What’s UP with Campus Ministry
Submitted by Pr. Shawn Norris, LCM at Kansas University (0212)Cookie Baking
Springerles, sugar cookies, and pfeffernusse are three of my favorite things. Homemade cookies (along with Christmas Eve worship, French toast casserole, and of course gifts under the tree!) are part of what make the Christmas season a time of joy and celebration. Apparently I’m not alone. As students come back from the long winter break, they have plenty of stories of trips, visits, movies, and more. But pfeffernusse (or sugar cookies, depending on family tradition) are an important part of their Christmas vacation too. More just baking, cookies represent time spent with parents, grandparents, family and friends. Time for baking, rolling, and conversation as cookies are packaged up to give away. One student said, “its not really the ritual of cookie baking that is so important, its just a great excuse to spend time with my grandparents.”
Vacations are a wonderful opportunity for students to rejoin family and congregational activities. Sure students are busy, and looking forward to reconnecting with friends at home. But whether its rolling out springerles or watching football on TV, reading Scripture in worship, or hanging out with a Sunday school class, simple actions are opportunities to deepen relationships, with family, friends, and God. A little pfeffernusse is a powerful thing.
LCM in Lawrence to have new home
Led by Bishop Jerry Mansholt, more than 50 students, alumni, members of Westwood Lutheran Church, Bishop Emeritus Charlie Maahs, and many other friends of Lutheran Campus Ministry at KU gathered Saturday November 19th for the ceremonial ground breaking for Westwood House, the future home of LCM in Lawrence. The Lutheran Campus Ministry community joined in singing, prayer, and breaking ground for the new ministry home. 106 years (and a day) after Carl Wilhelmsen, the first pastor of Westwood Lutheran Church preached his first sermon in Kansas City, his granddaughter, Norma Nielsen, turned over the first shovelful of earth for Westwood House. Architect Mike Myers joined in the celebration to present an initial set of drawings for the new ministry center. Construction is scheduled to begin early in 2012, with completion in time to start ministry in the fall. Located just across 19th Street from Oliver Hall, Westwood House will provide an ideal location for student outreach with the KU community. The front of the house will be used as a coffeehouse and gathering space, while a new chapel multipurpose space will be built at the rear. The Lutheran Campus Ministry community is grateful to all who have contributed time, energy, and financial resources to making this new beginning possible. You all are invited to the dedication of the new home on October 14th, 2012, as we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Lutheran Student Association of America in Lawrence, and 50 years of staffed ministry at KU.
Symbolic ground-breaking at Westwood House on November 19.
Campus Ministry Month Donations
Many thanks to those who made special contributions to Lutheran Campus Ministry in observance of the synod Campus Ministry Month. The following congregations made donations through the synod office. Many others (not listed here) made direct contributions.
- Faith Lutheran — Oberlin, Kan.
- Garfield Lutheran — Garfield, Kan.
- New Hope Lutheran — Onega, Kan.
- Reformation Lutheran — Wichita, Kan.
- St. John Lutheran — Kensington, Kan.
- St. John Lutheran — Russell, Kan.
- St. Mark Lutheran — Clayton, Mo.
- St. Paul Lutheran — Glasco, Kan.
- St. Paul Lutheran — Valley Falls, Kan.
- Trinity Lutheran — McPherson, Kan.
- Upper Wolf Lutheran — Robinson, Kan.
- Zion Lutheran — Everest, Kan.
Links and Additional Information
Lutheran Campus Ministry outside of Central States Synod
Have a student outside of KS-MO? No problem! You can find the nearest campus ministry on the ELCA website: http://archive.elca.org/scriptlib/DHES/directory/site_list.asp.
ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministry
Click ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministry for the home page of the churchwide expression.
Connect Students on Campus
Campus pastors at many colleges and universities do not receive the names of Lutheran students attending their school. You can help them contact Lutheran (and other interested students) through the ELCA student referral website. By providing the names and contact information you help make their transitions to college life easier. Go to: Find a Ministry or Person.
