and Confessional Lutheranism. With that in mind, this class also contained an emphasis on evangelism and apologetics. In this class we read:

• James K. Beilby. Thinking about Christian Apologetics: What It Is and Why We Do It. Downer Grove: InterVarsity Academic, 2011.
• Jacob Neusner, Editor. World Religions in America: An Introduction. 4th Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.
• Schulz, Klaus Detlev. Mission from the Cross: The Lutheran Theology of Mission. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.
• J. W. Sire. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. 6th Edition. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2020.

Theologia II – Preaching: This was a three-credit systematic course that met twice a week and was team-taught by Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobein, Rev. Dr. Benjamin Mayes, Rev. Dr. Jim Bushur, Rev. Dr. William Weinrich, Rev. Dr. Todd Peperkorn, Rev. Chad Kendall, Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer, and Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle. In short, this class aimed to answer the questions of: “What is preaching?” and “Why do we preach?” We covered topics such as “Preaching as a Theological Act,” “Preaching as Rhetorical Act,” and “Preaching as Performative Act.” This was a great class filled with many different perspectives given by each lecturer which both challenged us students and forced us to consider preaching as a Biblical, Christ-centered, and liturgical act given to the church by Jesus Christ for the church. In this class we used:

• R. P. H. Green. St. Augustine: On Christian Teaching. Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Gustav Wingren. The Living Word: A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church. London: SCM Press, 1949.

Preparations For the Call

While my classwork is the main focus of seminary, as I approach graduation and the reception of a call to serve as a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, there are a few requirements which need to be fulfilled. In accord with Jesus’ ordination of the apostles and the handing over of the Office of the Keys (Jn 20:20-23), the Lutheran church teaches that Jesus Christ has instituted the office of the ministry (Augsburg Confession Article 5) and that only those who’ve received a proper call are truly placed into this office (Augsburg Confession Article 14). Therefore, a pastor is commonly referred to as one who has been examined, called, and ordained. My 8-year institutional pastoral formation, which began at Concordia University Chicago in 2015 and continues today at Concordia Theological Seminary, has trained me for my “examination.” The major part of the examination is simply passing my classes, but all men looking to receive a call into the Holy Ministry must pass a theological interview. My theological interview was conducted by Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer and Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Boyle. I’m pleased to say that I passed this interview. Therefore, once all my coursework is turned in and I have passed all of my classes, my “examination” will be complete.

Following “examination,” I need both a call and ordination. On April 25th, I along with my fellow classmates will receive our “calls” in an evening chapel service at the seminary. We are very excited, nervous, and anxious about Call Day as we will only find out then where the Lord will send us. God willing, once I receive the call, we will schedule our moving out to the calling church and I will then be ordained into the Holy Ministry and installed as pastor at the calling congregation. While there are many other less glamorous details in the call process (i.e. paperwork), we are excited and looking forward to seeing where and how Jesus will use us in His kingdom.

Things Other than School

While Benjamin was at school, Nathaniel and I (Elizabeth) settled back into life in Fort Wayne. I got a PRN job at a skilled nursing facility as an occupational therapist. Initially, the plan and hope was for me to work 10-15 hours a week while Nathaniel spent time with our babysitter, another seminary wife with two boys of her own. However, the needs at the facility weren’t as high as we were anticipating and, at the time of writing this blog post in mid-February, I haven’t actually worked since October. So that’s been a little bit of a mental (and financial!) adjustment — that just means Nathaniel was stuck with me a lot more than he was expecting!

We continued our tendency to go on adventures — favorites included the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, local playgrounds, and Lindenwood Nature Preserve. Nathaniel definitely embraced being a toddler and adventures were always a good way to burn off some energy before his afternoon nap! Many hours were also spent in our backyard when we weren’t up to adventuring too far from home. All of these adventures helped us reach our goal of spending 1,000 hours outside in 2022!

In addition to these daily adventures, we also had some weekend adventures with Benjamin. We made several short trips to see family, enjoyed apple fritters at the Kendallville Apple Festival, wandered around the farmers markets, spent a weekend in Frankenmuth with seminary friends, and spent the two-week break at the end of the quarter visiting various family members throughout the country. We’re enjoying being back in the midwest close to family, as we don’t know where we’ll be once seminary ends!

This post was written this late after the completion of vicarage for two reasons: First, Vicarage was extremely busy and I attempted to spend the majority of my free time relaxing, hanging out with Nathaniel and Elizabeth, or exploring the beautiful city of Pittsburgh we were blessed to call “home” for a year. Secondly, I continuously struggle to find the appropriate words to succinctly describe this amazing vicarage experience while doing it justice. In the end, I realize that’s an impossible task, but if St. John couldn’t write everything down and still delivered us one of the four Gospels of Holy Scripture (Jn 21:25), I should be in good company haha.

To start off, I served Holy Cross Evangelical-Lutheran Chapel in the Hazelwood community of Pittsburgh, PA. Holy Cross is a church plant of First Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church in the Shadyside community of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Area Lutheran Ministries (PALM). PALM is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and is an umbrella mission organization that is run and maintained by the LCMS congregations in the greater Pittsburgh Region. In summary, the churches in Pittsburgh are working together to plant a new congregation in the Hazelwood community of Pittsburgh. I was blessed to serve that mission plant full-time from July 2021-July 2022.

If you are interested in donating or simply learning more about PALM, Holy Cross Evangelical-Lutheran Church, First Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church, and the work that is going on amid the Lutheran churches in Pittsburgh, here are some resources:

• Holy Cross – https://www.holycrosspgh.info/
• Video about Holy Cross – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVineepicgk
• First Trinity – https://www.firsttrinity.net/
• PALM – https://www.palmpa.org/

The Mission

Whenever I mention church planting, I often receive a question along the lines of: “Why do we need more churches?” or “With the pastor shortage can we manage more churches?” You might even find yourself asking the same questions. Don’t worry, I used to ask the same questions. After spending my undergraduate years in Chicago, I found many congregations debating the possibility of a congregational merger or the unfortunate story of a church holding its final worship service. While many congregations find themselves losing members or facing the possibility of permanently closing their doors, the church needs to engage in more missions, not less. While this statement can easily be misunderstood, Jesus’ commands to His disciples are clear, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20) and “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15). The first 11 disciples were ordained and sent out to plant churches with minimal numbers, we too are called to go out and preach this saving Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the sins of the world to each and every community, city, and village. Thanks be to God that the LCMS takes Jesus’ word seriously and is working to spread it to all nations. To see a recent synodical publication on the multi-faceted evangelism efforts I engaged in over vicarage, look here: https://engage.lcms.org/pittsburgh-winter-2020/ So with the clear command of Christ and the sure promise that His Word will not return to Him empty (Isa 55:11), the church goes into new communities and works to build another house of the Lord to serve that community with Word and Sacrament ministry for generations.

First Trinity Evangelical-Lutheran Church

Officially, my vicarage assignment was at First Trinity in the Oakland/Shadyside community of Pittsburgh. The senior pastor, the Rev. Dr. Douglas Spittel served as my supervisor and pastor of both First Trinity and the church plant. While I am biased, I believe I was blessed to have one of the best vicarages in the entire LCMS. Each week I preached for multiple services, taught multiple Bible studies, catechized new members, learned basic ASL with Pittsburgh Lutheran Deaf Ministry, preached sermons and taught Bible study for Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind, assisted Rev. Eric Andrae of First Trinity with campus ministry and their Bible studies, and organized multiple outreach events at the mission congregation. While I will not bore you with the administrative and background details of everything I just listed, those items were the highlights. This beautiful, historic, and loving congregation will always have a special place in my heart as they graciously put up with my mistakes, lack of experience, and overall hiccups as I continued in my pastoral formation. First Trinity is a wonderful parish that preaches Christ crucified both within her walls each Sunday, and throughout her community at every chance available. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh or know of college students attending the universities of Pitt, Carnegie-Mellon, or Chatham, recommend First Trinity as a wonderful church to attend. Fair warning, if you attend, you will want to return again for more.

Holy Cross Evangelical-Lutheran Chapel

While I was assigned to First Trinity, I spent 95% of my vicarage within the Hazelwood Community of Pittsburgh with the saints of Holy Cross. Here I preached at least six times a month, taught many Bible studies, prayed hundreds of devotionals, and individually prayed with hundreds of Christians and non-Christians alike.

On top of regular teaching and preaching, Holy Cross runs an incredible food and clothing distribution center which feeds and clothes approximately 150 families in greater Pittsburgh. While the members did most of the work managing and carrying out the tasks at hand for the ministries, I was blessed to contribute many hours both attending to people’s needs and answering the spiritual questions of those gathered. Every bag of food included a bulletin from the previous Sunday with Scripture, hymnody, and prayers for the week as a reminder that Jesus cares for both the needs of the body and the needs of the soul. Thankfully Holy Cross is able to engage many people with the love of Jesus through her ministries.

While I was only there a year, I quickly fell in love with the beautiful building, the pulpit, and most importantly, the congregation. Even as I type this in November, I find myself thinking about Holy Cross and her members daily. An example of this was the recent celebration of the feast of All Saints Day this past week at the seminary. Upon hearing the preached words, singing “For All the Saints,” and receiving Jesus’ Body and Blood, after serving Jesus’ saints at Holy Cross for a year, I couldn’t hold back the tears. While I know the current vicar and Rev. Spittel are taking good care of everyone, I do miss them dearly. No words can adequately express my thankfulness for having been placed in Pittsburgh for my vicarage. Even after returning to seminary and enjoying the time spent with friends, I do miss Holy Cross and cannot wait for a chance to visit in the new year.

If you’re interested is hearing more about the mission, here is a promotional video PALM made for the LCMS a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVineepicgk

Closing Thoughts

For an entire year, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and I lived in the Hazelwood community of Pittsburgh. By the end of the year, the unimaginable happened… we made it our home. We watched Nathaniel takes his first steps, say his first words, and celebrate his first birthday in Hazelwood. Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and I absolutely loved our time in Pittsburgh and are so very thankful for all the friends we made along the way. Since words cannot express any more than what’s already been said, I will leave you with all these photos of our time in Pittsburgh. Thank you for all your prayers and support of us along this journey. We love you all and cannot wait to find out where Jesus will call us to serve in the next year! Soli Deo Gloria!

In case you haven’t heard, the pandemic has had significant effects on people’s morales and the overall motivation to do the things they love. I am no exception to this and was suffering severe burnout by the end of my second year of seminary. I love Concordia Theological Seminary and the lifelong friends which I’ve made there these past two years, but I could not wait to get out on vicarage by the end of second year. This all goes to say that this blog post is a brief recap of my final quarter of seminary studies prior to leaving on vicarage and the things I studied in preparation for the office of the holy ministry. A summary of the first half or so of vicarage will be coming soon (hopefully).

My classes were as follows:

• Catechism Recitation
• Field Education II
• Pentateuch II
• Church History IV
• Fathers & Heretics
• Liturgics II
• Theological Ethics

Non-Credit Classes

Catechism Recitation: Fulfilling my pre-vicarage requirement of reciting the entirety of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism by heart. This quarter I recited the Lord’s Supper.

Field Education II: This class met once a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gary Zieroth. In preparing for vicarage, this class taught practical application of the theology we learned in other classes. This class always provided great conversation and made me consider and think through situations I will face on a regular basis as a parish pastor. In this class we used:

• Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pastoral Care Companion. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.

Included with classroom lectures, I was stationed as a field worker at New Hope Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN. In my role, I assisted Rev. Daniel Burfiend with liturgy, adult Bible class, children’s Bible study, and was given the opportunity to preach a few sermons.

For Credit Classes

Pentateuch II: This class met three times a week and was team-taught by Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier III, Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz, and Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Pulse. This class gave both an overview of the Old Testament books: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and an in-depth look at some of the themes and Hebraic syntax of these Mosaic writings. I enjoyed this class, but especially enjoyed getting to tune up my Hebrew skills as we dove into the text each week. In this class we used:

• Michael Morales. Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus. NSBT. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2015.
• Reed Lessing, Andrew Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014.
• Martin Luther. Lectures on Deuteronomy. American Edition Vol. 9. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968.
• Jacob Milgrom. Numbers. JPS Torah Commentary. Philadelphia/ New York, 1989.

Church History IV: This class met once a week and was taught by President Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast. This class gave a brief overview of American Lutheran history and an in-depth look at some controversies and historical events which have forever shaped the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Because Lutheran Church history in America has always been a hobby and personal interest of mine, I very much enjoyed these lectures. In this class we used:

• Mark Alan Grandquist. Lutherans in America: A New History. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.

Fathers and Heretics: This class met three times a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. James Bushur. In this class we engaged with St. Athanasius of Alexandria and the Arian controversy which he wrote against. This controversy began in the early 4th century and started to lose popularity following the First Council of Constantinople in 381. I enjoy history and was happy to have received a seat in this packed class. We had to actually hold this class in the seminary’s largest classroom due to the size. My favorite part of this class was to read St. Athanasius. While he has forever influenced the Christian church, I found it a true privilege to read his writings in large portions. In this class we used:

• Athanasius of Alexandria. Discourses Against the Arians (NPNF, vol. 4)
• Gregory Nazianzen, Letters to Cledonius
• Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ. Translated by J. McGuckin. Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1995.

Liturgics II: This class also met three times a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Paul Grime and Kantor Kevin Hildebrand. In this class we focused on worship planning and studied hymnody along with the church year. My favorite parts about this class were the group projects and learning about all the resources the Synod has to assist pastors and church musicians with worship planning. In this class we used:

• Philip Pfatteicher. Journey into the Heart of God. Cambridge: Oxford, 2013.
• Anthony Esolen. Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church. Gastonia: Tan Books, 2016.
• Jean Danielou. The Bible and the Liturgy. Paris: Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 1956.
• Commission on Worship for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The Lutheran Service Book. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006.
• Commission on Worship for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Text, Music, Context. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.
• Commission on Worship for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Lutheran Service Book: Hymn Selection Guide. St. Louis: Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 2006.
• Carl Schalk. Luther on Music. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1988.

Theological Ethics: This class met twice a week and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gifford Grobein. In this class we were taught a Lutheran perspective on engaging Christian ethics as opposed to other contemporary Ethical systems of thought. Simply put, this class helped give us the tools to apply the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions to real-world scenarios I will face as a parish pastor. Theological Ethics was my favorite class of this quarter as I enjoyed the lectures, readings, and my class project on the ethics of congregational mergers. In this class we used:

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In conclusion, I am eternally grateful for my theological education at Concordia Theological Seminary. It is not an over-exaggeration to say that I have used tools from every class I’ve taken at the seminary during my vicarage year. While I feared burning out towards the end of last year, vicarage has recharged my batteries and I do look forward to returning to Fort Wayne next Fall for my fourth year. Thank you again for all the prayers and support during these first six months of vicarage. Another post on the first half of vicarage is currently in the works.

Life Outside of Class

While Benjamin dove into the last quarter of classes before vicarage, all of us also dove headfirst into life as a family of three. The first few months (and the first few weeks especially) were challenging beyond belief. Breastfeeding was a miserable experience. Nathaniel was never able to latch well, even from the beginning. We probably saw the hospital lactation consultants a dozen times during our three days in the hospital and even they were never able to get him to have a good latch. However, due to societal and social pressure and “breast is best” propaganda, Elizabeth tried to keep breastfeeding exclusively for the first two or three weeks and then switched to pumping for another two or so months. During those first few weeks of trying to nurse, Nathaniel just wasn’t getting enough to eat and was up from 2a-5a every morning screaming at the top of his lungs (from hunger, we later surmised). Needless to say, none of us were really fans of each other for a few weeks. Things got a little better after Elizabeth started pumping (at least Nathaniel didn’t scream for hours on end), but it was still not an enjoyable experience and both of us as parents were tormented with what to do. Finally, after lots of talking with each other and with our sister-in-law who also disliked breastfeeding and ended up using formula with all three of her kids, we decided to make the switch to formula. And that was a game-changer. Elizabeth finally felt like she could enjoy being a mom instead of wanting to jump out of a window, Nathaniel was a happier and healthier baby, and Benjamin was able to get more sleep and focus more on school.

(Side note: Elizabeth has now become a huge proponent of supporting whatever choice people make about feeding their babies (insert sarcastic “what a revolutionary concept…”). There is SO much pressure to breastfeed (especially at the seminary, as I’ve experienced and as I’ve heard from probably a dozen seminary wives) that people who are unable to do so (or who just don’t want to do so) feel like terrible moms. That HAS to stop. Everyone makes the choices that are best for their family. As long as baby is fed and healthy, nothing else matters. Rant over.)

Feeding hurdles aside, life as a family of three definitely grew on us. Nathaniel was baptized on April 11 at Benjamin’s home church; his sponsors are Elizabeth’s brother and his wife. We had a delayed baby shower with Elizabeth’s side of the family in Chicago in May. We did some traveling throughout the midwest to see family and friends and did our best to enjoy the last little bit of time in Fort Wayne before vicarage. Certainly an eventful end to the second year of seminary!

On April 26th, the vicarage placement service was held at CTSFW. Benjamin’s parents and Elizabeth’s parents were all able to come to Fort Wayne for the service, which was a great blessing (and getting to see their grandson was a good incentive too!). It was a beautiful vespers service. At the end of the service, vicarage placements were announced and we found out that……

WE ARE MOVING TO PITTSBURGH! Benjamin will be serving as vicar for a year with First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, specifically at their Holy Cross Lutheran Chapel mission plant. We’ll be living in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittaburgh, just a few blocks from Holy Cross. Benjamin will be leading daily matins services and leading and preaching for a divine service virtually every Sunday. He will, in essence, pretty much be in charge of the services at Holy Cross every week. To learn more about Holy Cross, please view this video: https://youtu.be/XVineepicgk. Throughout the year, he’ll also have the opportunity to experience inner city, homeless, campus, blind, and deaf ministries, along with hospital, nursing home, and shut-in visits. It sounds like it will be a jam-packed year full of learning!

Elizabeth will be staying home with Nathaniel, either exploring the city with him or planning adventures for the three of us.

We are SO excited to begin this next stage of our seminary journey on July 1st. We praise God for this incredible opportunity and can’t wait to see how He works throughout this next year. As always, we ask for prayers of thanksgiving for this placement. We also ask for prayers for ease of packing up and moving, for a smooth transition to life and ministry in Pittsburgh, and for a wonderful vicarage year.

We are so excited and blessed to finally introduce our little bundle of joy–Nathaniel John! We are absolutely smitten with him and can’t imagine that a cuter baby exists anywhere in the world. See below for a plethora of pictures, some professional and some that we’ve taken over the past few weeks.

Nathaniel was born on March 12, 2021 at 4:10am. He was 19.5″ long and weighed 7lbs 8.3oz. He decided to come a week and a half early, which was unexpected (makes for an interesting birth story!), but now we can’t imagine life without him! Nathaniel will be baptized this coming Sunday (April 11) at Benjamin’s home church. We appreciate your continued prayers as we continue to adjust to life as a family of three.

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The Winter 2020-2021 quarter ended February 26th and we were blessed to have all in-person classes. While many of my friends and a few professors had to quarantine at various times throughout the quarter, I was blessed to attend all of my classes in-person. While we continue to maintain social distancing and follow CDC guidelines regarding masks and contact tracing, we have done it long enough that we have learned how to still have some community during these times. While it isn’t perfect and we continue to pray for a speedy end to this pandemic, I was able to have a wonderful quarter at seminary. This winter I did very well in all of my classes and I continue to love the theological education I am receiving here at Concordia Theological Seminary. My classes were:

• Catechism Recitation
• Field Education II
• Greek Readings
• Pastoral Theology I
• Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Theologia I: Baptism
• Lutheran Confessions III

Non-Credit Classes

Catechism Reciation: Continuing to fulfill my pre-vicarage requirement of knowing the entirety of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism by heart, this quarter I recited the chief part on Baptism.

Field Education II: This class met every Friday at 11:00 AM and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gary Zieroth. This class focused on the practical applications of God’s Word and how to handle a variety of situations both in the congregation and throughout the pastoral ministry in general. I enjoyed these lectures as they encouraged conversation among my classmates as we all prepare for vicarage placements next quarter. In this class we used:

• Commisson on Worship of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pastoral Care Companion. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.

Connected to this class is my continual field work under Rev. Daniel Burfiend at New Hope Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN. This quarter I continued to teach Bible class for the youth and aid in leading the liturgy; I preached once this quarter.

New Testament Greek Readings: This class was taught by the Rev. Dr. Cameron MacKenzie and met every Monday at 11:00 AM. In this class we worked through the Gospel reading for each week in the Greek language and learned different ways to approach the text in preparing a sermon for the upcoming Sunday. Personally, Dr. MacKenzie has been one of my favorite professors at the seminary and I was honored to have two classes with him this quarter. He also taught my father when he went through seminary in the late 1980s. It is really special that I am able to have some of the same faculty that my father did during his seminary education.

For-Credit Classes

Pastoral Theology I: This class met every Monday and Wednesday morning from 8:00-10:00 AM and was taught by Rev. Dr. Don Wiley. In this class we focused on all the duties of a Lutheran pastor from preaching and teaching to dealing with various topics surrounding marriage, caring for the sick, private confession and absolution, caring for the dying, baptism, proper administration of the Lord’s Supper, and all of the rites in the Lutheran Service Book Agenda. This was a wonderful class in which I was exposed to many aspects of the pastoral ministry I hadn’t thought through before and how the Holy Scriptures guide our decisions in these situations. In this class we used:

• The Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Lutheran Service Book: Agenda. St. Louis: Concordia, 2006.
• The Commission on Worship of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Lutheran Service Book: Pastoral Care Companion. St. Louis: Concordia, 2007.
• Walther, C.F.W. American-Lutheran Pastoral Theology. Trans. by Christian Tiews, ed. by David Loy. St. Louis: Concordia, 2017.

Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion: This class met on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00-2:00 PM and was my second class taught by Rev. Dr. Cameron MacKenzie. This was a seminar class, meaning it was discussion-based rather than lecture-based. As indicated from the class name, the discussions were based on the assigned readings from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. We read through Calvin’s Institutes and analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of his theological system. This was a helpful class as I was able to read Calvin on his own terms and see where his teachings stray from orthodox Christian teaching and where Calvin is often mischaraicatured. While Calvin does have issues in his hermeneutic and application of the Holy Scriptures, he is often misunderstood in modern Christianity and this class was helpful in understanding the great 16th century reformer of Geneva. In this class we read:

• John T. McNeill, ed. Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols. trans. by Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1993.
• Randall Zachman. John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.
• Wilhelm Niesel. The Theology of John Calvin. Charleston: Nabu Press, 2011.
• Francois Wedel. Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.
• Christopher Elwood. Calvin for Armchair Theologians. Louisville/London: Westminster John Know Press, 2002.
• T.H.L. Parker. John Calvin: A Biography. reprint. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.

Theologia I: Baptism: This class met on Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00AM-12:30 PM and was team taught by Rev. Dr. Arthur Just, Rev. Dr. Benjamin Mayes, Rev. Dr. James Bushur, Rev. Dr. Charles Geischen, and Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz. We had a large plenary lecture with the entire class on Tuesdays which was taught by one of the professors each week. Then we had small groups every Thursday in which we had in-depth discussions on the readings and lectures for each week. My small group leader was Dr. Mayes who encouraged good discussion and left us with many things to discuss amongst ourselves outside of class and throughout the entirety of our pastoral ministries. This class was all about baptism and we all left the lectures completely amazed and fascinated by the depth and breadth of this sacrament and what it means for us as adopted children of God. I enjoyed this class which exposed us to a large amount of literature from the past and present which challenged or supported the Biblical and Lutheran teachings on baptism. In this class our required textbooks were:

• Jean Danielou. The Bible and the Liturgy. reprint 2005. Notre Dame: Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1956.
• Benjamin T. G. Mayes ed. Martin Luther on Holy Baptism: Sermons to the People (1525-1539). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018.
• David Scaer. Baptism. Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics, volume XI. Fort Wayne: The Luther Academy, 1999.

Lutheran Confessions III: This class was taught by Rev. Dr. Roland Ziegler and took place from 6:00-9:00 PM every Thursday. This was my first night class at seminary and I really enjoyed it. Dr. Ziegler is an entertaining, brilliant, and very personable lecturer. This class was on the Formula of Concord which consists of the Epitome and the Solid Declaration and is the final confessional document in the Book of Concord. This was a wonderful class as I both enjoy history and Lutheranism haha. I was amazed by all the conflicts the Lutheran Church had after Martin Luther’s death which were worked out in the Formula. It is a wonderful document that continues to guide the Christian church in not straying away from the pure and sound teaching of the Holy Scriptures. In this class we read:

• Charles Arand, Robert Kolb, and James Nestigen. The Lutheran Confessions: History and Theology of The Book of Concord. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012.
• Robert Preus and Wilbert Rosin ed. A Contemporary Look at the Formula of Concord. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1978.
• Robert Kolb and James Nestigen ed. Sources and Contexts of The Book of Concord. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.
• The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. ed. Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert. Minneapolis: Fortress Presss, 2000.
• Robert Kolb trans. Andrea and the Formula of Concord: Six Sermons on the Way to Lutheran Unity. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1977.
• F. Bente. Historical Introduction to the Book of Concord. 2nd edition. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

In Ending

Elizabeth and I appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers as I finish this second year of seminary and we prepare to receive our vicarage assignment on April 26th. At this time, we’ll find out where in the country we’ll be spending the next year as I complete this year-long internship under the supervision of an LCMS pastor. We’re looking forward to finding out where we’ll be serving and can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!

Also, stay tuned for a coming blog post about a very exciting non-seminary life event! We are so blessed.

I (Benjamin) have now completed the fall quarter of my second year at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. Thankfully we were able to have in-person classes in accordance with the CDC and the Indiana Board of Health guidelines in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am so very grateful for all of the overtime the faculty and staff have put in at Concordia Theological Seminary to get us back in the classroom full time. And while social distancing guidelines don’t make it the optimal environment for pastoral training, I had a wonderful quarter. While it wasn’t optimal, I am of the strong opinion that I am having the best seminary education offered in the world here at Concordia Theological Seminary. COVID-19 has forced closed almost every seminary in the United States and in Europe. Concordia Theological Seminary and our sister seminary Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, may very well be the only two seminaries that are currently offering in-person residential education. While I have always known the Lord has blessed the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod with two world-class seminaries (and arguably the two best seminaries in the world), this year has confirmed that even more. While I know it is hard on the faculty, staff, and students who are constantly facing the possibility of mandatory self-quarantine on top of normal responsibilities, I cannot be more appreciative of the sacrifices which have been made throughout the church and the seminary this year. It all goes to show that what the seminaries and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod stand for matters. It matters to God and to His Church that we continue to provide the best education humanly possible for our future pastors who will go out and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

The fall 2020 quarter ended on November 13 and I am proud to say that I did very well in all my classes. This quarter I took 7 classes (two of which aren’t credited) totaling 14 credit hours per week. My classes were:

• Catechism Recitation
• Gospels III
• Pentateuch I
• New Testament Greek Readings
• Pastoral Counseling
• Homiletics II
• Field Education II

Non-Credit Classes

Catechism Recitation: This is a pre-vicarage assignment at Concordia Theological Seminary. Throughout your first two years, you have to recite the six chief parts of Martin Luther’s Catechism from memory. This quarter I recited Confession (excluding a short form of confession) and the Office of the Keys.

Field Education II: This class met every Friday at 11:00AM in one of the large lecture halls on campus and was taught by Rev. Dr. Gary Zieroth. Dr. Zieroth is also the head of vicarage placement and he lectured on practical aspects of the pastoral ministry–everything from home visitation to balancing the vocation of husband/father with the pastoral ministry. These lectures were insightful and often led to good conversation among my classmates. In this class we used:

• Commisson on Worship of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pastoral Care Companion. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.

Connected with this class in my continual field education at New Hope Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN. At New Hope I am under the supervision of the Rev. Daniel Burfiend. While COVID-19 has made many things difficult this year, I am thankful that we are able to hold in-person services at New Hope. This quarter I taught the youth Bible Study each week, assisted with leading the Divine Service, and preached once. I am continually thankful for all the wonderful members of New Hope who continue to pray for and support Elizabeth and me during our time in Fort Wayne.

New Testament Greek Readings: This class met every Monday at 11:00AM and was taught by the Rev. Dr. William C. Weinrich. In this class we read through the upcoming Gospel lesson each week in Greek. This was an enjoyable class because of Dr. Weinrich’s amazing insights which truly make the text come alive.

For-Credit Classes

Gospels III: This class met every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00AM and was also taught by the Rev. Dr. William C. Weinrich. This class was exciting for two reasons. One, Dr. Weinrich is one of the Lutheran authorities on the Gospel of John which made for lectures that were engaging and have forever influenced my understanding of Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures. The second exciting aspect of this class is that my father also learned under Dr. Weinrich. It is always a privilege to learn under the same professors who taught my father and formed him to be, in my opinion, the best Lutheran pastor in the world. In this class we needed:

• Nestle-Aland. Testamentum Graece. 28th edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Biblegesellschaft, 1898, 2012.
• Luke Timothy Johnson. The Writings of the New Testament. Third Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010.
• Willam C. Weinrich. John 1:1-7:1. Concordia Commentary Series. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2015.

Pentateuch I: This class met every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00AM and was taught by the Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier III, the Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz, and the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Pulse. Each professor taught a third of the class respectively on the Book of Genesis. For this class we read:

• Victor C. Hamilton. The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
• Victor C. Hamilton. The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18-50. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995.
• Reed R. Lessing and Andrew E. Steinmann. Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014.
• Andrew E. Steinmann. Genesis. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019. (I wasn’t required to purchase this text, but Dr. Steinmann was my Hebrew and Old Testament professor at Concordia University Chicago and his commentary supplemented this class really well)
• Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis 1-11. Luther’s Works: American Edition. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958.
• Walter A. Maier III, Old Testament Isagogics. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press.
• Walter A. Maier III, Notes on Genesis 1-11. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press.
• Jeffrey Pulse, The Joseph Narratives. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary Press.

Pastoral Counseling: This class met every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-10:00AM and was taught by the Rev. Douglas Christian who is a local pastor in the Fort Wayne area. In this class we focused on counseling sessions, practical and theological aspects to one-on-one pastoral care, and premarital counseling. In this class we read:

• Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Divorce and Remarriage: An Exegetical Study. St. Louis: The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 1987.
• Richard C. Eyer. Pastoral Care Under the Cross: God in the Midst of Suffering. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1994.
• Charles Allen Kollar, Solution-Focused Pastoral Counseling. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.
• Commisson on Worship of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pastoral Care Companion. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007.
• Stephen M. Saunders. A Christian Guide to Mental Illness. 2 Volumes. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2016, 2020.
• Harold L. Senkbeil. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Lexham Press, 2019.
• Richard W. Marrs. Making Christian Counseling More Christ Centered. WestBow Publishing, 2019.

Homiletics II: This class met every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00-3:00PM and was taught by the Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Gard. In this class we learned how to preach on the Old Testament, the miracles of Jesus, and the parables of Jesus. While we still used everything we were taught in Homiletics I, preaching on the Old Testament, parables, and miracles provide their own unique challenges to the preacher. This was also an exciting class because Dr. Gard was the university president at Concordia University Chicago while I was a student there. It was a joy to have him as a professor this past quarter. In this class we wrote and outlined/preached three sermons and we read and used:

• Thomas Long. Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1988.
• Gerhard Aho. Sermon Theory Notes II. Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Serminary Press.
• Gerhard Aho. The Lively Skeleton: Thematic Approaches and Outlines. The Preacher Workshop Series. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1977.
• Commission on Worship for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Lutheran Service Book: Hymn Selection Guide. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006.
• Paul J. Grime and Dean W. Nadasdy. Preaching is Worship: The Sermon in Context. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2012.
• C.S. Lewis. Miracles.
• J.A.O. Preus. Just Words: Understanding the Fullness of the Gospel. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2012.
• Martin H. Scharlemann. Proclaiming the Parables. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1963.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support for us during these seemingly strange times. Your prayers and love do not go unappreciated and we are forever grateful for them.

Non-Seminary Life

Since our last update at the end of summer, life has returned to (COVID-era) normal. Elizabeth continues her job as an occupational therapist for East Allen County Schools and still loves her job, coworkers, and the students she works with. We’ve had the opportunity to see family a few times–Elizabeth’s parents came to visit the weekend before Thanksgiving and we spent Thanksgiving with Benjamin’s family. Speaking of family……

Our family is growing by one! We’re so so excited to announce that we’re expecting Baby Janssen at the end of March 2021! Elizabeth has been blessed with a very easy pregnancy thus far and Baby (or Peanut, as we’ve taken to calling him/her) is healthy. We’ve chosen to not find out the gender of the baby, so we’ll be just as surprised as everyone else in March! It’s been fun to plan for Baby–as much as we can with knowing we’ll be moving this coming summer for vicarage. With one major life change already planned, why not just add another one?! In all seriousness, we are so so blessed by this little one and can’t wait to see how God shapes our family over the years.

Prayer Requests

• For a continued smooth and healthy pregnancy for Elizabeth
• For healthy growth for Peanut–we’re so excited for March!
• For a good second quarter of seminary for Benjamin
• For an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and for the health of the world
• Thanksgiving as we enter the season of Advent and prepare for Christmas

As the school years begin for both of us, we decided to do a quick wrap-up of what happened for us this summer. And what a busy summer it was! By our records, between the end of May and the beginning of September, we:

• visited or drove through 9 states
• worshiped at 7 churches
• preached 6 sermons (technically 2 sermons preached multiple times either live or for recordings)
• stayed at 12 hotels, VRBOs, or family/friend houses
• put at least 6,000 miles on our car (and this doesn’t include local travel around Fort Wayne!)

We started the summer by spending two weeks down in Martinsville with Benjamin’s family (including spending our first anniversary in Indianapolis–not Ireland like originally planned), followed by a week in Chicago with Elizabeth’s family. After a few days in Fort Wayne, we headed to Martinsville so Benjamin could spend a few days there while Elizabeth went to future sister-in-law Hannah’s bridal shower in St. Louis. We then spent almost two weeks back in Fort Wayne. At the beginning/middle of July, we drove to northwest Maryland (stopping at Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the way) where Benjamin preached at the retirement services for Rev. Oester, one of our adopt-a-student sponsors and now friend. While out there, we headed further east for a day in Gettysburg (Benjamin’s first time there!); we also visited the Flight 93 memorial and spent a day in Pittsburgh on our way back to Fort Wayne. After a week and a half in Fort Wayne, we drove out to Lincoln for a seminarian friend’s wedding and saw all the sights along I-80 on the way. After getting back to Fort Wayne, we spent a few days there before driving down to Martinsville to celebrate Benjamin’s mom’s birthday. After a few days there, we drove up to southeast Michigan for Benjamin’s cousin’s fiance’s bridal shower. We continued our journey north up to Charlevoix, where we spent half a week with Elizabeth’s parents and some old family friends along the shores of Lake Charlevoix. After Charlevoix, Elizabeth went back to work for two days — so so good to be back in buildings. That weekend, Elizabeth’s parents spent the night with us before we all headed down to Bloomington for Elizabeth’s cousin’s bridal shower and some extended family time (including an early birthday celebration for Elizabeth’s mom). After that week, Elizabeth was back to work full-time. After the first full week back at work, we made the trek to St. Louis for Benjamin’s brother’s wedding. We spent two more weeks in Fort Wayne before returning to Martinsville for Benjamin’s sister’s baby shower and a local wedding reception for Benjamin’s brother and new wife. Once we were back in Fort Wayne, Benjamin had about a week before the second year of seminary started.

Whew! We made it. We had a lot of windshield time this summer and listened to quite a few entertaining podcasts (for those of you obsessed with the grocery store Trader Joe’s (or TJ’s as it’s known in our house), yes, they do indeed have a podcast). However, it is nice to be back in Fort Wayne more consistently, where we’re able to get together with friends, go to our favorite coffee shops, sleep in our own bed, attend our fieldwork church again, and get back into a school-year routine and rhythm. As the school year begins, stay tuned for more updates! In the meantime, enjoy the following pictures of our crazy busy summer.

To begin, the spring quarter at Concordia Theological Seminary did not go quite as planned. With the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, the seminary decided to move to virtual classes via pre-recorded lectures and live lectures over Google Hangouts. While it has been a struggle to not engage with my professors and classmates, worship in the chapel, and participate in weekly social events at the Seminary, I am truly thankful for all the hard work the seminary has done to continue our pastoral formation during the pandemic.

This third quarter was a difficult quarter not only due to the online format, but due to the reading load and not being able to browse the shelves of the seminary’s library for helpful resources. A fun fact about the seminary’s library is that it is the largest Lutheran library in the world and it has the largest journal selection in the state of Indiana. Notre Dame, Purdue, Butler, and Indiana University all do not have the exhaustive journal selection that Concordia does. One of the biggest reasons I chose to study in Fort Wayne is the library and it has been difficult not being able to use it very much this spring quarter.

This quarter I took 17 credits along with Field Education and Catechism Recitation which were no credits. My classes were as follows:

• Church History III
• Catechetics
• Pauline Epistles
• Dogmatics II
• Lutheran Confessions II
• Old Testament Hebrew Readings
• New Testament Greek Readings

Non-Credit Classes

Catechism Recitation: It is a pre-vicarage requirement of the seminary to recite the entirety of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism from memory. This quarter I recited the Lord’s Prayer, its introduction, seven petitions, conclusion, and their meanings.

Field Education: We met every Monday at 11:00 via Google Hangouts to discuss our experiences at our field education churches and the required readings from each week. In this class we read:

• Gene Edward Veith and A. Trevor Sutton, Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to a Postmodern World (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2017).

My field Education church is New Hope Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN and my supervisor is Rev. Daniel Burfiend. While we had to temporarily stop in-person worship services, I was active in helping record worship services for a live-stream and Youtube each week. Once Easter came around, we began to hold drive-in services in the church parking lot and I was able to preach my first sermon at New Hope for one of the drive-in services. While it wasn’t the same as preaching to people face-to-face, I was still thankful for that experience and being able to assist the church during this pandemic. Here’s the link to the audio of my parking lot sermon: https://www.facebook.com/NewHopeLutheranChurchOssian/videos/557047611619248/.

Classes Taken for Credit

Church History III was taught by Rev. Dr. Benjamin Mayes and was supposed to meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Dr. Mayes would go into the classroom during the class’ scheduled time and post the recorded lectures to our student portal. While this had its strengths and weknesses, I was able to freely watch them during the week when I was free from other responsibilities. This class covered Christian history from the Protestant Reformation until the present day (excluding Lutheranism in North America). Since it is impossible to cover everything in ten weeks, it was an intense course in which I took over 100 pages of typed notes, wrote two lengthy papers, and wrote weekly reflections over the required readings. While this was a tough class, I learned a lot about Christian History and how much more I still need to learn. The books we read were:

• Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology (New York: Scribner’s and Sons, 1958).
• Justo L. González, The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day, vol. 2 (New York: HarperOne, 2010).
• Keith D. Stanglin, The Reformation to the Modern Church: A Reader in Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014).
• Timothy Schmeling ed., Lives & Writings of the Great Fathers of the Lutheran Church (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016).
• Philip Jacob Spener, Pia Desideria (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1964).

Catechetics was taught by Rev. John T. Pless and met every Tuesday and Thursday via Google Hangouts. In this class we covered Luther’s Small Catechism in detail, gave mock Catechism class lectures, were taught how to teach a class, and wrote Bible Studies for both youth and adult classes. In this class we read:

• Charles Arand, That I May be His Own: An Overview of Luther’s Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000).
• Oswald Bayer, Martin Luther’s Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation, 3rd ed., trans. Thomas H. Trapp (Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007).
• Pete Jurchen, Timeless Truths: An Essential Guide for Teaching the Faith (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018).
• John T. Pless, Luther’s Small Catechism: A Manual for Discipleship (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019).
• Peter Bender, Lutheran Catechesis: Catechist Edition, second ed. (Sussex: Concordia Catechetical Academy, 2011).

Pauline Epistles was a class taught by Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer and Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz. In this class, we went trough both Paul’s letter to the Galatians and to the Romans in Greek. We met on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays via Google Hangouts and pre-recorded lectures (depending on the professor). I put the most time this quarter into this class as I read through three Concordia Commentaries, tackled a myriad of theological articles, wrote two exegetical papers, and translated both Galatians and Romans from the original Greek text. In this class we read:

• Andrew A. Das, Galatians, Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014).
• Charles A. Gieschen ed., The Law in Holy Scriptures (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004)
• Michael P. Middendorf, Romans 1-8, Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2013).
• Michael P. Middendorf, Romans 9-16, Concordia Commentary Series (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016).
• Bo Reicke, Re-examining Paul’s Letters: The History of the Pauline Coorespondence (Harrisburg: Trinity, 2001).

Dogmatics II was taught by Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer. This class covered the correct teaching of who Jesus is and all the different heresies throughout Christian history in regards to who Jesus is. This class met on Tuesdays and Thursdays via Google Hangouts and was was one of the most interesting classes I have taken so far at the seminary. In this class we read:

• Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, vol. 2 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950)
• David P. Scaer, Christology, Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics Series, 6 (Northville: Luther Academy, 1989).
• David P. Scaer, The Sermon on the Mount: The Church’s First Statement of the Gospel (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2000).
• David P. Scaer, What Do You Think of Jesus? (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1973).
• David P. Scaer, A Latin Ecclesiastical Glossary for Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics (Springfield: Concordia Theological Seminary Print Shop, 1967).

Lutheran Confessions II was taught by Rev. Dr. Roland Ziegler and met every Tuesday and Thursday via Google Hangouts. In this class we read many articles and went over Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles, and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope. While I enjoyed diving deeper into the Lutheran Confessions, this class was helpful in understanding medieval Roman Catholic theology and modern Roman Catholic theology. This class really highlighted what the Lutheran Confessions were writing against and how the Roman Catholic Church has changed its doctrines over the past five centuries both closer to and farther away from what is taught in the Book of Concord. In this class we read:

• Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon, “The Small Catechism,” “The Large Catechism,” “The Smalcald Articles,” and the “Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope,” from The Book of Concord: : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), 295-377.
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second ed. (Vatican City: Libreria Edititrice Vaticana, 1997)
• Albrecht Peters, Commentary on Luther’s Catechism: Ten Commandments (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009).

Old Testament Hebrew Readings was taught by Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz every Wednesday via Google Hangouts. This was an enjoyable class where we translated Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Obadiah from their original Hebrew texts. This was a demanding class, but was also a joy to go through these texts with some of the brightest Lutheran minds in Hebrew scholarship. Rev. Dr. Tietz is also writing the Concordia Commentary for Obadiah and his insights into the text were amazing.

New Testament Greek Readings was taught by Rev. Dr. Naomichi Masaki every Friday via Google Hangouts. This is a small class that everyone takes at the seminary in which small groups translate the upcoming Gospel lesson for each Sunday (according to the three-year lectionary). Dr. Masaki is an incredible exegete who helped guide my class through some very theologically rich texts during this quarter. This class was the best class I had over Google Hangouts. Since there were only 5 students in the class, it made for a very good experience via the online format.

Non-Seminary Happenings

I (Elizabeth) continue to love my job as an occupational therapist in the schools, although the end of the school year also looked different for us. My district transitioned to remote learning in the middle of March. For the last two months of the year, my interactions with my students consisted of messaging them via our online portal and uploading activities for them to complete related to their OT goals. I also held meetings with coworkers and parents over Zoom, which was a learning experience in and of itself. I also attended a two-day continuing education course from the comfort of my living room via Zoom–technology is pretty great sometimes! Overall, it certainly wasn’t the ideal way to end the year, but we made it work. We’re praying that things are pretty back to normal in the fall so that we can return to school and I can see those sweet kiddos again!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our socialization this quarter took on a different format. We were able to do Zoom video conferences with family and friends throughout the quarantine, which was always a highlight of the week. Instead of going out to eat (not that we did that a ton before the pandemic…), we spent more time discovering fun recipes and getting takeout from a few places. Since travel was limited, we were able to spend Easter at New Hope for the first parking lot service and Benjamin was able to help out with the service.

On a slightly related note, thanks to social media and a grad school colleague, I stumbled upon a blog called COVID Catalogs. This blog allows people from all over to submit their reflections on their personal experiences during this time. Upon reading these reflections from people around the country, I was inspired to reflect on the past few months in my own life. If you’re so inclined, here’s the link: https://www.covidcatalogs.com/post/three-good-things.

And that brings us to summer! Many of our plans have changed–friends’ weddings have been canceled or postponed and our delayed honeymoon to Ireland (set to take place in early June) has been postponed indefinitely. However, we are looking forward to doing a bit of traveling as Benjamin in scheduled to preach out in Maryland in mid-July; we’ll also make trips to see our respective families in Indiana and Illinois. Apart from that, we’re not sure what this summer will look like! But cheers to completing the first year of seminary!

Reflections on Our First Year in Fort Wayne

While this school year didn’t end the way any of us had planned, it has been an amazing year. Being married has brought so much joy into our lives that we cannot imagine life any other way. We have grown together and have really grown to love Fort Wayne enough to call it home. While we aren’t sure how long it will be home, we have really enjoyed the culture, restaurants, coffee shops, bike trails, and the lifelong friends we have made along the way this year. We can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring!

Prayer Requests

• For an end to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Thanksgiving for a successful end to the first year of seminary and first year of being an OT in the schools
• For safety over the summer during various travels and activities
• For a relatively normal return to our respective schools in the fall
• Thanksgiving for all of the good friends and memories we’ve made this first year in Fort Wayne (we can already tell that these next few years will go far too quickly!)