Welcome
Fellow Lutherans and "Lutheran sympathizers," welcome to a new academic year at Princeton Theological Seminary!
The Lutheran Group is a student-led organization that seeks to "nurture Lutheran students in their denominational identity, provide reliable and consistent advising for students pursuing Lutheran ministries (ordained and lay), and to invite the broader PTS community to experience Lutheran traditions of worship."
Every week, we hope to send out a Lutheran Lowdown in order to inform you of upcoming events in The Lutheran Group. You will see that we host a variety of special and ongoing events for fellowship, worship, and study; promote the Lutheran Studies Concentration; work with the Lutheran Advisory Cohort; and overall seek to connect students to Lutheran congregations, opportunities, mentors, and friends. We offer daily lectionary texts and a weekly prayer, so we can pray and study the Word together.
For those on our mailing list who are not seminarians, please know that you are welcome to our events as well. We invite you to give special attention to "Meat and Greet" announcement below.
If you use Facebook, we encourage you to join our Facebook group for event reminders, discussion, and more.
Finally, please submit any items for future newsletters to Cogan, our secretary, at pts.lutherans@gmail.com.
With each year, we seem to grow more active and close-knit as a community. We look forward to continuing that trend with you all this year!
The Lutheran Group Executive Team
Zach, Ella, Cogan, Becca, and Lindsay
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Wednesday, 9/4 (Psalm 58)
Opening Convocation, 7:00pm, Miller Chapel
Thursday, 9/5 (Jeremiah 15:10-21)
Classes Begin!
Friday, 9/6 (Colossians 4:7-17)
First-Friday Lutheran Lunch, 12:00pm, Mackay Dining Hall
SeminaryFest, 3:30-6:00pm, Main Quad
Saturday, 9/7 (Matthew 10:34-42)
Sunday, 9/8 13th Sunday after Pentecost
(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33)
Monday, 9/9 (Psalm 2)
Holden Evening Prayer, 5:45pm, Miller Chapel
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Weekly Prayer
"O God, you resist those who are proud and give grace to those who are humble. Give us the humility of your Son, that we may embody the generosity of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen!"
-Evangelical Lutheran Worship
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Official Membership
Per our new constitution, whether you are a new or returning student, if would like to be an official member of The Lutheran Group please email our secretary (cogan.blackmon@ptsem.edu) your request to be added to our membership rolls. If you could also include your phone number in the email, that would be greatly appreciated.
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Holden Evening Prayer - NEW TIME!
Mondays
5:45–6:15 p.m.
Miller Chapel
This year The Lutheran Group continues its tradition of hosting weekly Holden Evening Prayer services for the Lutheran and wider seminary communities. This semester the services will be held every Monday (except during reading periods and finals) at 5:45 p.m.
Holden Evening Prayer is a setting of Vespers written in 1985–86 by Marty Haugen for Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center in Washington. Most of the service is a sung liturgy, which is accompanied by scripture readings. Those interested in "previewing" the service (or practicing or enjoying the music on their own time), can find videos of the service online, such as this one from St. Olaf College.
Each week, one or two volunteers serve as the lead singers and one or more provide accompaniment on the chapel piano or an instrument of their own.
This month's services:
See this document for the full semester's schedule, for changes, and to sign up to lead.
Many of us find these services a great opportunity to pause from the stresses of the day, to enjoy fellowship with fellow Lutherans and other friends, and to worship in a contemplative mode "as evening falls around us" and we remember together that "The Light shines in the darkness[,] and the darkness has not overcome it" (Holden Evening Prayer).
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First-Friday Lutheran Lunch
Friday, September 6
12:00 p.m.
Dining Hall, Mackay Campus Center
The First-Friday Lutheran Lunch is an opportunity to meet with fellow Lutheran students and professors for food, fellowship, and discussion of upcoming events, candidacy, and any other things Lutheran. Simply find, or start, the table(s) full of Lutherans in the dining hall. We're usually a pretty large (and loud) group, so we are pretty easy to find.
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Table at Seminaryfest
Friday, September 6
3:30–6:00 p.m.
Main Quad
The Lutheran Group will host a table at Seminaryfest to promote our organization, advertise upcoming events, and, if tradition prevails, distribute Swedish Fish. Stop by and say hi!
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Lutheran Advisory Cohort Retreat
Saturday, September 10
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
3 Mallard Drive/Place, Pennington (Prof. Olson's house)
As part of its academic-advising program, the seminary offers a number of voluntary cohorts. Among these is the Lutheran Advisory Cohort, convened by Prof. Appold again this year by Prof. Olson.
If you are a new or returning master's-level student who has identified as Lutheran, you should have already received one or more e-mails from Prof. Olson about the cohort and the process for joining.
As a reminder: the initial cohort retreat will be Saturday, September 15, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at Prof. Dennis and Carol Olson's house. Prof. Olson says, "The informal retreat will involve introductions, updates on summer activities, advisement on course registration for the fall semester, information on ordination matters and the Lutheran Studies concentration, and any other concerns or questions students might have. The cohort is a healthy mix of both first-year and upper class students so my faculty advice to first-year students can be supplemented by the experience of students who have been at PTS for one or more years."
Lunch will be provided. Please e-mail Prof. Olson (dennis.olson@ptsem.edu) regarding any dietary restrictions.
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Lutheran Course This Semester
The Rev. Dr. Timothy Wengert is returning to offer Lutheran Confessions DP3100, a required class for the Lutheran Studies Concentration. As the catalogue describes, "This course is an analysis of the history and development of the theology of the documents comprising The Book of Concord with a view to establishing the importance of their contents for the ministry of pastors, teachers, and congregations." The class will meet 8:30-11:20 on Wednesdays in the Library.
Courses may be added or dropped online without penalty until 4:30 p.m. next Wednesday, September 11. Students must attend the first session of a course they wish to add. After that, courses may be added until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 18, with an add form and a $25 fee. (Courses may be dropped online until 4:30 p.m. on September 18 without penalty.)
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ELCA Peace Not Walls Challenge for Seminary Engagement
The goal of this initiative is to: "Develop a project for use in ministry contexts that support the foci of the Peace Not Walls initiative: accompaniment, advocacy and awareness raising." Seminary students are being asked to submit projects for review. If accepted, a cash honorarium will be given to implement the project. This might be an interesting way for PTS Lutheran Students to engage with ELCA Churchwide iniatives in the seminary context.
Information on the program can be found at: PNW Seminary Challenge Flyer and the PNW Seminary Challenge FAQ. The PNW Challenge for Seminary Engagement provides opportunities for seminarians to become involved with the ELCA Peace Not Walls network and program.
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Local Lutheran Churches
The Lutheran Group encourages all students to get involved in a church community outside of the seminary. There are many Lutheran congregations in the area that are great opportunities for field education placements and are wonderful places to worship:
Lutheran Church of the Messiah, Princeton, NJ (LCMS)%
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, West Windsor, NJ (ELCA)%
St. Bartholomew Lutheran Church, Trenton, NJ (ELCA)^
Living Waters Lutheran Church, Ringoes, NJ (ELCA)#
Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, Ewing, NJ (ELCA)#
St. Paul Lutheran Church, East Windsor, NJ (ELCA)*
Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, Ambler, PA (ELCA)*
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Doylestown, PA (ELCA)^
St. Stephen's Grace Community Lutheran Church, Newark, NJ (ELCA)*
*A current student is doing field education at this church
^A recent graduate is doing internship at this church
#Current student and/or faculty attend this church
%Has been a field education site in the past year
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