The Seminary Explores

Andrew Taminger, a third-year seminarian at United Lutheran Seminary, talks about his attendance at the Lutheran World Federation Assembly (LWF) in Krakow, Poland. After a brief introduction to the history of the Federation, he continues by sharing his personal highlights of the Assembly along with some of the discussions including climate change, women’s rights, disabilities, and gender issues. He goes on to discuss the tensions that were present in the deliberations including the use of languages and the concerns of youth. He describes a youth strike that took place at the Assembly. He concludes the by sharing some of the seventeen resolutions that were passed for the ongoing work of the LWF.

Dr. Gilson Waldkoenig, Paulssen-Hale-Maurer Professor of Church in Society, and the Director of the Town and Country Church Institute at United Lutheran Seminary, asks that we expand our vision beyond the big-topic issues of the day, important as they are, and embrace three universal needs: energy (including climate); food and health, including water resources; and habitat, both for humans and for our non-human neighbors (“all creatures great and small”).

He suggests specific ways in which congregations are doing their part, for example, energy assessments of their buildings and their “footprints” on the ground; cultivating gardens or supporting a farm; and sponsoring fresh produce markets.

Woodcut by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677) illustrated Augsburg Confession VII

Nadir Jeevanjee and Nathaniel Tarshish are two members of a group called “Climate Up Close” who share a background in Princeton University research and are traveling with a program that describes, in easy-to-understand terms, what climate change is, how it affects us, and what “bold climate actions” can redress this increasingly critical development. Sharing the scientific consensus on climate change is foremost in their program, using a power point presentation and simple demonstrations, plus a desire to dialogue, even with those who might have a different perspective.