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| LSTC Stories > Alums | ||
Rev. Gordon Roesch, retired
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Friends, Indeed! I am so glad you asked. Let me count the ways that LSTC drew me to prepare for ministry. Back in the mid 1960's the Lutheran church was challenged by the massive changes in the cities. People were fleeing the cities to go to the burgeoning suburbs, and at the same time the civil rights movement was forcing folks to face segregation in the Church as well as in society. And the war brought the whole nation to a boiling political tumult.
Chicago was right in the middle of the great social stew. If you wanted to face the future of the Church, you had to face that chaos, and to know it well you had to go there and live in it. As a person of faith, I wanted to be with great teachers of the faith and with a historic community of the faith that was broad and had faced the chaos of the past faithfully.
You wanted broad: LSTC had the community of four great Lutheran traditions. You wanted great teachers: you had world-class professors. You wanted academic challenge and cultural analysis: you had vibrant professors who themselves wanted to be in the heart of the urban multitude, and the new curriculum at LSTC focused everyone on what in the world was going on.
You wanted a community of scholarship: LSTC was surrounded by universities, divinity schools, other seminaries and religious centers. You wanted a mix of people, that broad mix of the urban center: That mix had not yet come to the seminary, but you were in their midst as you walked around the neighborhood and ventured out to explore life around you.
You wanted to be at the center of Lutheran life in America: it was obvious that the East coast would not hold. Chicago would be the heart and the vigor of the Lutheran church in North America.
What drew me to prepare for ministry at LSTC?
LSTC was on the leading edge of the future! Why do I give generously to LSTC?
Why do I volunteer?
Because I love being in the LSTC community, and want to do everything I can to provide for the strengthening and sustaining of this great seminary.
What do I treasure most?
Why is this campaign important in the life of LSTC and the ELCA?
This campaign is vital to strengthen, sustain and pass on the great legacy of LSTC and all who have lived and served to create it. |
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--President James Kenneth Echols |
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