The Seminary Explores

Recorded before a live audience at St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg PA,  Dr. Christianson disusses with Kristin Rice how her office is a ministry as well as an essential public service, balancing justice with a fair trial and compassion. Publically financed defenders were established as late as the 1963 when the Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment guarantees legal counsel to poor defendants in criminal cases. She believes that the next frontier in her field must be the improvement of mental health services, and she continues her opposition to the death penalty.

Dr. Largen spends this episode talking to The Rev. Dr. David Rhodes about the integral role creation plays in Lutheran Theology, and the resources available for individual Christians, public ministers and congregations who want to learn more about how to bring care for creation into their faith lives. 

Dr. Christianson talks to Stephen Niebler, Executive Director, Adams County Council for Aging about important issues around aging.  How to avoid family conflicts over the right to die as in the cases of Casey Kasem or Terri Schiavo. What to do when you suspect abuse of an older person-- financial, physical, or emotional. The most important local issues that impact on the aging:  transportation, housing, trying to understand complicated forms—in health, banking, Social Security, etc.

What do monks do all day and what is their value in modern society? Is a Protestant, specifically Lutheran monastery a contradiction in terms? Listen to the story of St. Augustine’s House, a Lutheran monastery in Oxford, Michigan and how Father Jude, formerly the Rev. Donald Motaka, found his way there with your host Dr.Christianson.

Listen to the insightful and interesting reflections on the current crisis in the Holy Land from the Rev. Dr. Angela Zimmann, who recently returned from serving at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.

Host Dr. Largen, Pastor Paul Hoffman and art therapist and licensed mental health counselor Donna Linn, talk about the adult faith formation program that was pioneered at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington.  They now travel the country educating Synods, Congregations and Seminary constituencies about that successful program.

Seminarian Lamar Bailey describes his background in public policy to Dr. Largen, and offers a compelling argument for the church to be more involved in the world:  “being a member of a congregation also means being a member of the community.”

Dr. Largen talks to Sara Gyson about her involvement with the community garden on the Gettysburg Seminary campus, and the ways in which a garden can foster a church’s mission in the world, and also strengthen Christian discipleship in ways large and small.

Argentina beyond “Evita”: a bustling nation with a strong professional class, a varied economy (especially agriculture and manufacturing), and exceptional scenery. The younger generation, represented by this team Rotary International team made up of attorney Marinal Ramos, attorney Melisa Cruzat and business administrator Leandro Marquez, is fully aware of the troubles of the distant past but has only experienced democracy and an open society in which women are making themselves felt especially in the field of law.