Volume 92 Number 2 Fall ✛ 2009

WHO
are our
NEIGHBORS?
Moving from Interfaith
Dialogue to Interfaith
Engagement in a World
of Faith
Message from the president
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS ?
For a number of years my colleague,
Dr. Katie Day, The Charles A. Scheiren
Professor, Church and Society, and Director
of the Metropolitan/Urban Concentration, has
been researching the changing scene of congre-
gations on historic Germantown Avenue. It
may not be surprising that on a five-mile
stretch of this famous road along which The
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
(LTSP) sits, there are over eighty congrega-
tions. It may, however, be surprising to you that
in addition to Jewish synagogues there are now
three Islamic mosques on the avenue.
As some of you may know, our dear Dr.
John Kaufmann has been in the hospital recently. We pray that God
will soon restore him to all the important things he does for LTSP as
he approaches his ninetieth year. He told me in a recent visit that the
Hari Krishna temple has occupied the old Mt. Airy Hotel on Allens
Lane across from the seminary for over forty years. That is almost half
of his wonderful life of service to the church. We celebrate Dr.
Kaufmann in an article on page 6.
We have become a nation of many cultures and religions. When I
grew up, we thought we were doing something for harmony in the
community when we attended an ecumenical Thanksgiving service.
Each year in Germantown there is now an interfaith Thanksgiving
service. Who are your neighbors? Do you have the confidence and
the resources to profess your faith in Christ in the changing pluralistic
context? At LTSP, our curriculum and programs are increasingly
aimed at preparing leaders who can lead communities of faith who
will be confident in our increasingly complex contexts. Centered in
Christ, it is important that our leaders are not only comfortable in
ecumenical settings, but now increasingly in interfaith relationships.
Our leaders must cross these boundaries to help insure God’s peace in
our neighborhoods. Too often we have seen tensions flash up around
the world because religious communities live along side each other
but in parallel universes.
In addition to Dr. Day, my colleagues like Dean Rajashekar, Dr.
Jon Pahl, Dr. Kiran Sebastian, Dr. Wil Gafney, and Dr. David
Grafton, among others, are working hard to prepare future leaders to
ON THE COVER: The Rev. Khader Khalilia and his uncle, The Rev. Khader El-
Yateem on the steps of Salam Arabic Church (ELCA), Brooklyn, NY, the for-
mer Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, serving in the middle of a com-
munity where neighbors constantly change. Story on page 14.
be competent leaders in the world that God is
renewing with each passing day. They are
equipping leaders of our congregations and
institutions with a theology that can witness
publicly in a world of many new neighbors.
Our seminary has long been a leader among
seminaries in ecumenical preparation for lead-
ers. There are usually twenty-six or more dif-
ferent denominations represented in our stu-
dent body, and in addition to knowing their
own traditions, we require our graduates to
demonstrate competence in ecumenical rela-
tions. You cannot know your own tradition
well if you do not understand how it differs
and relates to other traditions. Competence in
interfaith dialogue will be necessary in the future. This will be vital so
that our gift of faith will be the source of God’s grace and peace in our
world and not as a destructive force it has sometimes become in the
modern world.
Not long ago in our assigned texts for the season of Pentecost we
heard in Mark 7: 24-30, Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician
woman, a Gentile and a Greek. As a result of her appeal for her
daughter, Jesus broke through the boundaries between Jew and
Gentile and responded to her as a neighbor. It was not an easy conver-
sation at first, but ended in healing for the woman’s daughter, and we
learn something from the story about God’s will for us to be healing
and reconciling forces with our neighbors near and far.
In a world riddled with ethnic and religious tensions from
Israel/Palestine to the Balkans, Iraq, India, and Pakistan, to name a
few, we are called to speak a word about Jesus Christ that contributes
to the healing and the welfare of the nations. At LTSP we have taken
up this challenge, and we pray God’s blessing and your support.
In Christ,
Philip D.W. Krey
President
 EDITOR/DESIGN
Merri L. Brown

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
contents
John Kahler

WRITERS FEATURES ✛ FALL 2009

John Kahler
Mark A. Staples Who Are Our Neighbors? ..............................................................8
Moving from interfaith dialogue to interfaith engagement in
PHOTOGRAPHY a world of faith.
John Kahler
Jim Roese “Jesus Walks With Us ...” ..............................................................14
Mark A. Staples ... through a Brooklyn interfaith ministry led by LTSP
educated Palestinian pastors.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Merri L. Brown Alumnus Romeo Dabee ................................................................19
Lois La Croix A new ministry at a Long Island church with a global vision.
Louise Johnson
John Kahler Emmett Nixon’s Campus Lesson ............................................25 Page 8
Philip D.W. Krey “You show people love and respect by the way you cook for
Adam Marles them.”
J. Paul Rajashekar

CORRESPONDENCE
PS,
The Lutheran Theological Seminary DEPARTMENTS
at Philadelphia,
7301 Germantown Avenue, Message from the President ....................Inside front cover
Philadelphia, PA 19119
Offerings ....................................................................................................2
Telephone: 215.248.6311 or
1.800.286.4616 Alumni News ........................................................................................21
Email: communications@Ltsp.edu Alumni Spring Convocation 2010
Visit us online: www.Ltsp.edu
Faculty/Staff News and Notes ..................................................23
PS is a publication of The Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and Faculty/Staff Activities ................................................................23
is distributed without charge to alumni/ae, Passages ................................................................................................27
faculty, staff, and friends of the seminary.
In Memoriam ..................................................................................28 Page 14
© Copyright 2009 Around Admissions ..........................................................................29
The Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Philadelphia From the Foundation ......................................................................30
Volume 92 Number 2

The Lutheran Theological Seminary

at Philadelphia, a school of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amer-
ica, is committed to preparing or-
dained and lay ministers of the Word
as leaders for the mission of the
Church in the world.

Page 25

PS
OFFERINGS✛
Pastor Susan E. Nagle
Receives Muhlenberg
Award for Exemplary
Service
The Rev. Susan E. Nagle, pastor of Our Savior
Lutheran Church in Paramus, New Jersey, is the
Photo: Mel Fabrikant

recipient of this year’s Henry Melchior Muhlenberg

PROFESSOR
Medal for exemplary service in ministry. The honor
EMERITUS GORDON
was conferred at the 2009 New Jersey Synod
LATHROP RECEIVES
Assembly by The Rev. Dr. Philip D.W. Krey,
president of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), sponsor of
HONOR
the medal. The Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop,
Pastor Nagle, ordained for 25 years, served as associate pastor at St. John Lutheran Charles A. Schieren Professor
Church, Summit, New Jersey, First Lutheran Church, Montclair, New Jersey, and Emeritus of Liturgy, who
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Bristol, Connecticut, prior to receiving a call to her taught Liturgy at LTSP until
current congregation a year ago. his retirement five years ago,
“While serving a congregation is a full-time job, she also managed to serve on a was elected president-elect at
variety of churchwide committees,” president Krey said in remarks honoring Pastor the Sydney Congress of the
Nagle. Those voluntary capacities have included the Lutheran World Federation, the Societas Liturgica, the interna-
Office of Ecumenical Affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the tional and ecumenical profes-
denomination’s Division for Ministry, the planning board of the Eastern Cluster of sional organization for teachers
Lutheran Seminaries, the publication committee for Lutheran Partners magazine and and researchers in liturgy, held
the Hein-Fry Lectureship Committee. She’s also served LTSP as a Trustee and member this past summer in Sydney,
of its Development Committee. Pastor Nagle has also served on a variety of synodical Australia. He will serve as vice
committees and has chaired the synod’s Guyanese Lutheran Outreach Committee. In president for two years until the
her local community her involvements have included the Interfaith Hospitality next Congress in Reims, France,
Network and Parish Nurse/Congregational Health Network. in August of 2011, when he will
Pastor Nagle received her Masters in Theological Studies from Princeton Seminary become president for the fol-
in 1983. lowing two years.
Nominations for the Muhlenberg Medal are by pastors and synodical leadership in
Regions 7 and 8, with the endorsement of a synodical bishop. This year is the 267th
anniversary of the beginning of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg’s foundational ministry in
North America. His approach to ministry serves as a model for recipients chosen to
receive the medal.

LTSP is on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/LTSP1

2 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu


Erin Vertreace/Chestnut Hill Local
(Back row, l. to r.): George Stern, Ken Weinstein, J. Jayakiran Sebastian,
Dan Muroff. (Front row, l. to r.): Laura Siena, Bob Elfant, Philip Krey, René
Diemer, Marcia Bell, J. Paul Rajashaker, Katie Day.
PICNIC FUNDRAISER CONNECTS LTSPTO
THE COMMUNITY
LTSP president Philip D.W. Krey opened the seminary on June
11, 2009, for a Mt. Airy Picnic and Fundraiser celebrating the
presence of The Lutheran Theological Seminary in the Mt. Airy
community. Community members enjoyed music by LTSP’s own
Groove Daemons, fellowship, food, and libations, while helping to
support the seminary’s mission and its presence in the commu-
nity. Local businesses and friends of the seminary contributed
about $10,000 to the Leadership Fund.
With Augsburg Fortress closing their retail locations, LTSP has
stepped in and reopened the campus bookstore as LTSP Books &
Gifts. The Wiedemann location has been spruced up and recon-
figured, and the store continues to be a resource for academic
texts, church supplies, clergy apparel, LTSP items, and gifts with
The Rev. Heidi Rodrick-Schnaath serving as the manager of the
bookstore. The store is open Monday to Saturday, and is open to
the public. Stop in and say hello the next time you’re on campus.
More information and hours are on the store’s Web page:
www.Ltsp.edu/bookstore, or call Pr. Rodrick-Schnaath at
215.967.1112.
PS ✛ FALL 2009
Advent
Vespers to
Celebrate
Dr. Robert
Bornemann
The Annual Advent Vespers, to be held Sunday,
December 6, 2009, will be on the theme Repent!
Prepare! Rejoice!
The Vespers will celebrate the life and ministry of The
Rev. Dr. Robert Bornemann, Anna Burkhalter Professor
Emeritus of Old Testament and Hebrew, at LTSP for 41
years, and director of the seminary choir from 1955 to 1990.
The Seminary Choir, under the leadership of Michael
Krentz, Director of Music Ministries/ Seminary Cantor,
will lead the Vespers. Music will include compositions by
Robert Bornemann, Edward V. Bonnemere, Georg Philip
Telemann, and a South African traditional tune arranged
by Nancy Grundahl.
Join us for Advent Vespers at 7:30 pm at Grace
Epiphany Church, 224 E. Gowen Avenue, Philadelphia.
More information and directions are online:
www.Ltsp.edu/adventvespers.
Repent! Prepare! Rejoice!
www.Ltsp.edu 3
OFFERINGS✛
JUST WAR: JUSTIFIED OR OXYMORON?
Nearly 50 believers from the three Abrahamic traditions
engaged in a stimulating April 26, 2009 interfaith conversa-
tion at LTSP in connection with just war and their under-
standing of their sacred texts. Can war ever be justified, or is
the notion of “just war” an oxymoron, as one presenter put
it. And how do sacred texts as interpreted by adherents to
the three Abrahamic traditions shed light on the matter in
this challenging time?
Yehezkel Landau, an author who teaches Interfaith Rela-
tions at Hartford Seminary, offered a Jewish perspective,
discussing the moral dilemma surrounding the issue of self-
defense as appropriate in just war considerations. Rob
Arner, a Mennonite and PhD student at LTSP, indicated his THE 145th COMMENCEMENT
was “a” Christian perspective, and said persons who argue Sixty eight students were awarded the Master of Arts in Reli-
for a “just war” position are abandoning Jesus’ teachings, gion, Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Theology, Doctor of
who “never taught or hinted at the theory.” Imam Abdulla Ministry, or Certificate of Study at the 145th commencement of
Antepeli, recently appointed Muslim chaplain and an ad- The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) on
junct faculty member at Duke University, noted that stereo- Sunday, May 17, 2009 on the seminary campus. Six students re-
types about Muslims have often served to strike “fear into ceived the UTI Certificate of Church Leadership. In addition,
people’s hearts and made life for many Muslims extremely Pennsylvania Senator LeAnna M. Washington and Pennsylvania
difficult.” He said the Islamic tradition is “not pacifist... If Representative Cherelle Lesley Parker, whose districts both in-
confronted by a transgressor we are commanded and per- clude the community of which LTSP is a part, received the Doc-
mitted to respond with a level of violence.” While self-de- tor of Divinity Honoris Causa in recognition of their work for
fense if attacked is justified in the Islamic tradition, certain the community they serve. Chris Satullo, Executive Director of
ethical, moral and humane standards should be observed. News and Civic Dialogue at Philadelphia public broadcaster
The plenary addresses were followed by responses from WHYY, and formerly columnist and editorial page editor at The
several leaders and small group discussion. Philadelphia Inquirer, was the speaker. Satullo spoke on the
For more details and video of the plenary talks, go to theme of public theology, and how public theologians — includ-
www.Ltsp.edu/justwarconversation. ing the graduates — can and must practice their faith in the world.
Photos, videos, lists of the graduates, and biographies of the honorary
doctoral recipients can be found at www.Ltsp.edu/commencement09.
THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION WITHYOUTH (TEY)
BRINGSTOGETHER COMMUNITIES OFYOUTH AND SEMINARIANS
TEY is a joint initiative of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (LTSG) and LTSP that has
created spaces for youthful scholars to gather and get wrapped up in theological conversation with
seminary faculty, staff, students, and other young people since the summer of 2000. The Crossroads
Event, for rising high school sophomores and juniors, and the Summer Theological Academy, for
rising high school juniors and seniors, are the centerpieces of this program. Since the summer of 2000,
these programs have involved nearly 250 scholars from congregations from as far away as Puerto Rico.
The impacts of TEY programs are also seen on the seminarians who are involved as mentors, worship
leaders, and educators. As they continue through their process of call and discernment in seminary, this
can be a formational experience as they prepare for ministry. More on TEY at tey.easterncluster.org.

4 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu

 What do nearly
3 million members
have in common?

Nearly 3 million members turn

to Thrivent Financial for
Lutherans to help meet their
ASIANTHEOLOGICAL SUMMER INSTITUTE
A SUCCESS
financial needs. Thrivent Financial
Reflections from Dean Rajashekar for Lutherans offers a wide range
The third annual Asian Theological Summer Institute (ATSI), of competitive products and
held on the LTSP campus last May, was an outstanding academic
and fellowship experience. Prof. Kiran Sebastian, four other guest
personal service. We are
faculty (Profs. Kowk Pui Lan, Eleazar Fernandez, Anne Joh, and committed to serving Lutheran
Benny Liew) and I were indeed impressed by the quality and families, communities
depth of the next generation of Asian/Asian American scholars
and future teachers being trained in the United States. This year and congregations.
we had students from Britte Divinity School, Princeton Theolog-
ical Seminary, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, Emory Uni-
versity, Boston College, Garrett-Evangelical Theological
Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and LTSP. ATSI has been
received with such enthusiasm by the participants that we already
have a network on Facebook: “ATSI 2009.” We have 46 alumni so
far, and LTSP is now recognized as a new center for Asian/Asian-
American Theological Studies in the United States.
Our success has been recognized by the Henry Luce Founda-
tion which has approved our request of a modest $325,000 grant
to fund ATSI for the next five years. In conjunction with the the
annual Institute, we are planning to offer a public lecture next year.
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PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 5
OFFERINGS✛
FOR 44 YEARS The Rev. Dr. John A.
Kaufmann served The Lutheran Theologi-
cal Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) as
registrar, keeping track of seminarians and
their records of academic and personal
progress from 1946 to 1990.
But that doesn’t begin to tell the whole
story. Dr. Kaufmann observed the 65th an-
niversary of his ordination in May and
turns 90 years of age this coming February,
and for many of those years fulfilled a wide
variety of “other” duties. From 1944 to
1952, he assisted Dr. Fred Nolde in Chris-
tian Education instruction. He oversaw
the refectory food service. He managed
buildings and grounds maintenance in-
cluding construction and repair projects.
He served as treasurer, preparing budgets
for the school. He handled public rela-
tions, including tours, edited the Seminary
Bulletin (now PS magazine). He served in
effect as bursar — filling an accounting
role, processing bills, managing payroll
records and tax forms. Kaufmann assisted
the president in faculty matters, held the
post of alumni liaison, and related to syn-
6 PS ✛ FALL 2009
JOHN KAUFMANN: For 44 years, much
more than a registrar and still going
strong: In May, he celebrated the 65th
year of his ordination. He still comes to
work most days...
ods. For many years he handled admissions
too. Whew! These responsibilities today
are divided up and managed by a consider-
ably larger staff. Once, Kaufmann was one
of only four administrators.
And today, John Augustus Kaufmann
still works for LTSP, fulfilling special as-
signments for president Philip D.W. Krey
and serving as assistant secretary of the
LTSP Board of Trustees.
Kaufmann pooh-poohs all the responsi-
bilities he once juggled. “When I saw
something that needed to be done I just
did it,” he said. “You have to remember the
seminary was a far less complicated place
in those days. Now, far more challenges are
imposed from the outside — accreditation
and federal and state forms. It is not as
simple as it once was. If I saw a light bulb
needed to be changed we didn’t fill out a
form. I just did it. In effect, I was on call
seven days a week.”
A graduate of both Lehigh University
(BA History, 1941, Summa Cum Laude,
Phi Beta Kappa) and LTSP (1944), Kauf-
mann maintained, until not so many years
ago, that mindset of doing what it takes. A
staffer on a Saturday would see him carry-
ing a ladder to perform chores around the
campus. Anecdotes abound. Alumna
Laura Csellak, now a pastor in Easton,
Pennsylvania, recalls the evening seminari-
ans placed a sheet bearing the face of a
jack-o-lantern over the Library clock on
Halloween. Ever vigilant, Kaufmann
quickly saw the prank and removed the
sheet. “I always kept a special eye out dur-
ing holidays and special occasions,” he re-
calls with a smile. “The trouble was the
sheet got caught up in the clock hands. It
would have burned out the motor inside.”
Years later, Kaufmann made a donation to
replace the clock’s complex and difficult-
to-maintain mechanism with a simpler
digital device. “Not many people are
around these days to repair tower clocks
like ours,” he said.
Kaufmann retraces several life mile-
stones that led him to seminary service and
beyond. Reserve Officer Training Corps
study was required at Lehigh, and in the
late 1930s, Kaufmann greatly enjoyed the
www.Ltsp.edu
“John has been invaluable as an adviser and sage to presidents because he has kept the history of the
school's records so carefully he can spread a range of options before the president, faculty, and board. His
records and role have always relativized any one person or group that has wanted to fix the school’s future
in the recent past.This has been most helpful.”
program’s study of European and World
War I history. A teaching officer urged
him to apply for advanced ROTC study,
likely leading him to become a military of-
ficer. “I flunked the physical,” he recalled.
The military officer, frustrated by the out-
come, urged him to take it again. “I
flunked the second time too. I often won-
der what would have happened in my life
had I passed.” Wondering what to do with
his training, his father Harry, Pastor M.
LeRoy Wuchter (Atonement Lutheran
Church in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania,
where Kaufmann went to church) and his
father’s cousin, seminary professor, and
later president, Paul Hoh, persuaded him
to undertake seminary study. A second
milestone: Kaufmann thought he would
accept a call to a small congregation and
continue graduate studies when, in 1946,
he was unexpectedly invited to be semi-
nary registrar and treasurer. The third per-
sonal milestone he identifies came in 1986
when seminary president John Vannorsdall
initiated a measure, approved by the
Board, that would permit Kaufmann and
his wife, Doris, to remain in their campus
home after his retirement in 1990. “That
was a very telling step,” he explained. “That
I have been able to remain on campus all of
these years is why I believe I am still alive,
why I am here today. It gave me purpose,
something to do. I have served under nine
of the seminary’s 11 presidents. All of
them have been exceedingly generous to
me.” His wife and one of his two sons,
Alan, died in 1993. A son, Bruce, resides in
a community living arrangement in North-
east Philadelphia.
PS ✛ FALL 2009
— President Krey
Favorite seminary memories? Kauf-
mann cites the many lay leaders who un-
dertook projects over the years - especially
the work of the Women’s Auxiliary with
leaders like Catharine Reed and Elizabeth
Hagan, and men stalwarts like Peter Paul
Hagan, Claude Wagoner, and Robert
Blanck, who chaired the Trustees for decades
and still serves as a Trustee. “They all
showed great leadership and dedication to
the school,” he said. “They were marvelous.”
Kaufmann professes that he worries
about the future of the church. “Many of
the most successful congregations today
seem to be non-denominational mega-
churches, dependent on the charismatic
personality of their pastors,” he said.
“When the pastor leaves the church tends
to go downhill.” The denominational
structures succeeding the former United
Lutheran Church in America have become
more centralized in recent decades, he said.
As a result, synods and many local church
expressions have lost influence, he believes,
“and that has taken people away from
many local area activities that used to
flourish, and so people don’t relate to local
institutions the way they once did.”
He also empathizes with today’s emerg-
ing professional leaders. “There was a time
when pastors engaged in preaching, teach-
ing and visiting ministries were looked up
to by the entire community, by members
and non-members of churches alike,” he re-
calls. For example, he remembers a pastor
who would receive a call from the local
telegraph office whenever a soldier from
the community was killed overseas in war.
And the pastor would go to the family
home to express sympathy and support re-
gardless of whether the family was related
to the pastor’s congregation.
“It’s so different today,” he said. “So
many influences such as technology and
other distractions detract from the
church’s once prevalent social order. It is
really an enigma for pastors to know how
to deal with such challenges.”
His advice to pastors? “Make sure you
really get to know your people,” he said.
“Do for them what they are not able to do
for themselves. I worry sometimes that we
are part of a dying business, but these
things also go in cycles. Technology can be
seen as a negative unless we know how to
deal with it.”
Reflecting back over the years, he recalls
enjoying such challenges as relating to The
Brossman Learning Center and Wiede-
mann contractors, who leaned on him for
his razor-sharp knowledge of the semi-
nary’s operational infrastructure to ease
their way with construction challenges.
He played a major role in key construction
meetings, assisting greatly with problem-
solving.
“I always seemed to find time to do
what was needed,” he said with a smile.
“Sometimes I wish I could have done
more. But except for a few health problems
here and there, I really don’t feel so very
different now than I did when I was 60 or
50 or 40.” ✛
See a video interview with Dr. Kaufmann
at www.Ltsp.edu/Kaufmann.
www.Ltsp.edu 7
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?

WHo are our

WHEN I THINK OF “INTERFAITH DIALOGUE,” several pic-
tures come to mind. Sitting in the common room of my theo-
Moving from Interfaith logical college as a 24-year old student, dressed in jeans and a
t-shirt, in conversation with a visiting maroon robed Tibetan
Dialogue to Interfaith Buddhist monk, the conversation was carried on in polite re-
spect, but little real engagement until the monk began to tell me
Engagement in a World his perceptions of what Christians believed. It was in the differ-
ence and not the commonalities that the real life-giving nature

of Faith of the conversation unfolded.

Another picture — sitting at a table at the Hungarian Pastry
Shop in New York City, ten years later, wearing clericals, in con-
by PROF. STORM SWAIN versation with an elderly Jewish couple whose dress was forget-
table but not their most noticeable bodily addition of the
numbers tattooed on their arms. The conversation was fused
with anger and pain as the man, inspired or incited by my cleri-
cal collar, told me of what the Christian church had done and
not done in the Nazi Germany of their youth. It was in this shar-

8 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu


Neighbors?
ing of suffering that the pain-bearing nature of interfaith dia-
logue unfolded.
Another picture — loitering with (pastoral) intent as a chap-
lain in the Family Assistance Center in the second week follow-
ing the 9/11 destruction of lives in the World Trade Center,
overhearing one of my colleagues minister to the wife of one of
the 9/11 victims as she shared with anger and grief her feelings
towards Muslims whose faith would lead them to perpetrate
such a disaster. The conversation was characterized by his com-
passionately making space for her grief without judgment or de-
fense, as he held her as she cried for her lost love. It was only at
the end that she asked the faith affiliation of the imam who was
her chaplain, whose Muslim skullcap she had not noticed, and
this space of grace opened even more.
These snapshots open up for me the nature of interfaith dia-
logue that has to make space for the other as both similar to and
different from oneself, to the suffering that has often character-
PS ✛ FALL 2009
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?
ized interfaith relations, and to the life-giving nature of real en-
gagement. I find, I think, its basis in theological anthropology.
For me, it is not so much “We all worship the same God” (as this
is an assertion I often wonder most about in conversation with
my Christian sisters and brothers who don’t seem to worship the
God of love I see in Christ, let alone sisters and brothers of other
faiths), but “We are all created by the same God.” The best inter-
faith dialogue I have experienced has come not simply from
owning what we have in common and can agree on, but a real
engagement that listens, understands, and respects our differ-
ences. Likewise, its basis is also in a soteriology that is grounded
in grace and not law, where we acknowledge that the God who
so loves the whole world, in Christ died “once, for all,” (not just
for some) and where we see belief as a gift of grace and not a jus-
tifying work. I am not sure if one can really engage in interfaith
dialogue if one’s goal is conversion of the other to our own faith.
Evangelism in an interfaith context is more appropriately practi-
continued
www.Ltsp.edu 9
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?
cal evangelism, where we are, rather than
have, the message of God’s love.
When I think of the question of “Who
are our neighbors?,” I am reminded that
in Luke’s singular story known as “the
Good Samaritan,” Jesus chose the exam-
ple of another person of offensive belief
who acted out of compassion, to answer
the question of the religious expert seek-
ing to justify himself. Essentially the para-
ble is a narrative of action rather than
dialogue. Perhaps it is in this place of the
active response of love, the “go and do
likewise” space, in the face of suffering
that real interfaith engagement happens.
After 9/11, I was privileged enough to
participate in the ministry of those who
did go and do likewise. The chaplains
that ministered to those affected by the
destruction of the World Trade Center
were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Inter-
faith, Buddhist, and others. The response
to the suffering of those who had lost
family and friends, and those who were
working to recover them or process their
bodies was something that drew us all to-
gether. For many, the compassionate re-
sponse to 9/11 was a deep expression of
their faith, but grounded in an inclusive
view of humanity.
Since that time, I have sat around the
table at New York Disaster Interfaith
Services and on the leadership team at
Disaster Chaplaincy Services with Chris-
tian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and
Interfaith members. It seems like our best
times have been when we acknowledged
our differences, did not deny the perspec-
tive of the other, took responsibility for
our actions, and focused on some plan of
action for those whose suffering we
sought to alleviate in some way. Our
worst times were those points of dialogue
where we were focused on our own needs,
where we held on to pain that we could
10 PS ✛ FALL 2009
have worked through, and when we dis- “others” together, and to advocate for the
trusted each others motives. I have seen in human rights and religious freedoms of
much of this dialogue both how inade- those who are our neighbors in this coun-
quate to the task I am, and how much I try and on this planet. Personally, I think
believe in the need of it. Despite that, Disaster Response is a great place to forge
these organizations have facilitated a reli- those relationships, and the preferable
gious collegiality unprecedented in many time to do so is before a disaster. As is
places. We have managed to build a often the case, when my own words seem
neighborliness around the table and in inadequate, I turn to the words of a great
the field that means we have not simply “Neighbor” which arose in the context of
engaged in interfaith dialogue with one another disaster:
another, but we have built transformative To be Christian does not mean to be reli-
relationships where we have been able to gious in a particular way... but to be a
engage in conversation and compassion- man. It is not some religious act that makes
ate action as people of different faiths. a Christian what he, but participation in
For me, interfaith dialogue is no longer the suffering of God in the life of the world.
an abstract formulation or a once a semes- This is metanoia. It is not in the first in-
ter meeting with another seminary, but stance bothering about one’s own needs,
having a conversation with Amardeep, problems, sins and fears, but allowing one-
Musa, Nakagaki, and Lily as we work to- self to be caught up in the way of Christ
gether. into the Messianic event...
Perhaps it is because my field is Pas-
— D. Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers
toral Theology that I come to this con-
From Prison, July 18, 1944 ✛
versation, not from a doctrinal but a
relational perspective. Perhaps it is be-
The Rev. Dr. Storm Swain is Assistant
cause 9/11 had a deep impact on me, and
Professor of Pastoral Care and Theology
I would rather spend my time on healing
and Director of Anglican Studies. She is
our brokenness rather than breaking our
conducting a senior seminar on the Theol-
wholeness, or perhaps it’s because the
ogy and Practice of Disaster Spiritual
Jesus I read in the Gospels often seems fo-
Care in Spring 2010.
cused on the kind of relationships out-
lined in the parable of the Good
Samaritan. But I think that part of the
Gospel call is not only to be family, sisters
and brothers in Christ, to love our ene-
mies and pray for those who persecute us,
but to be neighbors to those different
from us, especially those overtaken by ad-
versity while on the road.
I would encourage those of you who
feel a greater call to interfaith relations to
do so on a personal basis, to engage in
loving action with those of other faiths if
you have not already, to seek out those
places where you are “other” or we are all
www.Ltsp.edu

From Dearborn and Cairo to Philadelphia: A aculty
Member’s Life-Changing Interfaith Journey
by DR. DAVID D. GRAFTON, Director of Graduate Studies, and Associate Professor
of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations
I GREW UP IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN. My home congregation was
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Dearborn. I was active in a large Anglo,
suburban church. I attended a Lutheran school, Capital University,
in Columbus, Ohio, since it was part of our family’s legacy. It was
also where I met my wife, Karla.
I was interested in Middle Eastern history and cross cultural
studies (for some mysterious reason). I quickly met my mentor/ad-
visor, Dr. Howard Wilson, a Sri Lankan Buddhist art scholar, who
helped change my life. During our initial meeting, he asked me
PS ✛ FALL 2009
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?
f
what I was interested in studying. I told him I was intrigued by the
religions of the Middle East. His response was, “Well, that makes
sense.” I responded, “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, given
that Dearborn has the largest Arab population in the United States,
it makes sense that you are interested in learning more about the
Middle East.”
To which I blankly responded, “It does?”
That I had grown up several miles from the largest Arab popula-
tion in the U.S. and had not realized it dumfounded me. How could
I not have known? My questioning forced me on a journey to
which God was calling me. Dearborn, and the Detroit environs,
were a long time destination for Lebanese and Syrian laborers who
came to work in the factories of the automobile industry (where,
incidentally, my father worked as a line foreman). My future PhD
dissertation choice on the political-religious views of Lebanese
Muslims during the Lebanese Civil War was no accident, I think.
Dr. Wilson guided me through a major in religion and cross-cul-
tural studies during my time at Capital, focusing on Islam and the
Middle East. My studies were derailed only slightly by my relation-
ship with my future wife, Karla, herself a religion major. We mar-
ried before the summer of my senior year. While I finished my BA,
she was already atTrinity Lutheran Seminary, working on a Masters
degree in OldTestament.
Our next stop was Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, where I
continued my interest in theology and cross-cultural studies. In the
midst of my seminary course load I mingled with international stu-
dents on campus, attended Ojibwa sweat lodges, and visited local
mosques, learning about the Iranian intellectual community of the
Twin Cities, many of whom fled Iran during the revolution of 1979. I
also had the opportunity to spend a semester studying African con-
textual theologies at the University of Zimbabwe. It was also dur-
ing my second year when I was selected to be one of the ELCA
International Interns to serve in Cairo, Egypt. It turned out to be a
life-altering experience.
My internship in Cairo was at St. Andrew’s United Church under
the supervision ofThe Rev. Dr. MichaelT. Shelley. In addition to pro-
viding a ministry of Word and Sacrament to expatriates, the con-
gregation offered an educational ministry to refugees from the
Horn of Africa (primarily Ethiopians, Eritreans, Somalians, and later
Sudanese). After serving as intern in Cairo, Karla and I returned to a
continued
www.Ltsp.edu 11
WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?
much colder and greener Minnesota and graduated from seminary.
I then received a call to Zion Lutheran Church in Ridgefield, New
Jersey. It did not take long for me to find out that the Reformed
pastor in town was a long-term missionary of the Reformed Church
in America to Basra, Iraq. After the 1993 bombing of the World
Trade Center, anti-Arabic, anti-Islamic sentiment ran high in north-
ern New Jersey. So, the two of us began an educational ecumeni-
cal program, taking congregations into mosques to learn more
about the Immigrant and African American Muslim communities in
the area.
After several years, I began my PhD in Islamic Studies at the
Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in
Birmingham, England.The faculty of the Centre was evenly repre-
sented by Christian and Muslim instructors.The student body ratio
was similar. Here I met Ahmad, a young member of the Muslim
Brotherhood from Jordan. He was the first “Brother” I met. I was
the first “priest” he met. What a wonderful and challenging journey
we had together.
Once again, the church called, this time asking if I would go back
to St. Andrew’s in Cairo. In addition to providing Word and Sacra-
ment ministry to the good people of St. Andrew’s, the congrega-
tion’s refugee ministry taxed most of my energies. St. Andrew’s
was the only Christian organization in the country serving refugees
that hired Muslims to be on staff.This approach of hiring Christians
and Muslims to serve as administrators and teachers in the child
and adult programs was deliberate. It was our attempt to help cre-
ate a climate in which the dignity of each created person was to be
lifted up and respected — regardless of race, tribe or religion.
In my daily ministry among Christian, Muslim, Marxist, and
African traditional religionists, I found that I was accepted and re-
spected as a “holy man.” This extremely humbling experience pro-
foundly affected my view of the Christian-Muslim encounter. It
reminded me that interfaith encounters happen among individuals
and not by amorphous religious systems.The Christian-Muslim en-
counter is not about systems and traditions, but about real people.
Another part of my ministry in Egypt was teaching. I worked
with the Catholic Orders of Northern Africa, teaching Modern Is-
lamicThought and Inter-Faith Dialogue. We, as Christian missionar-
ies, were engaged in thoughtful reflection about our role as
bearers of Christ in dialogue with Muslim communities. I found
these faithful sisters and brothers, some of whom have faced mar-
tyrdom, to be a great gift to me in my faith life.
In 2004, while on a vacation to the Red Sea, my family and I
were victims of an al-Qa’eda bombing at the Hilton Hotel resort of
Taba. We managed to escape our room, making our way through
smoky darkness and confusion, my daughter bleeding from shrap-
nel, and with nothing but our pajamas on. In the midst of chaotic
12 PS ✛ FALL 2009
rescue operations, we were relocated to another hotel some 20
miles away. In the pristine tiled foyer of another five-star hotel,
now bloodstained from victims, a young Muslim doctor saw to my
daughter, and a young veiled Muslim woman and her husband
provided care for us.This event, which altered our lives forever,
was more than likely perpetrated by a Muslim radical, aimed pri-
marily at Israelis on holiday.
The event was not about me, or even my family. It was bigger
than us. It was about systems and institutions and traditions that
have a hard time seeing individuals as God’s created gifts. We were
caught up in international events beyond our control. It has re-
minded me that so too are those unnamed and unknown Muslim,
Jewish, and Christian families living in the Middle East (and
around the world) who desire nothing other than a healthy and
happy life for themselves and their children. Being spared from
that bombing was a “miracle” in the words of an Egyptian col-
league. “God has something great for you to do.” That “some-
thing” has led me toThe LutheranTheological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP). What that “something” is remains to be seen.
My vocation has led me to meet and engage in conversation
with Muslims from New Jersey; Eritrea; Palestine; Sudan; Washing-
ton, D.C.; Iran; England; Chicago; Lebanon, and Detroit. I have spo-
ken with a Shi’a Hizballah minister from Southern Lebanon,
Pakistani Brits, a fully “niqab-ed” converted American housewife,
a liberal Senegalese sheikh, frustrated Palestinian day-laborers,
chador-wearing female Iranian intellectuals, young al-Azhar schol-
ars, and African American imams. In my ministry in the Middle
East I have also had the privilege of living with the “living stones”
of the church, those descendants of the first disciples of the day of
Pentecost. Whether in Beirut, Cairo, Cyprus, Khartoum, Jerusalem,
Chicago, or Hartford; whether they were Greek Orthodox, Armen-
ian Evangelicals, Syrian Jacobites, Palestinian Lutherans, or Su-
danese Anglicans; I have been forced to confront my own North
American social and Western theological assumptions.
The more I engage in social-historical and theological reflection
on Christianity and Islam in the Middle East, the more I realize that
I am trying to balance on a three-legged stool, the legs of which
are my own American Lutheran origins, my rediscovered Christian
heritage and culture of the Middle East, and the Islamic tradition
with which I am in dialogue.These legs, however, often unseat me,
knocking me to the floor. It is only by the grace of God that I’m ever
able to get back up and try to put the stool back together, so that I
might sit down, resting fully on the gracious love of God — who in
good Middle Eastern fashion — shares with me a cup of tea. ✛
www.Ltsp.edu
 WHO ARE OUR NEIGHBORS?
An LTSP Student’s nexpected Interfaith Journey
Who is “the other?”A Personal Reflection
u
IN AUGUST OF 2003, ALMOSTTWOYEARS AFTERTHE EVENTS OF relationship with Ashgan that part of me was transformed. I learned
9/11 and less than six months after the U.S. entered Iraq, I landed about myself, I learned about her. I learned the importance in letting
in Cairo, Egypt, along with three other young adults to live and go, opening up, and trusting that God works through the people
serve among Egyptians. We were there under the invitation of the we might least expect. ✛
local Protestant church and its relationship with the ELCA’sYoung Elizabeth Nees is a senior MDiv student at LTSP. She is one of
Adults in Global Mission program.The first month of our time in president Philip Krey’s guests on the latest Message from the
Egypt was spent orienting ourselves to the city, the culture, the President online video — Ltspmedia.Ltsp.edu.
people, and the local religious climate. A major part of our stay
Learn more aboutYoung Adults in Global Mission:
was to study the Arabic language at a local school, which we did
www2.elca.org/globalserve/youngadults/index.html
for four hours a day, five days a week, for the first month.
Most of what I remember about studying Arabic was that it was
extremely difficult.The letters that formed words looked like a
child’s haphazard scribble to my untrained eye.The sounds of the
letters — many of which were formed using a strong throat sound
— made me think that people needed to cough every other word. I
was hot, I could understand very little around me, and as the days
wore on and the honeymoon phase wore off, it became more and
more evident that I was the outsider, I was the other.
And if it weren’t for Ashgan, I might have felt like the other, the
outsider, the foreigner, for a very long time. Ashgan was one of our
language teachers, the only Muslim, the only woman on an other-
wise Christian male teaching staff. Ashgan taught us with gentle
yet persistent patience.Through teaching us her native language,
she also taught us about her country, culture, life, and religion.
After our one month intensive course was over, Ashgan contin-
ued to tutor us privately. We met once a week for eleven months.
In addition to teaching us the Arabic language, she taught us how
to make Egyptian food, she told us the best places to shop, and
she cared for us like a favorite aunt cares for her favorite nieces.
Ashgan invited us into her home many times where we would sit,
talk, and eat, drink some tea, talk a bit more. And every several
hours, Ashgan and her sons would excuse themselves from the sit-
ting area to pray, a practice they were committed to five times a
day. Over time, and as our relationship grew, religion entered our
conversation more and more. We would ask questions about her
religion and she would ask about ours. We found areas where we
agreed, and we found areas where we disagreed. I saw Christianity
through new eyes, and I witnessed the devotion and commitment to
God of another person through Ashgan.
It was Ashgan who made me feel fully welcomed. It was with
Ashgan, more than any other person throughout the year, that I felt
the most spiritually connected and comfortable. It was through my

PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 13

BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY

“JESUS WALKS WITH US” THROUGH

BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY LED BY
LTSP EDUCATED PALESTINIAN PASTORS

14 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu


“OUR CHURCHES NEED RIGHT NOW to look around their communities and get to know their neighbors,” said
The Rev. Khader N. El-Yateem ’96, pastor of Salam Arabic Church in Brooklyn, New York. “We live in a fast-changing
world. It is easy for congregations in changing places not to notice what is happening around them. But in these times,
not knowing your neighbors can mean you will not be around for very long. It can mean imminent death.”
In these challenging times and places
of changing context, El-Yateem said God
ultimately decides what ministries sur-
vive. But he passionately reminds congre-
gations willing to embrace change and see
it as an opportunity will find that “Jesus is
walking with them, filling them with hope.”
It would be hard to imagine a commu-
nity anywhere more challenged by change
than the Salam Church neighborhood.
Once inhabited by Scandinavians, it is
now a multicultural haven including peo-
ple of many faiths from around the world.
Salam (originally named Salem) church
includes Palestinian Christians from eight
Middle Eastern nations including Egypt,
Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Jordan, along
with African American and Chinese
members. El-Yateem notes that 40 lan-
guages are commonly spoken in the
neighborhood, and that at the nearby
Lutheran Medical Center, records show
140 languages have been spoken in the
hospital confines.
The ministry out of Salam Arabic is
truly a family affair. El-Yateem’s nephew,
The Rev. Khader S. Khalilia, has been
part of the Salam ministry for several
years, and said of his uncle, “He has been
a true mentor and friend to me. He has
taught me so much about community
ministry and how to be sensitive to a wide
variety of cultures, how we can best help
our neighbors.” Khalilia has studied in
the Theological Education for Emerging
Ministries (TEEM) program at LTSP, an
PS ✛ FALL 2009
initiative that prepares talented prospec-
tive leaders for service in distinctive con-
texts. Both Khalilia and his uncle are
Palestinian Christians who’ve felt a gen-
uine calling to serve in the U.S. Both
agree that it is a considerable challenge to
serve Palestinian immigrants who hail
from different national Middle-Eastern
cultures unfamiliar to them back home
until they come together in the Brooklyn
melting pot. “We have 60 core members
here,” El-Yateem said, “but many more
than that are involved in our ministry. It
can be a kind of revolving door with peo-
“We have a fundamental responsibility to love our neighbor”
ple coming and going and on their way to
another place.”
Because of the immigrant and transi-
tional nature of the congregation, fi-
nances are more of a problem than for
most churches. A strongly entrenched
pre-school program paves the way for
children to gain trust with different cul-
tures at an early age and helps families to
know each other. The school has inter-
faith enrollment, which bridges many
community gaps. El-Yateem explains that
the congregation has two platforms fram-
ing its ministry. “One is spiritual,” he said.
“We conduct worship in two languages
— English and Arabic. We lead Bible
BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY
studies and conduct a Vacation Bible
School. We have youth groups and home
visits with prayer. The other platform is
social. We conduct English as a Second
Language classes. Ninety-five percent of
the learners are Muslims. We have a food
pantry, immigration counseling services,
job training and health fairs, including
free screenings for breast cancer. We also
counsel people on housing needs.” Many
individuals the uncle and nephew meet
are unemployed or lack health insurance.
Hence, the food pantry and health
screening services prove invaluable.
— Khader Khalilia
“These services, “El-Yateem said, “are not
only for our members but also for the
whole community. Unemployment is a
widespread problem here.” El-Yateem is
plainly excited and energized about the
congregation’s ministry even after nearly
15 years of working at it. “It (the time)
goes by so fast. It seems to me like only
two days,” he said.
Khader El-Yateem recalls his grand-
mother reading him Bible stories under
an olive tree in Palestine. She would al-
ways make sure to wake him and get him
to church. Raised in a Greek Orthodox
tradition in his homeland, El-Yateem said
he wasn’t comfortable with it and fell
continued
www.Ltsp.edu 15
BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY
l
Martin uther and Islam
DR. J. PAUL RAJASHEKAR
LUTHER D. REED PROFESSOR of SYSTEMATIC
THEOLOGY and DEAN of the SEMINARY
IT SEEMS ODDTO JUXTAPOSE “LUTHER” AND “ISLAM.”
Luther is associated with the Protestant Reformation and sel-
dom is his name invoked in relation to Islam. But the Islam
Luther knew was the religion of OttomanTurks.TheTurkish
threat to eastern Europe at the time of the Reformation made it
necessary that Luther pay attention to Islam.
Like any medieval thinker, Luther’s understanding of Islam
shares the prejudices of his era. Since the birth of Islam in the
seventh century, Christians have had a great deal of difficulty
understanding Islam, for it claimed to supercede Christianity
(just as Christianity did with Judaism), and accepted Jesus as a
prophet but not as a savior. What’s more, it claimed the Qur’an
as the absolute and ultimate word of God replacing all earlier
forms of revelations.
Added to this theological challenge was the fact theTurks
were at war with northern Europeans, beginning with the Cru-
sades in the 11th century to the rise of Ottoman rulers.The mili-
tary threat ofTurks against the Holy Roman Empire distracted
the Emperor from suppressing the Reformation of the church
Luther initiated.
Luther, therefore, found himself in a context where he could
not avoid addressing the challenge of Islam in his time. He was
critical of the money expended for undertaking crusades against
Muslims in his controversies over indulgences. His criticism
was among the charges in his excommunication from the
Roman Church.
Luther wrote six different treatises on the religion of the
Turks. He was instrumental in the publication of the Latin trans-
lation of the Qur’an in 1543, a book that was banned in Christian
Europe. He even wrote a preface to the printed Latin edition of
the Qur’an.
There is no evidence that Luther ever came into a direct con-
tact withTurks or Muslims. His knowledge of Islam was gleaned
from various sources; a good deal of them were inaccurate or
prejudiced. He, nonetheless, had accumulated a fair amount of
knowledge about Muslim beliefs and practices, and knew about
the fundamental differences between Muslims and Christians.
He observed about the Muslim objections to the doctrine ofTrin-
ity, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the importance of
law in Islam.
Luther, of course, couldn’t help but to evaluate Islam from
the perspective of his favorite doctrine, “justification by faith.”
continued on page 18
16 PS ✛ FALL 2009
under the influence of a Lutheran pastor in later years who helped
him come to terms with his faith. In the early 1990s, he was visited
by a Global Missions consultant from the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, who asked him to consider leading a ministry
with Arabs in the U.S. “I was really having a good life in Palestine,”
he said. “But I decided to pray about it, and I began to think there
could be a role for me to serve as a prophet in exile in the U.S.,
sharing a perspective on the Middle East as I did ministry there.”
He attended seminary at LTSP “because it was conveniently
located to our New York City ministry.” El-Yateem recalls the sem-
inary “as a truly hospitable place with professors welcoming and
supportive of me a I struggled with language, new ideas and val-
ues. The students and staff were the same way.” He remembers a
time when, expected to take an exam, he expressed reservations
about the writing challenges a new language was presenting for
him. “They suggested I record my answers. I was so grateful for
that,” he recalled. Khalilia too felt welcomed and supported in the
LTSP community, although at times, he admitted, “I felt like peo-
“Go and knock on your neighbor’s door... ”
— Khader Khalilia
ple expected me to be an authority on the Middle East. I was the
only Palestinian Christian on campus, and I did not have all the
answers.”
When El-Yateem began his ministry in Brooklyn in the mid-
1990s, he started knocking on doors, he said. He visited area pas-
tors, imams in mosques, rabbis in synagogues, and neighbors of all
kinds, including the police. His message? “I would introduce my-
self as a Palestinian Lutheran Christian and say that if we are going
to make an important difference in the community we are all
going to have to find a way to work together. I had no hidden
agenda. I suggested that we find ways to worship together and
pray together.” As interfaith activities began at Salam and else-
where, El-Yateem said some of his congregants were anxious.
“Some back home had experienced persecution at the hands of
Muslims,” El-Yateem said. But the interfaith collaboration has
worked just fine in the new context and the preschool program.
“Children are learning to play together and trust each other and
that passes on to the adults,” he said. “They are learning they don’t
have to fight each other.”
www.Ltsp.edu
 BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY
“Come and See”
— Khader El-Yateem

The door-to-door campaign and inter-

faith collaboration made all the differ-
ence when the events of 9/11 decimated
the community. The police called El-Ya-
teem and said, “Our advice is to close the
church and go home.” They were gen-
uinely concerned, he said, that the con-
gregation could become a target of
profiling in the aftermath of the attacks.
“We went to our homes, but then I
prayed and thought about it. I said to my-
self we are not going to live in fear at a
time like this. We need to be working to-
gether in response to the tragedy.”
The next night, 160 spiritual and other
leaders met at Salam Church to discuss
the tragic events and their responses to it.
They began a series of prayer marches
that would start at Salam Church with
about 60 persons, ending up in the park
with 500 or more interfaith marchers
who would pray together. “It turned out
to be a powerful and inspirational witness
in the face of of some community hate
speeches,” El-Yateem said.
In the aftermath of 9/11, El-Yateem
and Khalilia say interfaith dialogue in
each community is an important and
worthwhile initiative. “Knock on the
door of your neighboring synagogue or
mosque. Be sincere and open to challeng-
ing others and being challenged yourself.
You will find yourself being welcomed,”
Khalilia said. “Dialogue is an important
tool,” added El-Yateem. “But it is impor-
tant to be genuine and serious. Dialogue
is not some kind of trendy new toy. It is
important to be open and willing to have
your reality changed.” In Brooklyn, uncle
and nephew agree walls and stereotypes
have been removed thanks to such attitudes.
Both men encourage would-be profes-
sional leaders to be open to a call and be
continued

PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 17

BROOKLYN INTERFAITH MINISTRY

The Alcoran of Mahomet

Alexander Ross, translator.
London, Printed, Anno Dom. willing to be challenged by today’s exciting contexts for ministry.
“Being a pastor today is not easy,” El-Yateem said. “But the joy that
1649. comes with seeing how you can touch people’s lives and walk with
them through their challenges and sorrows is truly rewarding. You
OVERTHEYEARS,THE KRAUTH MEMORIAL LIBRARY has
benefited from book donations from its alumni and friends. One
can provide opportunities for people to have faith, to teach them
special anonymous gift was the first translation of the Qur’an about how Jesus walks with us to make us strong and able to sur-
(Koran) into English by Alexander Ross (1592-1654). It remains a vive. We need people to serve as leaders who are open to the chal-
very special book because only 69 libraries in the United States lenges within their communities, not only inside the church but in
have a copy. Of that number, only four are in seminaries. the world. Jesus is with us all of the time, and that gives us the
The story of how this book came to be printed is equally hope we need even in the hardest of times.” ✛
fascinating. At the time of its publication, 1649, printers only
published books that would sell. In other words, when Alexander
The Rev. Khader Khalilia accepted a call to join the staff of St.
Ross approached a printer with his text, that printer agreed to Andrew’s Lutheran Church, San Mateo, CA, as Assistant Pastor.
publish it because he knew that English readers were interested
To view an interview with El-Yateem and Khalilia, go to
enough in Islam and its sacred text that they would purchase
www.Ltsp.edu/salamchurch.
copies of the book. What is even more amazing is that he
believed English readers would settle for a translation of a
translation, as Ross did not read Arabic and had to rely on the
French edition of Andre Du Ryer (1647). Ross had hoped for royal
support of the project, but when he had finished his translation
Charles I had been executed and England was a Commonwealth.
That complicated matters, — when word of the book’s
publication reached the new Council of State, the printer and the
printed copies were seized. Ross was summoned to appear
before the Council. He argued his case well, and the book was
released on May 7, 1649. It was an instant bestseller, and the Martin Luther and Islam, continued from page 16
printer had to print a second run that same year. Despite its
From this doctrinal perspective, he found Islam wanting. It appeared
limitations, Ross’s text would remain the English translation of
to him as a religion of law rather than of grace and therefore a reli-
the Qur’an for the next 85 years, being replaced in 1734 by
gion of “good works.”
George Sales’ translation. At some point in its history, our copy
Despite these differences, Luther was unwilling to advocate the
crossed the Atlantic in someone’s luggage and eventually came
destruction of Islam or Muslims nor undertake crusades or Holy
to the Rare Book Room ofThe LutheranTheological Seminary
wars against them. He believed that war in general is against the
at Philadelphia.
teaching of Christ, and inciting people to go to war againstTurks is
contrary to Christ’s doctrine and name. “Christians shall not resist
evil, fight, or quarrel, nor take revenge or insist on rights” (Luther’s
Works 46:165).
Luther inherited a certain image of Islam and in many respects
reiterated that image, adding some of his own views, albeit from a
Reformation perspective. If Luther had had at his disposal the nec-
essary information, literature, and linguistic competence, he perhaps
would have done all he could to promote a better understanding of
Islam, despite his cultural prejudice. Nonetheless, we may take a
cue from Luther and seek to understand Islam in its own terms and
not succumb to inherited prejudices and political fears in our en-
counter with contemporary Islam or the Muslim world.

18 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu


Alumnus Romeo Dabee
Enters a New Ministry
at a Long Island Church
with a Global Vision
LTSP ALUMNUS THE REV. ROMEO
DABEE, MDiv, ’05, fondly recalls grow-
ing up in the South American nation of
Guyana as part of a strong Luther League
and youth ministry program. He has been
powerfully influenced by his parents and
pastors who taught him about the Chris-
tian faith.
“During a youth exchange event I
heard theologian Tony Campolo say to
our gathering, ‘After what God has done
for me, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do
for him,’” Dabee recalled. Campolo’s
words nagged at him for six or seven
years. Then, Professor Winston Persaud
of Wartburg Seminary and native of
Guyana came to an annual youth camp
program in Guyana. “He asked me, ‘How
are things? Where is God leading you?’”
Dabee remembered. “His probing helped
me discern my calling to become a pastor.”
He earned a college degree, then began
studying at The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) in
2001. Dabee, a New Yorker, was a resi-
dent-commuter to the school. “It wasn’t
easy leaving Rozelle, my new wife, to
come from New York to seminary each
week,” he remembered. Rozelle, now a
public school teacher in New York City,
worked with her new husband at “keep-
ing each other accountable to our goals,”
he said.
He felt a lot of support from the cam-
pus community in Philadelphia too.
PS ✛ FALL 2009
African American scholar John
Miller, now a pastor in Los An-
geles, “took me under his wing.”
Now-retired Professor Gordon
Lathrop “taught me so person-
ally about the grace-filled and
fulfilling aspects of worship.
His teaching was a fundamental
piece of my development, and I
thank God for that.” Professor Timothy
Wengert’s teaching about the Lutheran
Confessions and Professor Robin Matti-
son’s instruction about Greek have also
been foundational. “Their teaching
shapes my sermons today,” he said. And
Dr. Charles Leonard, who directs Con-
textual Education at LTSP, persuaded
him to serve as an intern at an all-white
congregation in Babylon, New York. “I
really didn’t want to go there,” Dabee
said. “But now I can see and understand
his insight. I’m so grateful for his wisdom.”
And all that hard work and prepara-
tion led Dabee to a new call, serving
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, a congrega-
tion in New Hyde Park, New York, “one
of the first villages beyond the New York
City border,” adjoining the Borough of
Queens.
The congregation is part of a pictur-
esque, residential blue-collar community
steeped in German and Scandinavian roots.
Dabee notes that many New Hyde Park
residents serve as New York City fire-
fighters and police officers, and medical
G LO B A L V I S I O N
professionals at neighboring hospitals.
The community is also becoming richly
diverse, with many newer Asian residents.
Gloria Dei is 95 percent comprised of
white members.
“That members of this congregation
would call me as their pastor says much
about their commitment to a truly global
church and their commitment to an in-
clusive ministry,” Dabee noted. He said
the first year at Gloria Dei has focused
him on understanding the history of the
congregation and getting to know well
the people who have shaped the develop-
ment of a ministry with a wonderful
physical plant, but with a history of finan-
cial challenges that about 10 years ago
forced them to sell the church parsonage.
Recently, the church acquired a new one
that Romeo and Rozelle have moved into.
Other hardships have included some
members losing jobs due to the state of
the economy. “But that reality hasn’t
shaken the congregation’s focus on mis-
sion,” Dabee said. “You can really sense
the congregation’s commitment and en-
continued
www.Ltsp.edu 19
G LO B A L V I S I O N

thusiasm to stewardship.” He noted that,
among other things, the church offers vig-
orous financial support to mission work
in Liberia, and now India. The 67-year-
old congregation — organized in 1942 —
has also had to come to terms with the
loss through death of some original charter
members since Dabee began his ministry.
Other strengths and opportunities?
The congregation has a nursery school
that has been a community stronghold
for 35 years, and which has helped to
shape both the neighborhood and the
congregation, he said. Dabee explains
that the congregation’s surviving financial
hardship is a plus. It also has members of
diverse ages in its midst. “There is just
tremendous growth potential here,” he
said. He feels parishioners are visionary
with support for social ministry, a food
pantry, and outreach to the community.
Dabee has a core of six youth who regu-
larly meet in the congregation’s gymnasium.
He senses the church is powerfully
aware of the need to “do things differ-
ently” now as compared to the past. He
figures his management experience in ac-
counting, quality assurance, planning,
and communications, gleaned from un-
dergraduate studies and daily work before
seminary, will help the congregation
greatly as he works to “inspire, teach, and
equip,” as he puts it. “Having seminary
training, but also having been involved
with personnel management, is really
helping me with the challenges, and I
think it will benefit the congregation,” he
said. The values instilled in the youth
ministry he experienced growing up are
also a critical factor.
And as he strives, he recalls the words
of his first call mentor Pastor Robert Fritch,
who serves Our Saviour Lutheran Church
in Jamaica, New York. “In ministry he
taught me, ‘You gotta have to wanna,’” he
said with a smile. “You have to have your
heart in ministry and understand you
may not be around long enough to see all
the fruits that bear testimony in the lives
of the people you serve.”
It will all happen in God’s time, and it
will take prayer and patience on our part,
he said. ✛

Inspiring Service
Founded in 1847 as a Lutheran college, Carthage highly
values its affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America. Our liberal arts curriculum includes courses
that explore and celebrate religion and spirituality.
Faith-oriented programs and student religious organizations
offer students many opportunities to strengthen their faith
as they discover how they can serve others in the Church
and in the world.

800-351-4058
carthage.edu/ministry
20 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu
ALUMNI NEWS✛
Alumni Spring Convocation 2010
The Rev. Judith VanOsdol, LTSP April 26 to 28, 2010

alumni
2009 Distinguished Alumnus/a
Ecology
and
Theology
Reunion Class Anniversaries
celebrated at Spring Convocation:
1935,1940, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960,
1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985,
1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009

SPRIN CONVOCATION
Our presenter is The Rev. Dr. H. Paul
Santmire, ’60, whose pioneering life
work and writing has focused on the
growing environmental crisis.
Workshops will include theological
OUR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS/A 2009, The Rev. Judith VanOsdol-Hansen, ’87, reflections and practical presentations
received her award at the 2009 Spring Convocation Alumni Banquet on April 29, 2009.

g
for “greening” your congregations.
She has had an extraordinary ministry over the last 22 years, 14 of which has been as a
pastor/missionary in Argentina. Look for Alumni Spring Convocation
After graduating from LTSP, she spent two years as associate pastor of St. Paul’s Evan- 2010 registration material in your mail
gelical Lutheran Church in Pittsford, New York. Next came several years as ELCA pas- in early February and online at
tor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, an inner-city church with a substantial Latino www.Ltsp.edu/convocation10.
community. In 1994, she became a pastor/missionary for global mission for ELCA,
Nominations for the Distinguished
serving a number of parishes and missions in Argentina as part of the United Evangelical
Alumnus/a Award 2010 must be in by
Lutheran Church of Argentina and Uruguay. Since 2002, she has also been continental
December 31, 2009. The award will be
director for women’s ministries and gender justice with the Latin American Council of
given at the Alumni Banquet on
Churches (CLAI), focusing on such issues as economic justice, human rights, and over-
Tuesday evening, April 27, 2010. Please
coming violence.
fill out enclosed form, email
Recently, she has become a mission developer of El Milagro/The Miracle Lutheran
information to eanderson@Ltsp.edu, or
Church in Minneapolis, and continues to be consultant for the United Nations con-
nominate online at www.Ltsp.edu/
cerning women’s gender/poverty/justice issues.
nomination.

www.Ltsp.edu/convocation10

Convocation 09 photos, stories, and video

Thanks to a grant from the Lilly Foundation to the American Theological of lectures and more online at
Library Association (ATLA), ATLASerials is now available to all alumni. www.Ltsp.edu/convocation09
ATLASerials databases provide extensive indexing of theological journals
as well as full text to key periodicals. Please contact Ellen Anderson at
eanderson@Ltsp.edu for a user id and password.

PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 21

ALUMNI NEWS✛
classNOTES
The Rev. Dr. Michael Linderman, MDiv ’95,
completed his PhD in South Asia Regional
Studies at the University of Pennsylvania in
May, 2009, and is now Assistant Professor of
South Asian Civilization and Religions at
Seton Hall University. In recognition of this,
the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA extended
to Linderman Call to Specialized Ministry in
Education, effective fall, 2008.
The Rev. Dr. Jessicah L.K.
Duckworth, MDiv ’03, re-
ceived her PhD in Practical
Theology in May, 2009, from
PrincetonTheological Semi-
nary. Her dissertation was
entitled, “Cruciform Catech-
esis: A PracticalTheology of Welcoming
Newcomers for Churches Living Under aThe-
ology of the Cross.” She is Assistant Professor
of Christian Formation andTeaching at Wes-
leyTheological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
The Rev. Paul Miller, MDiv ‘06, was installed
on October 18 as pastor of
St.
Andrew Lutheran Church at
Canyon Lake,TX.
firstCALLS
The Rev. Chris T.K. Duckworth, MDiv, ’02,
received a first call at Resurrection Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Arlington, VA, serving as
Associate Pastor. He was ordained Decem-
ber 20, 2008.
The Rev. Jeffrey Goodman,
STM ’08, received a call to
serve as pastor at Salem
Evangelical Lutheran Church,
Ephrata, PA.
The Rev. Joseph McGarry, MDiv ’08, received
a call, June 29, 2008, to St. Marks Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church, Baldwinsville NY. He
was ordained August 1, 2008.
The Rev. Emilie Theobald-
Rowlands, MDiv ’08, was
called as pastor of Grace
Lutheran Church, Crescent,
PA, and Resurrection
Lutheran Church, Oakdale,
PA. Both are located near
the Pittsburgh International Airport. She was
ordained June 21, 2008, at the Southwestern
PA synod assembly.

The Rev. Nancy J. Beckwith,

JohnWeit, MAR, ’09, has MDiv, ’09, has been called
accepted the position of Di- as Pastor to Immanuel
rector of Music and Organist, Lutheran Church in Meriden,
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran CT. She was ordained Sep-
Church,Worcester, MA. tember 20, 2009.

The Rev. Jeanne Gay, MDiv ’09, was or-

Contact Ellen Anderson at eander-
son@Ltsp.edu and let us know your
latest news for the next issue of PS!
dained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament
on Sunday, September 13, 2009, at Grace
Presbyterian Church in Jenkintown, PA. She
has been called to Firelands Presbyterian
Church in Port Clinton, OH.

The Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) is a library of over 10,000 theological
thesis/dissertation titles representing research from as many as 70 different institutions. Titles
may be ordered online through the TREN search and order system. Also available are
conference papers presented at annual meetings of several academic societies.
Our new Google Scholar search box, www.tren.com/e-docs/search.cfm, is up and running
which lists titles based on the content of the document and not simply keywords in the
document title.
Visit www.tren.com, or email Robert Jones at rwjones@tren.com, or call 1.800.334.8736.

22 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu

 faculty/staff

NEWS✛NOTES Professor Jon Pahl travels

FACULTY/STAFF ACTIVITIES
Texts Trialogue held at LTSP;
May, 2009: attended the Region
k
to enya
VII Life Long Learning Network,
Camp Koinonia, NY; attended
Multi-Faith Education symposium
at Auburn Theological Seminary,
NY; published: Piety, Politics and
Power: Lutherans Encountering
Islam in the Middle East (Wipf
and Stock, 2009), “Reading Their
Book of Faith: North American
Muslims and their Interpretations
of the Qur’an in the Post 9/11
Era,” 48/3 2009, Dialog.

DR. WIL GAFNEY Associate

Professor of Hebrew and the
Scriptures of Israel June, 2009:
traveled to Turkey with Dialogue
Forum, (see sidebar, pg. 24); ser-
mon entitled, “Of Dreams and
Their Dreamers: A Sermonic Re-
flection on the Obama Presi-
dency” included in: The Audacity
of Faith: Christian Leaders Reflect
on the Election of Barack Obama
Marvin A. McMickle, editor
( Judson Press 2008).
DR. DAVID D. GRAFTON
Director of Graduate Studies
Associate Professor of Islamic
Studies and Christian-Muslim
Relations March, 2009: attended
the New Jersey Synod Congrega-
tional Ministries Event; April,
2009: presented on “Contempo-
rary Islam in the Middle East,” at
Hershey’s Mill; emceed Sacred
DR. ERIK M. HEEN Professor of
NewTestament and Greek publi-
cations: Hebrew Texts from the
Church Fathers, Ancient Christian
Devotional: A Year of Weekly Read-
ings, Lectionary Cycle C., edited by
Cindy Crosby (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2009), 26, 28,
187, 189, 192, 197, 198, 202, 204;
“Hebrews: Book Introduction and
Study Notes,” in Lutheran Study
Bible: New Revised Standard Edi-
tion (Minneapolis: Augsburg
Fortress, 2009), 1974-1991; Feb-
ruary, 2009: presented, “Biblical
Resources for a Conversation
about Homosexuality,” LTSP
Convocation; “LTSP: Lutheran
and Ecumenical,” Eastern Cluster
Joint Faculty Retreat (ELCA), St.
Mary’s Seminary. Baltimore, MD;
March, 2009: Workshop Facilita-
tor, “Preaching the Texts of Year B,
2009: Easter Through Pentecost.”
continued
Professor Jon Pahl interacts with primary students from the Turkish Light Acad-
emy, Nairobi, Kenya.
IN JUNE 2009, PROFESSOR JON PAHL TRAVELED to
Kampala, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya, at the invitation of
the Turkish Community Association of Uganda. In Kam-
pala, Prof. Pahl was keynote speaker at the International Di-
alogue Dinner on Love and Tolerance, on the topic, “The
Challenge for Youth.” Prof. Pahl’s talk described the chal-
lenge facing young people across religious traditions to turn
faith teachings and practices away from violence (as either
militarism or terrorism), and toward peacemaking and rec-
onciliation. Included in the audience were ministers of the
government of Uganda, members of the Ugandan Parlia-
ment, religious leaders, businessmen and women, diplomats,
and other dignitaries. Prof. Pahl’s talk was based upon a pres-
entation he made in March for a “Friendship Dinner” spon-
sored by the Turkish community in Pittsburgh.
While in Uganda and Kenya, Prof. Pahl also visited sev-
eral schools sponsored by members of the Gülen movement.
The Gülen movement is a progressive Muslim movement
centered in Turkey that has established schools around the
world dedicated to scientific education and interreligious di-
alogue. Members of the movement have been inspired by the
teachings of M. Fethullah Gülen, voted the world’s top pub-
lic intellectual in 2008 by Foreign Policy magazine.
Gülen’s most widely read work in English is entitled
Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance (The
Light, 2006).

PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 23

 faculty/staff

NEWS✛NOTES
p rofessor Wil Gafney:
FACULTY/STAFF ACTIVITIES continued
Notes fromTurkey

Eastern Nassau Conference,

DR. MELINDA A. QUIVIK
Metro NY Synod of the ELCA;
Associate Professor of Christian
April, 2009: workshop leader,
Assembly June/July, 2009:
“Philippians: The Anchor Com-
presided and preached, and led
mentary (2008) in the Light of
Professor Wil Gafney (standing, sixth from left), and traveling companions worship and preaching reflection
Jack Reumann’s Life and Work as
from the Dialog Forum, in front of the Blue Mosque, in Turkey. groups at two one-week Worship
a Teacher of the Church,” LTSP;
and Music conferences at Mon-
speaker, “In Memory and Celebra-
PROFESSOR WIL GAFNEY TRAVELED, in June 2009, to tion of John Reumann,” The
treat Conference Center, in North
Turkey with Philadelphia Dialog Forum, a group dedicated to Carolina sponsored by the Presby-
Alumni/ae Association Annual
terian Association of Musicians;
inter-religious dialogue in general and introducing Jewish and Spring Convocation Banquet,
October, 2009: Authored Serving
Christian clergy and academics in the West to the diversity of Is- LTSP; May, 2009: presented
the Word: Preaching in Worship
(with James Nestigen and Jon
lamic thought, religious practice and cultural expression. The (Elements of Preaching) (Fortress
Pahl) “Focus on Scripture,” Sex
Dialog Forum has roots in the Turkish-American diaspora and in Press, 2009).
and the Synod:Perspectives on
Philadelphia is associated with student and community organi- Homosexuality in Scripture and
DR. NELSON RIVERA Associate
zations on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Ministry, Seeger’s Union, Muhlen-
Professor, SystematicTheology
berg College, Allentown, PA; July,
and Hispanic Ministry; Director,
2009: presented, “The ELCA and
Our trip to Turkey allowed us to experience the world’s only ‘The Theological Investigation of
Latino Concentration February
Islamic democracy, Turkey, which is also a secular and socialist 2009: Presented sermon com-
Scripture’: Past, Present, and Fu-
memorating the 200th anniversary
nation. Turkey is culturally Muslim, there are mosques on ture,” four sessions during “Teach-
of Charles Darwin’s birthday,
every corner, and they outnumber churches and synagogues. ing a Living and Active Word,”
LTSP Seminary Chapel; April,
The Summer Institute for Min-
Yet Turkey is secular, there is no state religion. 2009: Lectured on the “Vocation
istry 2009, Lutheran Theological
I was particularly interested in the number of ways in which of Scientists and Theologians” as
Seminary at Gettysburg.
Turkey intersects biblical and Christian history. In the Scrip- part of the Public Theology Series
at LTSP.
tures of Israel, the ancient Hittite Empire where Abraham first
buried Sarah (Genesis 23), where Abraham was later buried DR. J. JAYAKIRAN SEBASTIAN
(Genesis 25:7-9), where Esau married local girls (Genesis H. George Anderson Professor
26:34 and 36:2), and the country of origin of Uriah whom of Mission and Cultures; Direc-
tor, Multicultural Mission Re-
David had killed for his wife (2 Samuel 11) are located in mod- source Center attended 2009
ern Turkey. The ancient city of Ephesus to whom Paul directed award ceremony and colloquium
his Ephesian letter is located in Turkey as are the caves of Cap- held in Heidelberg, Germany, as a
podochia where early Christians fled persecution. Ancient board member and evaluator of
the John Templeton Award for
Anatolia is also synonymous with Turkey as are Seljuk and
Theological Promise; March,
Ottoman Empires. 2009: keynote speaker, Ecumeni-
continued on page 26 cal Christian Fellowship of New
continued

24 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu

emmett Nixon’s Campus Lesson:
“You show people love and
respect by the way you cook
for them.”
AS LTSP’S COOK, HE HAS PASSED ALONG WHAT HE FIRST
LEARNED FROM HIS PARENTS: savory home-made black bean,
cream of mushroom, and minestrone soups. Potato salad. Cole
slaw. Succulent ribs featuring an original sauce and meat that falls
off the bone. All served atThe LutheranTheological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP) with a gracious smile and warm greeting.
That’s all thanks to Emmett Nixon, seminary cook. For 30 years
he’s been preparing and often serving meals at the 1792 refectory
or at other points on campus — the president’s front lawn at a pic-
nic, in Benbow Hall ofThe Brossman Center. And alumni, staff, fac-
ulty, and seminarians alike all think Emmett to be as much of an
institution as the seminary is itself. (Next to John Kaufmann, regis-
trar emeritus, he’s the senior working presence on campus).You
just need to mention Emmett’s name to them if they don’t mention
his first. And at the thought of Emmett they reveal a smile just like his.
Rail thin and as energetic as ever at age 70, Emmett Nixon drives
or takes public transit every day from Philadelphia’s Logan section
to LTSP. And he doesn’t miss a beat.
Emmett grew up in North Philadelphia, the eighth of 11 children,
five of whom were boys. His father, Julie, was a hard-working chef
for Horn & Hardart. His mother, Hattie, was a stay-at-home mom.
Both parents taught him something about cooking, but his dad only
cooked at home on Christmas for a big family gathering “to give
Mom a break,” he remembered. He learned a lot about cooking
from his mom.
Favorite delicacies? “Cakes, pies, stews, everything,” he recalled
with the patented smile. He was especially fond of salmon and rice
with home-made biscuits.
Cooking runs in the family. His father’s brothers were chefs. His
brother once cooked at the Italian Riviera Restaurant in Philadel-
phia’sTorresdale section. His sister, Amelia, today runs Patterson’s
Palace, a vegetarian restaurant nearTemple University.
Emmett began his career running an eaterie specializing in fish
and chips and other home-made meals.Then he decided to seek
other work. An agency sent him for a day to the seminary refectory.
He worked with a cook named Cliff. Emmett decided “right away I
liked the seminary. I just felt at home here.” Eventually Cliff fell ill
and decided to step down. Emmett took his place. He’s worked at
PS ✛ FALL 2009
the school since. “I’ve always felt loved and respected by the stu-
dents, staff, and faculty — right from the beginning,” he said.
Could it be because of what he first learned at home?
What he learned was crystal clear. “Dad put a roof over our
heads and worked hard,” Emmett said. “My mother had dinner on
the table every night at 5 o’clock. At each meal we prayed and gave
thanks to God. And I was taught that one way you respect God is to
respect everyone you come in contact with. I was taught that mak-
ing meals that you serve to others is a way of showing other people
love and respect.” The teaching certainly stuck. In interviews with
past and present students, Emmett is often mentioned.
Emmett Nixon grew up in a Christian home and is now a Mus-
lim. He’s formed lasting relationships with many in the seminary
community. And he enjoys conversations with students at a favorite
table in the refectory at lunchtime. In the past, several students
have asked him to discuss the Islamic faith with them, and he cher-
ishes such conversations.
Emmett’s wife, Earlie, fell ill in the early 1980s and died. He’s the
father of five adult sons and 20 grandchildren.
His favorite seminary memories include the dedication ofThe
Brossman Learning Center a few years ago, the installations of
president Philip Krey, and deans Faith Rohrbaugh Burgess, James
Echols, and Paul Rajashekar, and a friendship with colleague Lois
LaCroix, executive assistant to the president.
What would Emmett Nixon like to say to the seminary commu-
nity and those who’ve known him over the years, or to anyone
thinking of studying at a school of theology?
“I’d tell them that the seminary is truly a safe place to study, that
it is a community filled with love and understanding, and if you are
looking for a chance to learn at a place like that, you would be mak-
ing a wise choice to come here.”
“I know I’m not planning to go anywhere soon!” he chuckled.
www.Ltsp.edu 25
 faculty/staff

NEWS✛NOTES
Notes from Turkey continued FACULTY/STAFF ACTIVITIES continued
Jersey, 2009 World Day of Prayer,
Turkey is a beautiful at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic
Church, Garfield, NJ, theme: “In
country, roughly the size of Christ there are many members
Texas, and has the climate yet one body”; resource person,
variation of California, District Resource Day of the Gate-
from ski slopes to beaches. Way North District of the Greater
New Jersey Conference of the
Our itinerary included In- United Methodist Church, at
stanbul (formerly Constan- Emanuel Methodist Church,
tinople) including the Springfield, NJ, theme: “Mission
world famous Blue Mosque and Ministry in a Global Society”;
May, 2009: resource person, Dis-
and Hagia Sophia, once a
trict Resource Day of the Raritan
church, then a mosque, Valley District of the Greater New
now a museum, and the Jersey Conference of the United DR.TIMOTHY J. WENGERT
ruins of Ephesus, Antalia, Kona, Cappodochia and Kaisere. Methodist Church, at the United Ministerium of Pennsylvania
Methodist Church of Bound Professor of the History of Chris-
We were warmly hosted by local families. Our hosts had in tianity authored: Martin Luther’s
Brook, NJ, theme: “The Bible in
common support for the social and educational movement of Context — Learning from the Catechisms: Forming the Faith,
M. Fethullah Gülen, who believes that a world-class education World Church”; evaluator and (Fortress Press, 2009); edited:
includes global ethical, communal, and family values along participant, John Templeton The Pastoral Luther: Essays on
Award for Theological Promise Martin Luther’s Practical Theol-
with a curriculum that emphasizes history, science, mathemat-
2009 and Colloquium at the In- ogy, (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publish-
ics, and the Turkish language. ing Co., 2009); April, 2009: Spoke
ternationales Wissenschaftsforum,
It was a wonderful experience, and I would love to go Heidelberg, Germany; faculty on Luther’s use of Scripture at the
again. Our hosts made it clear that they would love to facili- mentor, Asian Theological Sum- Lutheran Theological Seminary
tate a seminary trip at some point in the future. mer Institute 2009, LTSP; June, Saskatoon; July, 2009: visiting re-
2009: presented “Public Theology searcher at Ecumenical Institute,
and the Challenges of Pastoral Strasbourg, France; participated in
Ministry and Praxis,” at DMin program review on behalf of the
Colloquium I & II, LTSP; re- Mainz Academy of Sciences for a
source person and preacher, 23rd project at the University of Mainz
Church of South India Family and and its Institute for European
Youth Conference, Somerset, NJ; History.
published “The Sand Around
Lake Geneva: Reformed Legacy in
Another Land, Another Time,” in
Reformed World, Vol. 58, No. 4
(December 2008), pp. 257 – 262;
review article on God and Global-
ization: Volume 4: Globalization
and Grace, by Max L. Stackhouse,
in International Journal of Public
Theology, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2009),
pp. 256-262.

Dr. Kiran Sebastian (top row, fifth from left), at Heidelberg castle with the rep-
resentatives of the board/evaluators and winners of the 2009 John Templeton
Award for Theological Promise. The award ceremony and colloquium was held
in Heidelberg, Germany, in May of 2009.

26 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu

PASSAGES
Robert E. Bornemann, OldTestament
Professor and Music Aficionado
THE REV. DR. ROBERT E. BORNEMANN,
professor of Hebrew and Old Testament
for 41 years at The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), and di-
rector of the seminary choir from 1955 to
1990, died Sunday, May 3, 2009, of lung
cancer at his home in Philadelphia’s East
Mount Airy section. He was 85.
He died peacefully, and his wife Agnes
and his family were able to be with him.
His illness had been announced at the re-
cent Spring Convocation at LTSP, and a
number of his students who had returned
to the area for convocation were able to
visit Dr. Bornemann while they were here.
Dr. Bornemann was a remarkably gifted
musician who played the piano, recorder,
organ, and harpsichord. He built two
harpsichords from kits and composed
PS ✛ FALL 2009
many songs and liturgical settings. While
directing the seminary choir, he was
known for staging performing editions of
little-known or unknown dramatic musical
works from the thirteenth century, and or-
ganized the seminary’s currently popular
Advent Vespers series.
“As a young instructor at the seminary, I
was invited by Dr. Bornemann to sit in on
his beloved course, ‘The Church, Music
and the Arts,’” recalled LTSP president
Philip D.W. Krey. “It was among the finest
courses I have ever taken. He was a master-
ful teacher.” Bornemann for 30 years. “No one on the
“I think of Bob Bornemann as a true faculty had a better rapport with students
renaissance man because he had so many than Bob. He especially loved the lan-
varied interests,” said The Rev. Dr. Jack guages of antiquity and music.”
White, Hagan Emeritus Professor of Pas- Dr. Bornemann participated in several
toral Care at LTSP who taught with Dr. noteworthy archeological digs in Israel
continued
www.Ltsp.edu 27
 faculty/staff
NEWS✛NOTES
over a 25-year period. “The emphasis on
archeology is not to prove that the Bible is
either right or wrong,” he told the semi-
nary’s PS Magazine upon returning from
his last Middle East digging experience.
“It’s a study that makes scripture come
alive. Archeology shows us the dynamics
of how and the way people lived.” He was
also active in a variety of Jewish-Christian
dialogues.
Though Dr. Bornemann officially re-
tired from his post as the Anna Burkhalter
Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew in
1994, his wife of 63 years, Agnes, said,
“Bob never really retired.” He occasionally
taught Old Testament courses at the semi-
nary, and was planning a course to be
taught this year in the Graduate Religious
Studies Program at La Salle University,
where he had served as a visiting professor
since 1977.
In addition to his spouse, Dr. Borne-
mann is survived by John and Collette
Bornemann of Hyde Park, VT; Annamary
and Tom Anderson, of Craftsbury, VT;
Elizabeth and Stanley Kozakowski of Mil-
ford, NJ; and Kate and Alan Ayers of Seat-
tle, WA; eight grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.
Memorial gifts may be made to the
Robert Bornemann Fund at LTSP, 7301
Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
19119 or online at www.Ltsp.edu/give.
A complete article about Prof. Bornemann,
with comments from colleagues and stu-
dents, and photos, can be found on the Web
at www.Ltsp.edu/bornemann.
28 PS ✛ FALL 2009
IN MEMORIAM
The Rev. ArnoldTiemeyer,
visitation pastor at Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran
Church, Lansdale, PA,
died May 31, 2009. During
his 45 years of ordained
ministry, Pastor Tiemeyer
worked continuously to
bridge community divi-
sions over social and civil rights rooted in
economic circumstance, race and ethnicity,
gender, or sexual orientation.
In 1985, Pastor Tiemeyer was named presi-
dent of Lutheran Home at Germantown
(LHG). During his decade at LHG, the or-
ganization expanded its care services with
special needs children, home services to
older adults, and managed care consulting
services across Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey, constructed a new care facility at Ger-
mantown Home, and opened the Betak
facility, the first AIDS hospice in Philadel-
phia during the early 1990s.
The Rev. Robert Z. Wuchter, BD, ’45, STM, ’49
of Wall, NJ, died May 25, 2009. He was or-
dained in January of 1945. Pastor Wuchter
began his ministry at Grace Lutheran Church in
Somers Point, N.J, where he served for five
years. He then came to Holy Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Manasquan in 1950 and
served as pastor until his retirement in 1985.
He was a president of the N.J. Conference of
the Ministerium, the Central Conference of
N.J. Synod, dean of the Central District of N.J.
Synod, and also served on the Executive Board
of the N.J. Synod, on the Examining, Vocations
and Division of Professional Ministry Committees.
The Rev. Walter O. Huegel, MDiv, ‘55, Allen-
town, PA, formerly of New Hartford,NY, died
July 12, 2009. He earned masters degrees
from Syracuse University and The Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He
served as a Lutheran pastor from 1955-1973 at
St. Stephens Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, NY;
Christ Lutheran Church, Little Falls, NY; and
Zion Lutheran Church, New Hartford, NY.
The Rev. Ralph F. Eberle, STM, ’60, died May
1, 2009. Pastor Eberle was ordained in 1955.
Following his ordination, Pastor Eberle served
Central Lutheran Church, Conshohocken (1955-
1958); Christ Lutheran Church, Dryville (1958-
1966), and Jordan Lutheran Church, Orefield,
from 1966 until his retirement in 1996.
The Rev. Harold R. Baer, MDiv, ’62, died
Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Pastor Baer
was ordained in 1962. Pastor Baer served Holy
Spirit Lutheran Church, Reading, PA (1962-
1964); St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sinking
Spring, PA (1964-1983); St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church, Catasauqua, PA (1983-1988); and St.
Paul Lutheran Church, Shavertown (1988-1996).
The Rev. Dr. Ivis J. LaRiviere-Mestre, MDiv
’84, DMin, ’07, died May 26, 2009. Pastor LaR-
iviere-Mestre was ordained in 1985. Following
her ordination, Pastor LaRiviere-Mestre served
St. John Lutheran Church, Union City, N.J.
(1985-1986). In 1986 she became editor for
Spanish Language Resources for the Division
for Parish Services of the Lutheran Church in
America. After two years in that position, she
became Director for Educational Resources for
the Women of the ELCA. In 1991 she returned
to Pennsylvania to serve as pastor of San Mar-
tin de Porres Lutheran Church, Allentown. In
2005 she because the ELCA Associate Direc-
tor for Evangelism and Latino Outreach, a posi-
tion she held until becoming ill in 2007.
The Rev. Vicki Hall, MDiv, ’93 of Franconia
Township, Montgomery County, PA, an interim
Lutheran pastor at several churches in the
Philadelphia region, died August 11, 2009. Pas-
tor Hall was ordained in 1994 at St. Mark
Lutheran Church in Philadelphia.
The Rev. James W. Myles III, DMin, ’08, of
Philadelphia. Myles joined White Rock Baptist
Church in Philadelphia as a youth minister in
1962, was installed as pastor of First Baptist
Church of Wayne, PA, in 1979, and retired
there last February.
The Rev. David Graham Volk, who died April
16, 2009, was ordained by the Central Pennsyl-
vania Synod in 1955. Throughout his ministry
he was active in civic affairs and the work of
the wider church, serving on the boards of the
Tressler Home and Allegheny Lutheran Home
and as secretary of the Lutheran Commission
on Mental Retardation in the Northeastern U.S.
He served on the LTSP Alumni Board as an
LTSG representative for many years.
www.Ltsp.edu
 around

✛ADMISSIONS
Theological Education in
a Pluralistic Society
THE REV. LOUISE N. JOHNSON
Director of Admissions

WHY WOULD A SEMINARY, a place that trains leaders for the Christian church, be interested
in exposing its students to the leaders, believers, and tenets of other faith traditions? In the
eight mile stretch of Germantown Avenue, the road on which the seminary sits, there are more
than eighty places of worship that represent a wide range of faith traditions. They are our
neighbors. Both leaders and worshippers, living side by side, wrestling with everything from
how to fix the streets to how to mark our history. The world is on our doorstep not only by
virtue of the virtual, but also in the flesh. And not just on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia,
but also on Tilden Street in Postville, IA. Learning about other faith traditions is not the
privilege of abstract academia, but a practical reality of ministry in the twenty-first century.
But engaging in conversation and relationships inevitably raises questions about what we
believe, think, and practice, questions about who God is for us, for others, for the world.
Difficult questions that lack simple answers. And yet we are called by our own faith to engage
both the questions and the relationships. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one — as
he and the Father are one. It is worth noting what the Christian faith teaches about how Jesus
and the Father are one. In the Nicene Creed, we confess Jesus to be “eternally begotten of the
Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, of one being with the
Father.” In other words, Jesus is so like the Father that they are one being. And, at the same time,
the very structure of the Creed itself (addressing God, the Father, in the first article, God, the
Son, in the second, and God, the Holy Spirit in the third) illuminates our belief that God, the
Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are also separate persons with particular roles and gifts. Our
God is both three and one, distinct in persons and yet one Lord. Which seems to suggest
something about the character of the unity to which we are called. Unity, if you think about it,
presupposes differences. If Jesus were not distinct from God in some way, he would simply be
the same and there would be no cause for relationship, no cause for unity, no need to speak of
them as one being. In other words, we are called to be unified, but not uniform. Differences are
crucial to our unity. And, yet, our unity must bear the character of oneness.
To be sure this is no simple task. Discovering the differences that make us distinct and yet
unified is, well, a miracle of God. Which is precisely the point. When we engage in relationships
with our neighbors, trusting in the sure work of God in Christ Jesus, we have nothing to lose
and everything to gain. Listening, asking questions, and engaging in genuine relationships
moves us closer to Jesus’ desire for us and all creation and puts us in place to see the miracles
God can work. So perhaps the better question is, “Why wouldn’t a seminary be interested in
exposing its students to the leaders, believers and tenets of other faith traditions?” ✛

PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu 29

 from the

✛FOUNDATION
Swedish Festival Kicks Off LTSP Augustana Room
Campaign: Bishop Chilstrom Praises First Lutheran
Church in Brockton
THIS PAST SEPTEMBER , Herbert D.
Chilstrom, first Presiding Bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), gave a hearty “Thank you!” to a
crowd of worshippers at First Lutheran
Church in Brockton, Massachusetts, as
the congregation kicked off the campaign
for a new Augustana Room at The
Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP) with a Swedish festi-
val weekend.
“I’m especially grateful that I can be
here at First Lutheran Church on this his-
toric day,” said Bishop Chilstrom. “The
congregation’s decision to celebrate its
Swedish heritage by supporting the cre-
ation of the Augustana Room at LTSP is
very important — not just to honor the
past but to equip generations of church
leaders for the future. As students learn
about the history of our ELCA,” said
Chilstrom, “it will be important for them
to know about one of our distinct tap
roots — The Augustana Lutheran
Church.”
The festival weekend began with a Sat-
urday evening meatball supper and con-
cluded with two hours of energetic song
— a rich variety of Swedish hymns for all
seasons and occasions. Three members of
First Lutheran, once known as the
“mother church” of Augustana congrega-
tions in New England, donned tradi-
tional Swedish festival costumes to serve as
ushers for festival guests.
(l. to r.) Bishop Herbert D.Chilstrom, Bishop Harold Lohr, Pastor Ken Bjorklund, Ted Steege, Associate
Pastor Ken Hilston, and Pastor John Stott.

30 PS ✛ FALL 2009 www.Ltsp.edu

 According to retired Pastor Ken Bjork-
lund, the festive morning service drew
double the normal attendance, and Asso-
ciate Pastor Ken Hilston said more peo-
ple attended the Eucharist that day than
he can remember in a long time.
Bishop Chilstrom’s sermon, “How
Wide is God’s Kingdom?”, brought a for-
ward-looking focus, rooted in an endur-
ing faith in Christ and a commitment to
the Lutheran confessions. At a forum fol-
lowing the service, some 50 worshippers
remained to hear and interact with
Bishop Chilstrom and LTSP representa-
tive Ted Steege on the topic of “Vocation”
as it applies not only to pastors and other
rostered leaders, but to congregations and
members, called to support their pastors,
their synod, and their seminary. LTSP,
one of eight ELCA seminaries is “our
seminary” for ELCA Lutherans in New
England, under a churchwide agreement
to provide for the ongoing mission of
training future leaders as part of a faithful
partnership between synods and seminar-
ies. Recently ordained Pastor Mark
Huber, called as mission developer in
nearby Marshfield, Massachusetts, ex-
pressed gratitude for First Lutheran’s
emerging commitment to support his work.
Bringing greetings on behalf of New
England Synod Bishop Margaret Payne
was Pastor John Stott of Plymouth, Mas-
sachusetts, Dean of the Southeast Massa-
chusetts Conference. Other guests
included Bishop Harold Lohr, a seminary
classmate of Bishop Chilstrom; Ms. Edie
Lohr, retired director of Lutheran Social
Services of New England; and Pastor
Dennis Kohl of Pilgrim Lutheran Church
in Warwick, Rhode Island, an LTSP
alumnus who did his internship at First
Lutheran and also served as its pastor for
a number of years.
PS ✛ FALL 2009
In remarks at the hymnfest, Bishop
Chilstrom noted that when First
Lutheran was founded in 1867, the
preacher for the dedication service was
The Rev. Dr. Charles Porterfield Krauth,
professor of systematic theology at LTSP.
The bond of commitment to the
Lutheran Confessions as the foundation
for mission and public ministry proved
strong then and still is strong today, he
said. As host of the Lutheran Archives
Center of the Northeast, the seminary is a
custodian of a treasure trove of archives
(l. to r.) Pastor Dennis Kohl, Karin Kohl, Bishop
relating to the Augustana heritage in New Herbert D.Chilstrom
England and elsewhere on the East coast.
“By establishing The Augustana Room
project. Mr. Steege will be meeting soon
in The Brossman Learning Center, LTSP
with the Congregation Council to discuss
recognizes the heritage of The Augustana
possible next steps in First Lutheran’s sup-
Lutheran Church, which enriched the
port of the campaign.
Lutheran Church in America as it
Gifts in support of The Augustana
formed, and now enriches the ELCA, in-
Room will assist the seminary in meeting
cluding the faithful partnership between
the New England Synod goal of $1.5 mil-
the New England Synod and LTSP,” said
lion toward Building in Faith for People of
Steege. In The Augustana Room, a per-
Faith, the Continuing Journey. By mid-
manent exhibition will reflect The Augus-
summer of 2009, firm gifts and pledges
tana Lutheran Church’s life, witness, and
toward that overall goal had come to more
ministry.
than $650,000. The campaign is scheduled
“As we build on the faithful witness of
to continue through the end of 2010.✛
Augustana in teaching, forming, training,
and sending out new leaders for Christ’s To contribute to the Augustana Room
church,” said Steege, “we invite gifts by in- campaign, go to www.Ltsp.edu/give.
dividuals, congregations, and organiza-
tions toward a goal of $250,000 for The
Augustana Room.” Proceeds of the meat-
ball supper, the Swedish hymnfest, and
special envelopes inserted in the morning
bulletin will be dedicated in support of
the Augustana Room, according to First
Lutheran’s administrator, Jim Benson.
Mr. Steege and other seminary represen-
tatives will provide information, discuss
giving opportunities by individuals and
congregations, and make available re-
sponse forms and other resources for this
www.Ltsp.edu 31
 from the
✛FOUNDATION
LTSP Dedicates William Allen Plaza
THE NEW WILLIAM ALLEN PLAZA
AND HISTORICAL MARKER on the
LTSP campus were dedicated on Satur-
day, September 26, 2009, by representa-
tives of the seminary, the community, and
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Colonial Pennsylvanian William Allen
was a key member of the colony’s business
community, government, and judiciary,
financing many projects including the
state house, which we now know as Inde-
pendence Hall, and serving as chief jus-
tice of the colony’s Supreme Court. Allen
made his summer home, which he called
“Mount Airy,” on the land that now is the
home of LTSP. William Allen Plaza is lo-
cated on the LTSP campus just yards away
32 PS ✛ FALL 2009
from the place where “Mount Airy” once
stood, connecting the LTSP campus and
Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel to the Mt.
Airy community along Germantown
Avenue.
The ceremonies made it clear to
strangers and those familiar with the
project alike that only a unique collabora-
tive endeavor could have made the $1.5
million plaza initiative possible.
Festivities at the event included colo-
nial-era dancers and an address by “Justice
Allen.”
Learn more about the Plaza and Marker,
and listen to the lecture and dedication:
www.Ltsp.edu/williamallenplaza.
www.Ltsp.edu
LTSP events
fall 2009/winter 2010
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
CONVOCATION
Prof. Jose David Rodriguez
11:30 am THE ST. OLAF CHOIR IN PERFORMANCE
Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center Anton Armstrong, Conductor

Sunday, December 6, 2009 Monday, February 8, 2010

ADVENT VESPERS 7:30 pm
Celebration of the life and ministry of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Bornemann The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
7:30 pm Verizon Hall
Grace Epiphany Church of Mt. Airy presented in partnership with
224 E. Gowen Ave., Philadelphia
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
www.Ltsp.edu/adventvespers
Tickets on sale November 2, 2009
Monday, February 8, 2010 www.Ltsp.edu/stolaftickets
THE ST. OLAF CHOIR IN
More information: www.Ltsp.edu/stolafchoir
PERFORMANCE
7:30 pm
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
“It was a tour de force, carried out with
Verizon Hall poise and power that brought the audience
www.Ltsp.edu/stolafchoir to its feet.” — The Washington Post
Saturday, February 20, 2010
WOMEN’S RETREAT: Creation and
Creativity
9:00 am to 3:45 pm
LTSP Campus
www.Ltsp.edu/restrefresh

Saturday, February 20, 2010

PROSPECTIVE STUDENT DAY
8:30 am to 1:00 pm
LTSP Campus
www.Ltsp.edu/visit

Thursday, February 25, 2010

PUBLIC LEADERSHIP VISIT DAY
6:00 am to 8:30 pm
LTSP Campus
THe www.Ltsp.edu/visit

For information and updates go

to www.Ltsp.edu or sign up for
@PS, our eNewsletter at
www.Ltsp.edu/enews.
7301 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119-1794
www.Ltsp.edu

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$1 million Leadership Fund
goal by making a gift
today online at
www.Ltsp.edu/give.

Your gift today to the

LTSP Leadership Fund
will ensure that we can
continue to educate,
prepare, and nurture
leaders of the church,
both for today and for
generations to come.

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