2001 ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Annually, two alumni/ae are chosen who have distinguished themselves and thus brought honor to the mission of the church. One award recognizes an individual who has excelled in parish ministry, and the other honors an individual who has a made a significant contribution to the church-at-large. Nominated by their peers and selected by the Alumni/ae Association of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, the 2001 Alumnus of the Year Award recipients are Rev. Paul Takeichi Nakamura (M.Div., 1955), and Rev. Dr. Walter Wangerin Jr. (M.Div., 1976).

Rev. Paul Takeichi Nakamura
Recognized in 1998 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as an "Example of Living Faith," Paul Nakamura was the first Asian-American ordained in the United Lutheran Church of America (a predecessor to the ELCA), and the first to serve as pastor of a Lutheran Asian-American congregation. Leaving his native Hawaii in 1947 to complete his college and seminary education under the G.I. Bill, he graduated from Augustana Lutheran Seminary, Rock Island, Ill., in 1955.

While a seminarian, Nakamura spent his summers on the West Coast assisting L.S.G. Miller, a returning Lutheran missionary, reach out to the Asian community there. After graduating, he returned to outreach ministry in Los Angeles and was called as pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran Church. He served this Asian-American, African-American and European-American congregation until 1973. During his tenure, the congregation not only became a vibrant worshipping community, it also worked to locate a public library in the community; enlisted the assistance of state legislators and other congregations in retaining a park and recreational facility slated to become a parking lot; and secured urban renewal funds to renovate the church buildings for community use.

After leaving St. Mark’s, Nakamura took a year of clinical pastoral education training and then became interim pastor of Emanuel Danish Lutheran Church, Los Angeles. While interim pastor at Emmanual, he gathered a group of more than 30 Asian-Americans for a worship service in a warehouse. Gathering without official sanction, this community was the precursor to the Lutheran Oriental Church. Brought into the Lutheran church as an official congregation in 1979, this was and is, the only Asian-American congregation in the ELCA.

In addition to his pastoral ministry, Nakamura has served the ELCA as interim director for Asian ministry and recently played a pivotal role in the first Asian Lutheran International Conference.

Rev. Dr. Walter Wangerin Jr.
Walter Wangerin Jr. has been a university professor, radio announcer, columnist and book reviewer. He has traveled with migrant farm workers, participated in a Lakota Indian sun dance and been pastor of an inner-city church. Perhaps his most recognizable accomplishments are the 30+ books he has written and the weekly sermons that are broadcast internationally by Lutheran Vespers.

Graduating from Christ Seminary-Seminex in 1976, his first novel, "The Book of the Dun Cow," was published two years later. In 1980, it won the American Book Award and was named the Best Children’s Book of the Year by the New York Times. Named Best Book by the Association of Logos Bookstores in 1996, "The Book of God: The Bible as a Novel" also won a Gold Medallion Book Award. Other writings to receive a Gold Medallion Book Award include the short story, "Ragman and Other Cries of Faith" (1985), the children’s book, "Potter" (1986), the practical theology texts,"As for Me and My House: Crafting a Marriage to Last" (1988), "Whole Prayer" (1999), and the devotional, "Reliving the Passion" (1993). The short story, "Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace" (1988) has been adapted as a screenplay by Horton Foote, who also wrote screenplays for "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Tender Mercies" and "A Trip to Bountiful."

Wangerin's nonfiction books have covered topics such as marriage ("Prayerbook for Husbands and Wives" and "As for Me and My House") mourning and grieving ("Mourning into Dancing"), and a meditation on the death of Jesus that won a Gold Medallion Award ("Reliving the Passion").

His numerous awards include the Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Literature from the Church and Synagogue Library Association (2000), the Wittenberg Award from the Luther Institute (1994) and an honorary doctorate from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. (1986).

Wangerin holds the Jochum Chair at Valparaiso, where he teaches literature and creative writing and is writer-in-residence. He is the speaker for Lutheran Vespers.