September 2014 – A Seminarian’s Letters Home

Greetings to you all from Evanston, IL! Another summer of great ministry is over now, and it’s time to resume the rush of books, papers, classes and meetings that is graduate school. This semester, I’ll be serving as the teaching assistant for a class on early Christian history. I’m looking forward to sharing with my students some of the stuff I discovered during summer research, and that I got to pass along to all of you in our adult Ed classes.

This month, we inaugurate our new program year. We spent the last year thinking about who we are as Circle of Faith, learning about ourselves as a baptized, worshipping community. Now is the time to address the question, “We’re baptized – so now what?” That’s why we have God’s Work Our Hands Sunday on September 7^th, and why we have the Harvest Homecoming celebration on September 14^th. We have been baptized and put on this earth for a reason. We are here to be caretakers of God’s gifts, and to share our own gifts with everyone to point back to the God who loves us all. We’ll be spending a lot of time working on this over the next year, and I’m looking forward to how it goes. Blessings as you wade with us all into the deep waters of what Christian life and calling is!

As we enter the autumn season of harvest, colors, gold T-shirts, and learning, let us pray for God’s blessing, using these words:

Almighty God, your Holy Spirit equips the church with a rich variety of gifts. Grant that we may use them to bear witness to Christ in lives that are built on faith and love. Make us ready to live the gospel and eager to do your will, so that we may share with all your church in the joys of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen. [ELW, Congregational Ministries]

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your fellow member and pilgrim,

Carl P. Rabbe, M.Div.