June 2015 – A Seminarian’s Letters Home

A Seminarian’s Letters Home June 2015

To the membership of Circle of Faith Parish:

Greetings to you all from Evanston, IL! Spring is done now, and it’s time to roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! Soon, we’ll be switching, as a parish, to our summer schedule of weddings, Vacation Bible School, synod assembly, and everything else that goes on during the warmer months. One thing I’m very excited about is Circle of Faith’s plan for another adult education series on Wednesday evenings, entitled “Mission on the Prairie”. I’ll be speaking for the first session, and we have two dynamic people from the Southwestern MN Synod and Luther Seminary coming for the other two. There’s more information in this newsletter, so please mark your calendars and plan to come!

We’ve spent this past year as a parish with the book of Acts, and the story of what the first Christians did when they formed their first communities in Jerusalem and elsewhere – they took food to the widows, they shared their belongings, they healed sick people, and so on. A piece of trivia for you – the book of Acts was written by Luke, the same guy who wrote the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s gospel wraps up with Jesus’ command to stay where they are, to wait for the Spirit to come. Even after the Spirit came on Pentecost, most people continued to do just that. Yes, the apostles went and roamed around a lot, but most of the Christians stayed right where they lived, and kept on doing the work that the Church does even after the wandering preachers left town. They did that because they recognized that they didn’t have to roam far to be the Body of Christ to everybody else – there was plenty that needed doing right there.

That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Most of us grew up thinking of “mission” as sending people (or, more often, money) to foreign countries. But there’s actually an abundance of opportunity to be the Body of Christ for people around us right where we live – going to another country won’t be necessary. We’ll be talking a lot about that during the summer adult education classes, so come and find out! You might be surprised where the opportunity to be Christ to somebody else shows up. But maybe that just makes it all the more exciting.

Heading into our summer contemplation of the Church’s mission on the prairie, let us pray for God’s blessing, using these words:

Almighty God, your Holy Spirit equips the church with a rich variety of gifts. Grant that we may use them to bear witness to Christ in lives that are built on faith and love. Make us ready to live the gospel and eager to do your will, so that we may share with all your church in the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. [ELW, Congregational Ministries]

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your fellow member and pilgrim,

Carl P. Rabbe, M.Div.