To the States - week 1: St. Louis

Krista had already been in the States for 12 days by the time I arrived at the Chicago airport on August 3rd.  She's been busy helping her sister prepare for the wedding.  For me, though, my first order of business was to get to St. Louis. We drove down from Milwaukee to St. Louis and stayed at Concordia Seminary. Driving in the States took only a little getting used to. I was able to stay on the correct side of the road except in parking lots. For me, the hardest part was using the turn signal (which is on the other side of the steering wheel in Uganda).  I kept turning on the windshield wipers when I wanted to change lanes or turn. Krista was very kind - she only smiled to herself and didn't say anything as I turned the windshield wipers on throughout our time in the States.  We also commented how pleasant it is to drive in the States - the roads are wide, well-paved, and clear. Even when there's lots of traffic it was pretty quiet in our rental car - no horns, loud motorcycles all around you, and only a few diesel engines. The air was generally exhaust-free and driving was stress-free.

In St. Louis we had lots to do. We made a stop at Concordia Publishing House to pick up some items for our TEE (Theological Education by Extension) students in Uganda. We stopped in to LCMS World Mission's headquarters at the International Center and were taken to lunch by our logistical coordinator, Travis. We enjoyed breakfast a few mornings at one of our favorite little coffee shops - Kaldi's right by the seminary campus.

And I had my certification interview at the seminary. For me to be ordained in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, I have to graduate from the seminary, complete my vicarage, and be certified for ordination by the seminary faculty. I'm academically complete - I've passed all my classes. And my vicarage has about 9 months left to go with good reports so far. As for being certified for ordination by the faculty, there are 2 steps to that.

1. Two faculty members interview each and every seminary student in their last year. This is a theological interview - they're asking about what you believe and why, probing whether the student thinks like a pastor and affirming that the student has understood and believes Lutheran theology. The interview is somewhere between one and two hours long and every topic is fair game.  Ultimately, these two faculty members are then able to give a first-hand account of their interview with the student. 
2. In the spring, then, all of the seminary faculty come together in faculty meetings where each and every ordination candidate's name is read out loud with an opportunity for the faculty to discuss certifying that individual. Anything and everything can be brought up at that point - grades, attitude, behavior in class and out of class, formation as a pastor, humility, you name it. The faculty must agree as a body to certify each student for ordination. 

My two professors both indicated that they will speak favorably on my behalf and recommend I be certified for ordination at the faculty meeting in the spring. I wasn't worried too much but each interview is different and I was worried that some technical theological question could be brought up that I wouldn't be able to answer. Fortunately, my interview went well and was even rather pleasant. If things continue to progress, I will graduate from the seminary in May and receive call papers from the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Board for Mission Services on assignment to Uganda. Then, on our next furlough (home-leave) in the fall/winter of 2010, I will finally be ordained somewhere in the States.

We also had some speaking engagements booked in St. Louis. On Saturday night we went to Christ in the City Lutheran Church, to worship at Crave Coffeehouse, where Krista and I first met in 2005. I had a chance to address the worshipers there during a special agape meal they were celebrating. On Sunday morning I preached at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Brentwood. That's the congregation that Krista and I worshiped at all through seminary, where much of my formation as a pastor took place. Pastor Zimmerman even took us out to lunch for some barbecue! Sunday afternoon we started back towards Milwaukee stopping overnight at our friend's home in Secor, Illinois to catch up and see their little baby boy.