Welcome One and All

Summers are always a little quiet around here at Concordia Seminary (except for the summer Greek students, and their victory splash). There is nothing quiet about the campus today, though. 123 new students are becoming oriented to the ways of seminary education. What a sight it is to see all of these faces which will be prepared to serve in the Lord's church. We especially thank the Lord for giving these students the interest to be here.
These new students will continue with orientation and registration through Friday, but there is some real fun planned for Saturday . Saturday is Field Day. This day has always been a good opportunity to play a few games, and build some new friendships ( and strengthen old ones) before the school year begins. The day will be filled with softball, football, firetrucks, and BBQ. Finally, on Sunday, the campus community begins its 171st year with the opening worship service at 4pm. You are welcome to join us at this service to begin the year with the Word of the Lord.

Annual Greek Fountain Dive

Students entering Concordia Seminary must learn Biblical Greek. For those students who have not learned Greek prior to coming to the seminary, Greek is offered in a summer intensive class. Today, those students taking the class in the Summer of 2009 took their qualifying exam. Once the class learned that they had passed they proceeded to the fountain for the Annual Greek Fountain Dive. The class jumped into the fountain to celebrate, played with some water toys, brought along at least one of the next generation of students for an early dive into the fountain with dad, and of course made sure that Prof. David Lewis didn't miss out on getting wet! This ritual will be repeated in November after those who finish Fall Greek pass their exams - likely on a much colder day! If you would like to participate in the Annual Greek Fountain Dive in 2010 contact the Admissions Office for enrollment information. We would love to be posting your picture right here next year!

How Do I Study for Entrance Exams?

Some have asked about what is available to study for the Seminary's entrance exams in Greek, Hebrew, Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian Doctrine.
The two best resources I can recommend are:
1. a resource list found at www.csl.edu, the exact link is http://www.csl.edu/Admissions_Pastoral_ELCE.aspx

2. iTunesU, which houses the actual courses, is an excellent resource. Please go to http://itunes.csl.edu/, and you will find everything you need to pass these entrance exams.
Also, if you would like to see a list of books that would be helpful to read before coming to Seminary, please shoot me an e-mail at castensk@csl.edu, and I will send it to you.

The Lord's peace to you,

Rev. Castens

SMP Entrance Exam Deadline

I just want to offer a quick reminder that if you have applied for the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program, the deadline to pass the entrance exams is July 31st.
Please keep this date in front of you. If you have any questions, please post a comment.

Kyle Castens

Seminary Scholarship!

We all know that financial assistance is essential when it comes to higher education. There are a lot of sources of aid when one does come to the Seminary, and now there is one more that I have been made aware of. This scholarship is through the Logos Bible software corporation.
Please click on the title of this blog post to learn more about what Logos has to offer.

Summer Old Testament, New Testament, and Doctrine

If you are signed up to take one of the courses mentioned in the title of this post, this post is for you. I have included below the times and place that you will need to register for these courses (P1,P2,P3). If you have any questions, please add a comment to this post and I will respond momentarily.

July 13 Monday Registration for Terms C and P-1, 10:30-11:30 am, Pieper 103
Terms C and P-1 classes begin with afternoon sessions
July 24 Friday Terms C and P-1 end after classes
July 27 Monday Registration for Terms D and P-2, 10:30-11:30 am, Pieper 103
Term D and P-2 classes begin with afternoon sessions
July 31 Friday Term II ends after classes
AUGUST
August 7 Friday Terms X, D and P-2 end after classes
August 10 Monday Term P-3 registration, 10:30-11:30 am, Pieper 103

Vocatio: All Said and Done

Wow, what a week!! Vocatio is now over, but we have much to look back upon. I pray that all of the high school youth and counselors who joined us, got a lot from this event. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" ( Galatians 2:20)is the Word of the Lord that guided us through this event. Professors from each discipline of theology demonstrated how this verse plays out in one's daily life.
We had great opportunities for the Service of Word and Sacrament, as well as many times to reflect on what it truly means that "Christ lives in me."

In addition to our time on the Seminary campus, we also ventured out to get a sense of the local St. Louis flavor, and the history of our church body.
Sunday took us to Forest Park, the nation's largest city park and site of the 1904 World's Fair. Our time in the park included a cook out, and the geocaching! What an adventure!
On Monday, we ventured to historic Perry County, and learned much about the Saxon immigration. Dr. Gerry Bode led us in a great discussion of what the contributions of these men and women mean to our church today. If you are a history fan, even if you are not, you will enjoy a visit to Altenberg and Frohna, Missouri. The curators are great and they will give you a great taste of Lutheran history.
After receiving a better understanding of our Lutheran heritage, we were not done yet. Our team of youth broke into groups, and we repaired log cabins, planted a sorghum field, built a chicken yard, and painted tables. I slept well that night!
We also took in a tour and a show at the Muny, the nation's oldest and largest outdoor theater.
On the last night we thought we would do a little singing of our own with some karaoke. Do we ever have talent!?!?
I want to say how much I enjoyed each and every one of you who attended Vocatio. Thank you for your feedback, and we will work hard to make the event even better next year.

Kyle "Maverick" Castens