What LCMS College Is Next? - "The Bronxville, New York campus was one of four in the Lutheran Concordia College system to close in the space of eight years."

 

"I already closed one LCMS college. I'm a pro!" [Just joking.]

'Things we want to get done:' CLU interim president readies for fundamental changes

Board Chair Ann Boynton said CLU's regents were drawn to Nunes' pastoral reputation and "incredibly broad" experience — including tenures as president and CEO of the nonprofit Lutheran World Relief and president of Concordia College in New York until its closure in 2021.

The Bronxville, New York campus was one of four in the Lutheran Concordia College system to close in the space of eight years. Nunes told Inside Higher Ed at the time of the closure's announcement in January 2021 that the decision was preemptive, avoiding both a "precipitous close" or a "long, lingering threadbare existence."

ELCA seminaries once were plums. Now they are prunes turning into raisins.
LSTC is now renting one floor of a Catholic building.

The failing seminaries limping into the future.

"In an era marked by a rapidly changing religious landscape, mainline seminaries are evolving to prepare future church leaders for new challenges and opportunities. In a groundbreaking collaboration, the Presidents of McCormick Theological Seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), and the Catholic Theological Union are pioneering a transformative approach to theological education.

President James Nieman of LSTC, alongside his counterparts, has been featured on the show “Sanctuary,” where they discuss this innovative partnership and its implications for the future of theological education. This episode highlights the collaborative efforts of these three Chicago seminaries to adapt their curricula and programs to better serve their communities and fulfill God’s mission.

During the show, President Nieman emphasized the role of technological innovation in shaping the future of seminary education. He alluded to LSTC’s new initiative, Project Starling, as a key example of how the seminary is planning to leverage technology to enhance learning experiences and accessibility. Project Starling aims to integrate advanced technological tools and online learning platforms to support a more flexible and inclusive educational environment for theological students.

President Nieman’s insights on the evolving role of seminaries in today’s society provide a unique perspective on how these institutions are preparing the next generation of faith leaders. The conversation underscores the importance of unity and cooperation among diverse theological traditions to address common challenges and seize new opportunities (sic).To watch the full discussion, visit this link."

Who's sorry now? 
LSTC merged six seminaries - plus McCormick - but they were so broke they had to sell to the U. of Chicago and waddle over to the Catholic Theological Union, yet another merger of angel factories.

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Inalienable Rights - The Second Amendment to the US Constitution

 

You have the right to keep silent about that mess. What you say - can and will - be held against you. You have the right to remain silent, so try to act innocent.

From Protestia

"When it comes to preserving and strengthening our constitutional rights in America, the stakes could not be higher in this presidential election. The Harris-Walz ticket, which brings together two of the most radical gun control extremists in public office, represents the biggest threat to law-abiding American gun owners in modern political history."

One of my college students argued that medical insurance was a "Constitutional Right!" I asked him where to find this gem. Members of his learning team said, "You idiot."

The best way to make a college room quiet is to ask the dates of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

An inalienable right means it cannot be taken away. The British always confiscated guns whenever the could. The colonists knew that they needed weapons for hunting and for self-defense. 

Labor Day Graphic

 

VP candidate Tim Walz.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 15 - "Hence the Lord desires our service to be done out of love and cheerfully, and where it is not done thus, it is no service to him: for even people are not pleased when one does anything for them unwillingly. This is natural, and we experience daily that it is so."

 

Norma A. Boeckler

God or Mammon, How Christians Should not be Anxious about their Food and Raiment.

Complete Sermon ->FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

MATTHEW 6:24-34.

KJV Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

1. In this Gospel we see how God distinguishes Christians from heathen. For the Lord does not deliver these teachings to the heathen, for they could not receive them, but to his Christians. However, he does not consider those Christians, who only hear his Word, so as to learn it and be able to repeat it, as the nuns do the Psalter. In this way Satan also hears the Gospel and the Word of God, yea, he knows it far better than we do, and he could preach it as well as we, if he only wanted to; but the Gospel is a doctrine that should become a living power and be put into practice; it should strengthen and comfort the people, and make them courageous and aggressive.

2. Therefore they, who only thus hear the Gospel, so that they may know it and be able to speak about the wisdom of God, are not worthy to be classed among Christians; but they, who do as the Gospel teaches, are true Christians. However, very few of these are found; we see many hearers, but all are not doers of the Gospel. We wish now to examine more closely what kind of doctrine the Lord teaches in this Gospel. First, he begins with a plain, natural example, so that we all must confess it is true; experience also teaches the same to everybody. He says: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.”

3. Now he, who tries to serve two masters, will do it in a way that cannot be called serving at all; for it will certainly be as the Lord here says. One can indeed compel a servant to do a certain work against his will and he may grieve while doing it; but no one can compel him to do it cheerfully, and mean it from the bottom of his heart. He of course does the work as long as his master is present, but when he is absent, he hurries away from his task, and does nothing well. Hence the Lord desires our service to be done out of love and cheerfully, and where it is not done thus, it is no service to him: for even people are not pleased when one does anything for them unwillingly. This is natural, and we experience daily that it is so.

Now, if it be the case among human beings that no one can serve two masters, how much more is it true in the service of God, that our service cannot be divided; but it must be done unto God alone, willingly and from the heart; therefore the Lord adds: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Norma A. Boeckler

4. God cannot allow us to have another Lord besides himself. He is a jealous God, as he says, and cannot suffer us to serve him and his enemy. Only mine, he says, or not at all. Behold now how beautifully Christ here introduces the example: “No man,” he says, “can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” As if to say: as it is here in man’s relations to his fellows, so it is also before God.