Mail Call - 11

11 Nov, 2018

Adam Baumann
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fall Quarter, 2018-2019


29 Sept. - 9 Nov. 2018

Apparently mail service is slow here at boot camp.

Okay, so its actually more a case of 1) I've been forgetting to keep up with this stuff, even after saying I will, and 2) there's been more "immediate" issues, like writing papers and studying for tests.

But, now, the first quarter is over.  All tests are done.  All papers are graded and back.

Stuff has been busy.  And it will only get more so.  Hebrew and Homiletics are coming up next quarter, among others, but those are the most apparently daunting.

I'm really not sure what to expect for some of the classes coming up.  But I'm also not worried.

Hebrew will be, like any language class, its own squirrelly challenge, but I'm taking it in Winter and Spring quarters instead of the 7-week sprint in Summer because it will be easier to chew on for me.  I've had a little Hebrew exposure already, so like Greek I'm not jumping in blind.  And what little I got to do clicked pretty quickly.

Homiletics is how to give sermons, primarily.  So I'll get to learn how to stand up in front of a group and teach a coherent lesson.  Sounds pretty similar to stuff I've done before.  Just going to learn new styles and methods.

Confessions sounds pretty straight forward, being a study of the Book of Concord.  I will admit, with a bit of shame, that I haven't cracked into that book enough in the last few years.  Not because it isn't good, or I wasn't dedicating time to independent study, but I wasn't focusing on that corner of theology.

One class I'm not sure what to expect is "Confessing Christ in Today's World."  It sounds a bit like a history class on one hand, while also sounding like "mission work."

As always, there is the "Field Education" class, though most of what we are doing this next quarter is reading "The Hammer of God" by Bo Giertz.  I haven't read it yet, but heard a lot of good things.

I'll be getting to be more involved in my field work church next quarter as well.  And at chapel.  Having completed Liturgics, I'm now allowed to lead services.  Just the "prayer services" like Matins and Vespers, since there is no Confession and Absolution or Communion.  So at some point, possibly as early as Advent, I'll lead chapel service on campus.  I'll be assisting the pastor at church as well, which means reading the lessons and helping with distribution of Communion.

We'll be back in Nebraska over the break, but since the quarter starts the last Monday of the month, we won't be home for Thanksgiving.  Got to have enough time to get back with the whole crew and have sufficient sleep before classes start.  (Though that doesn't bother me, since I'm not so enamored with the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.)

I can't promise I'll be timely with these Mail Call posts, but I intend to be on time with writing on the lectionary.  Since we're going through the 3-Year Lectionary in Greek Readings, I'll be switching to that.  I might not be posting all the readings, but since I'll be translating the Gospel reading each week, I will try to write primarily on them.  And I'll post papers, snippets of readings and writings, and other interesting things that happens.

Just this quarter we had visiting speakers from South Sudan and Latvia.  It is humbling to hear about the Church abroad, both in terms of their struggles and how they, in a way, are better than us in America.  In Latvia the Lutheran Church is the largest denomination, but there are only around 100 pastors for nearly 300 churches.  They are strong, but stretched thin.  In South Sudan, like in much of Africa, the dangers of war and persecution means the church lives in, essentially, exile.  Close to half the congregations are in refugee camps, and few dedicated church buildings exist at all.  But in both nations the Gospel is being proclaimed with boldness.

It is simultaneously humbling and encouraging.