Tribute to Nick Spehar by Tessa Hansen

When you first get to seminary they tell you a lot of things. They tell you where the library is, how to work the weird laundry card system, what classes you need to take and when, and possibly most importantly where Jimmy’s is.

These are all important, but there are also some things they don’t tell you, in fact I think I could write an entire book on what they DON’T tell you. They don’t tell you that you that you will read more books than you ever thought possible, they don’t tell you that you will spend hours upon hours in the library pouring over 20 commentaries that all seem to say different things, they don’t tell you that you can get parking tickets on University for just about any reason under the sun, and they don’t tell you that the heating and cooling system sounds like a large aircraft carrier taking off when it kicks in.

But the most important thing they don’t tell you is that there is someone like Nick around. Someone that will not only find you a cart but will show you how exactly to maneuver it into the tiny elevator so you don’t pull your hair out; someone that will let you into a classroom when you got there early and REALLY need those extra ten minutes to review; some one that will give you advice on the pros and cons of buying a grill so you can find the perfect birthday present; someone that will tell you that you look nice when you are dressed up for a presentation you are nervous for and then add that you always look nice when the day before they saw you half awake on two hours of sleep in a sweatshirt and bed head, with a runny nose; someone that will notice how hard you are working and tell you that they notice; someone that will tell you to come and talk to them if anybody gives you any trouble; someone that will man the front desk so they can surprise another staff member with a birthday cake; someone that will see you during the busiest day of the semester when you feel overwhelmed and crabby, uninspiring and frustrated, and they will smile and say “Hey there is my favorite. ”

They don’t tell you about Nick, but I suspect it is because there is so much kindness and generosity, so much good-hearted concern and care, so much humor and personality, so much dedication and hard work that they don’t know how to put it into words. On behalf of LSTC, I want to say thank you to Nick. Thank you for taking such good care of us for so long…and by the way most people don’t come to work three or four days a week when they are retired. And I want you to know I’m on to your plan…don’t think that each time you work one less day a week and “retire” you’re getting another cake and party. We love you Nick!

A Tribute to Audrey West by Christie Manisto

Audrey West is a much beloved professor here at LSTC. For those of you who haven’t had her in class, you are truly missing one of the greats. She is a teacher in the truest sense of the word, bestowed with the gift to make even the most tedious and time consuming tasks fun and exciting. She has touched so many lives here at LSTC, so when I was asked to give a short remembrance of her tenure with us, I knew there was no way I alone could do her justice. So, I did a little digging and informally polled the community—both students past and present, and came up with a list, David Letterman style of the things we have loved about Audrey West…

The Top Ten things we LOVE about Audrey West here at LSTC:

10. Her ability to both introduce us to and keep us from going postal on a man named William D. Mounce—“Mr. Mounce” as Audrey affectionately calls him, who happens to be the author of the dreaded “Basics of Biblical Greek.”

9. Her guest appearances in classes, such as Barb Rossing’s Jesus and the Gospels class—where she energetically sails in, enthusiastically debates things like the existence of the Q source, trying good naturedly to get us on “her side” and then just as energetically sails back out the door. Sometimes leaving you wondering…did that just happen or was it a dream?

8. Who doesn’t appreciate her jaunty style!

7. The stories she tells that bring us into her life—such as the one about how her dog once ate an entire 20-pound bag of dog food, having then to be rushed to the vet—never fear! says Audrey, always the one to be positive—it’s just his nature! It is, after all, a lab’s job to “eat the world.”

6. Her Moravian meditations at the beginning of class as well as her heartfelt attempts to convince us that we need to do our own daily meditations and they should be in… Greek…we love her for trying.

5. The fact that she is a published author of some very important works—best of all is her current work in progress titled “the many uses of the word Snarky” and its companion volume “the history of Snarkology.”

4. We all agree, when you walk into her class you never know what you are going to find. One day we came to class only to encounter not our professor but instead a chef pulling Greek words out of a pot!

3. Her pep talks in class when she would pull out her hat and her swim coach whistle, encouraging us on, letting us know that we could do it—As one student told me “she did it the day I visited here and it’s the reason I came to LSTC.”

2. How she somehow got us to study Greek every day…every DAY…everyday…when did we study Greek? EVERY DAY.

And the number one reason we love Audrey West…as one student put it so well “as a student you know Audrey is there for you and you can see she gives 110% to us and to LSTC…Audrey is really there…how we will miss her…

A Tribute to Dr. Klein’s Retirement by Jin Yang Kim

Anyone who has had contact with Dr. Ralph Klein can recall his jokes. I would like to share the most recent one. I taught at Wartburg College for the semester. I got back to Chicago two weeks ago, and met both Dr. Klein and Dr. Menn in the hall way. Dr. Menn said to me, “Jin Yang, you look more mature.” Dr. Klein responded to what Dr. Menn said, “I’m jealous.”

Dr. Klein’s labor on behalf of the students is awesome, especially for the doctoral students at LSTC. Every class of the Graduate Biblical Seminar that Dr. Klein taught at LSTC was great. He has challenged and encouraged the doctoral students to think critically and has made us scholars.

Dr. Klein’s last name, “Klein,” means “small” or “little” in German, but he is a great teacher and an amazing preacher. We in the LSTC community saw the fullest integration of Dr. Klein’s scholarship, his contemporary insights, and his human compassion in class and chapel. Matt Holmes, a master’s student at LSTC, describes Dr. Klein’s scholarship, insights, and compassion as follows:

Matt didn’t think that he that he would like Hebrew. But Dr. Klein loves Hebrew and taught so well. Now, Matt also loves Hebrew.

I took the class of the book of Chronicles with Dr. Klein five years ago, and I love Chronicles because Dr. Klein loves Chronicles and taught me very well, even though I got a B grade.

Dr. Klein accepts the work of professor as a vocation. I was so impressed by what his students, May May Latt and Gilbert Ojwang, told me about how Dr. Klein takes care of his student.

I’m grateful to Dr. Klein for enriching my understanding of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. I would never enjoy my academic journey so much without Dr. Klein. I believe that although Dr. Klein retires from the offline teaching here LSTC, he will never retire from the online teaching at www.ot-studies.com.

As Kit Kleinhans, a professor of Wartburg College, said, I can’t imagine LSTC without Dr. Klein. I wish you, Dr. Klein, all of God’s blessings in your future plans.

The Rev. Dr. Mark Bangert, from Barbara Kudirka, M.A. program

For the last seven years, my parish, Holy Trinity in Glenview, has been served by interns from LSTC. I have been impressed with the assurance and confidence that all have demonstrated in their assisting minister duties. Now that I have taken Dr. Bangert’s M-380 Worship Course, I understand why. In his classroom, time and care are taken to train students in the art of worship leadership. With the highest respect for the liturgical tradition of the church, as well as considerable attention to detail, Dr. Bangert has taught us well.

It’s true—God is in the details in Dr. Bangert’s class. After getting a test or quiz back, how many of us wished we had studied much, much more carefully. But a lesson is learned—‘Pay attention to the details. Base your praxis on knowledge and good judgment, so that you can live out the tradition in your own context.’

Dr. Bangert’s influence extends throughout the Lutheran Church in the areas of liturgical renewal and world music. He was involved in the preparation of the Lutheran Book of Worship where he designed Morning Prayer, and introduced congregational psalm singing. In addition, he chaired the committee which produced the Occasional Services for LBW, and he has been part of the consulting group for Principles of Worship.

In the late 1980’s, Dr. Bangert immersed himself in the study of ethno-musicology in preparation for sabbaticals in Africa and East Asia. He became a leader in the field of world music for the church, promoting its use throughout the Lutheran community. As part of this effort, he organized several workshops at LSTC to share the riches of world music with the North American church. From 1991-1996 he participated in the Lutheran World Federation Committee on Worship & Culture, which produced the Nairobi Statement.

Drawing our thoughts back to LSTC and in particular to this Chapel, Dr. Bangert’s was the guiding hand that shaped the transformation of a stadium-style auditorium to the beautiful worship space we inhabit today.

For your contributions to the Seminary community, the pastors it has trained and to the church at large, we thank you, Dr. Bangert.

by Sanchita Kisku (on behalf of the Graduate Student Association)

What does one say about the Rev. Dr. Mark Bangert? It is hard to put who Mark Bangert is and what he has meant to so many students over the years into a short speech. So I ask - when you hear the name Mark Bangert what comes to mind? Worship professor, Musician, Bach for the Sem, pastor, teacher, friend, colleague?

For students, it is often hard to read Dr. Bangert, as so often our first experience of him is in worship class where we miss the point. We don’t get his jokes, as we think he is always so serious, but once you get to know him you realize he has a very dry sense of humor - almost like a martini - and cracks jokes quite often. Perhaps he has been one of the most misunderstood professors on campus, as students often don’t get him, his humor, or his teaching. During class we don’t necessarily hear or see his amazing musical gifts, except when he takes us into the chapel for cantoring lessons. We get caught up in the rubrics and miss the liturgical theology he is teaching. It is often only after internship that students begin to understand him.

As a student works with him, one realizes that he has a strong contextual liturgical theology, as he wants his students to explain the theology behind what they are doing. If the theology is sound, even if he disagrees with the concept, he will encourage the student to be creative in worship. Dr. Bangert always wants to make sure that students understand the tradition from which they come before contextualizing it in practical use. Some students get him and appreciate his dry sense of humor and his deep concern for the Church. For Mark, God works in and through us as the means of Grace. Dr. Bangert often says that you should never pray for something for which you are not willing to be part of God’s answer because God works through humans.

Dr. Bangert knows what it means to take a stand, as he is part of the Seminex tradition and history that blesses our campus. He has encouraged his students to learn and to contextualize what they learn after understanding the history and theology that grounds tradition. He wants his students to understand the theology of why they are contextualizing worship, keeping our grounding in what God is doing. We will be blessed to still see him in our hallowed halls and in our classrooms as faculty emeritus. It is with great sorrow and joy that we wish Dr. Bangert well in his retirement and celebrate what God continues to do through him.

by Paul Moonu, PhD. student

Immediately after volunteering to do this tribute to Linda I began wondering, what was I going to say? After a week it came to me. As a matter of fact, it came from Linda herself.

Two weekends ago I got a call on my cellphone. It was Linda, so I said, "Hi, Linda!"

Linda asked, "Who is this, Paul?"

I said, "Yes, it is!"

Linda asked if I were at the school (LSTC) or at home. I told her I was at home. She explained that she was on the road and was trying to call home, but got me instead. It was a crazy day she said. She apologized for disturbing me, saying she'll try calling home again.

Before she hung up I asked, "Linda when are you coming home?"

To this Linda said, 'What? Is this Paul? I am confused."

I laughingly replied, "It is Paul. I was kidding with you Linda."

This for me illustrates the kind of relationship Linda and I shared over these past five years. There were times when I would pass Linda in the hallways, or outside her office and she would hail me saying, "How are you, my friend?"

I have gone to Linda's office a few times for prayers and counsel as many other students have done. My relationship with Linda is but one of many that Linda has cultivated in the five years she has been here.

She will be leaving many with fond memories. We will remember the numerous prayer requests; Linda's presence at the apartment or hospital when there was an emergency; the community meal on 1st Wednesdays; the International Women's Bible Study which has now become the Global Women's Bible Study Group; and, the International Student Association in the making. Linda's leadership has brought a deepened understanding of the bright and vibrant diversity among LSTC's international and multicultural community. She will be missed.

Linda, As you prepare to depart this place, please go with our prayers and wellwishes: Where ever life's journey leads you, know in your heart you are an asset and a blessing. Thank you, for all you have done here at LSTC.

For more information about Community Life at LSTC contact:

Dean of Community
Office: Room 325
Phone: (773) 256-0756

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