When the Story Blesses the Kingdom- Number 3 #becauseofconcordia

Concordia, Ann Arbor had an invaluable influence in my personal and professional life that  enabled me to develop a close walk with the Lord.  I was blessed to form a close-knit family of friends that still have strong bonds today.  The chapel was built in the center of the campus on purpose. We worshiped daily with the visual reminder that Christ was the center of our campus and our own life. A huge blessing was having our personal families close enough to come visit us and be involved with our Concordia family. It enabled groups of classmates to gather in homes of parents that were within driving distance of the campus. One of our classmates died of cancer.  The spiritual impact of how Concordia gathered us for worship and led us to our Lord for strength made a lifelong impact. We are so short of church workers across the United States.  To close this campus isolates the eastern part of our states even more from a synodical school. The incentives to train for church work become even more complicated because of longer distances to travel to get to a synodical college.

My deep concerns include the lack of transparency to all of us before this decision was announced. Noted is the ironic timing for a letter for donations the same week as the announcement was made. This leads to the question of- just where are those donations going? Our colleges, churches and schools are held to a high standard of financial responsibility and the leadership must know where they fiscally stand at all times. Perhaps, it is important to address short falls ahead of major decisions. My heart aches for the example just shown to our future church workers. Along with the devastating news, they may need to change their college and support system on short notice. This gave them no warning or preparation time to process this change of plans. I found this information below that clearly states the intent of Synod for our schools-

 "The colleges, universities and seminaries of The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod exist to supply the higher education services needed to accomplish the mission of the church. 

The objectives of the Synod include the recruitment and education of professional church workers. Therefore, central to the system of synodical higher education is the preparation of those who are called to serve through preaching, teaching and related vocations."

Are we making decisions to support this by having colleges readily available in the United States to train new workers? We all need to join in continual prayer for the ministry of Concordia, Ann Arbor. We also pray that God's will may be done in every aspect of our lives and that He will receive all the glory for the salvation He has offered to everyone. May He use each one of us to plant the seeds that will lead to eternal salvation of souls.

Shared with permission.

Written by Kay Howard-

Class of 1974.

 Kay grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and

was a Lutheran school teacher for 30 years.

 She is now a retired teacher still supporting ministry

at Suburban Bethlehem Lutheran Church

 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The painting on driftwood is the work

 of Patricia Maier given as a gift to Kay.