A Morning at Concordia Seminary

 

The first thing I noticed when I walked up from the parking lot was the replica of the first log cabin seminary that was started in Perry County, Mo.  Now for someone who has never been on campus that may not seem like a big deal.  Perhaps it isn’t.  However, it always struck me as strange that the cabin had, for decades been tucked away on the side of a hill sort of between the campus mechanical workshop and the tennis courts.  A visitor to the campus would have been unlikely to stumble across it unless he/she were accustomed to strolling to out of the way uninviting places.  I don’t know how long it had been sequestered away like some embarrassing bachelor uncle, but it was being kept away from polite company back when I was at the seminary in the mid sixties.  But this summer it was brought out for public view.  It sits prominently on an open lawn in a heavily trafficked area between the Feuerbringer library and Koburg hall, one of the dining halls.

Extensive remodeling is going on in Koburg hall and in the kitchen area.  A new entrance is being built.  I haven’t been inside.  I just hope that they also remodel the food they offer, which has often been something to keep away from polite company.  After all they are competing with a St. Louis Bread Company, My Daddy’s Cheese Cake, Kaldi’s Coffee, a Subway and Karl’s, all within easy walking distance of the campus.  None of these establishments were in business when I was at the seminary.  Only the Triangle Restaurant was nearby.   At the Triangle you could get an eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns breakfast for less than a dollar and containing enough fat to last for a day or maybe a lifetime.

After being closed for two weeks, the library had opened that morning.  It’s the longest two week s of the year.  I returned a couple of books and found a book on 19^th century German history.  Since I don’t preach this weekend, I have time to back at writing a story about my grandparent’s emigration from Germany in the early 1880’s.

I was back in my car when someone rapped on the window.  It was John Luom who is director of the training program for foreign born pastors. He is from West Africa himself.  He is preaching at Immanuel at the end of September.  He introduced me to a man who had just arrived the day before from Mongolia.

The names of the buildings at the seminary reflect the synod’s German background, just as Luther Northwestern seminary in St. Paul reflects it Scandinavian heritage.  But the center of Lutheranism is no longer in Europe.  It is shifting to continents and cultures other than European and American.  An article in the latest issue of Thrivent magazine reflects how congregations that once were 100 percent people of northern European descent are now reaching out to cultures which our forefathers and mothers would never have imagined.  Early in the 20^th century we had to learn to shift to the English language.  A century later we are learning to offer songs music and services that reflect more diverse cultures.  Bu through it all, the gospel of Jesus Christ is what the church has as its core and center, in whatever language and cultures it is expressed.

P.S.  George, sorry I erased your last comments.  I was getting rid of spam and got carried away.

Ron Jansen

        

       

Comments

[Sam]

Just so you know.... the food at Concordia Seminary has improved greatly during the last few years. I started at the sem in 2006 (graduated in 2010) and the food was always quite good.

[Ronald Jansen]

I can hear my wife speaking in my head, "Just let it go, Ron."