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Newsletter - October 2017

10/3/2017

New School Year, New Name
The 2017-2018 academic year has brought a new name for Lutheran Campus Ministry in St. Cloud - LuMin in St. Cloud. The LuMin name was unveiled at the 2016 ELCA Campus Ministry Staff Conference. The hope is that the new name will spark curiosity among students and bring nationwide recognition to the efforts of all of the ELCA’s campus ministries. For more information, check out lumin-network.com.

More Time, More Opportunity for Connection
Starting August 15, my hours increased from 20 to 25 hours per week. As I continue to live into my new schedule, I enjoy the increased intentionality and focus I find I can bring to LuMin events. The increase in hours also means that I have more time to explore new relationships with students, professors, and community members.

Weird and Faithful 2017
Last year, as we celebrated our 60th year on campus, I announced the beginning of a new annual event - Weird and Faithful. The idea is that LuMin in St. Cloud will scout out a person, lay or ordained, who is doing something that is both weird and faithful in ministry and bring them to St. Cloud to share their experiences with students, alumni, and supporters of campus ministry. For one night, people from all areas of our church’s life can share a meal and consider how God might be nudging them outside of their boxes all while supporting LuMin in St. Cloud.

On October 13, Pastor Margaret Kelly, a mission developer in the ELCA who formed a ministry around a food truck called Shobi’s Table, will share her experiences guiding a ministry that may look weird from the outside, but is faithful to Jesus' example of meeting people where they are. Their mission is to “provide food, friendship, faith, and employment skills to the homeless and near homeless people of St. Paul.” Details and tickets are available on Eventbrite now!

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Summer Sermon 2017 - Saul's Conversions

8/15/2017

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Acts 7:54-8:3
When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
“Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.
Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.
And Saul approved of their killing him.
That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

Acts 9:1-6
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Greetings to you and peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Abiding Holy Spirit.

Our reading from Acts relays the first time we meet Saul, the man who would later go by Paul, spread the the good news about Jesus to the Gentiles, and write the letters to the Corinthians, Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, and more, which make up a good portion of our New Testament. In the reading, we are given a look into two moments that would change the course of Saul’s life. Two moments in which Saul would examine the world he lived in and decide who he was going to be in it.

The first pivotal moment, Saul is around 30 years old. He is a young Pharisee, who cared deeply about God and his heritage. He is a witness to the escalating tension between the traditional Jews and the radical Jews who followed the Way of Jesus Christ. He was an immediate witness when that tension came to a head and a follower of the Way named Stephen was stoned to death by traditional Jewish leaders. Saul watched as Stephen was stoned, and he approved of what was happening because the law said to stone the people who tried to lead you astray. To lead you away from God. Saul worshiped the one true God and, as a member of the Jewish people, he was meant to be a light to the nations, and this man was threatening that.

So Saul dedicated his life to finding these radicalized and corrupted Jews who followed the Way and bring them to justice.

After some time, Saul was on his way to Damascus to continue on his mission to purify Jewish synagogues, Jesus comes to him in a bright light and asks him “Why are you persecuting me?” Then Jesus gives him instructions to indeed go to Damascus and there he would receive further instruction. The light faded and Saul realized that he was blind, but he continued to Damascus as he was told. Saul waited and prayed and thought for three days before a follower of the Way named Ananias came, healed Saul’s eyes, and filled him with the Holy Spirit. Saul was baptized and learned that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises that the Jews had been waiting for. Jesus was the Messiah.

So Saul dedicated his life to spreading the good news that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah God had promised to bring all the nations new life.

I have really struggled to pinpoint something that makes Saul’s conversion and dedication to Christ the right choice. I think it is unfair to simply paint this story as Saul dedicated his life to Christ and that was obviously the right choice, the good thing, because, you know, Jesus. Even though I believe that to be true, I think it does a disservice to this story to simplify it like that. It does a disservice to how complex living life can be both in Saul’s time and in ours. Judaism is still a robust and life-giving religion. God did not abandon them after Jesus. Saul choosing to preserve his Jewish heritage and faith is not a bad decision. His means is a whole different conversation. At the time, Judaism was being squeezed by the Romans on the outside, and now threatened by these radical Jews on the inside. Saul had reason to be concerned. His very identity was being threatened. When Saul converts to the Way, what is different from the traditional Jews? As far as I can see in the story, not much. Both had supportive communities to help those discerning truth, both prayed to God, and both were concerned with showing the truth about God to the rest of the world. What was it about Jesus that made Saul change his mind and his life?

Not simplifying sacred stories, but instead struggling with them is an important ability because we are then able to struggle with the not simple things happening around us. And seeing Jesus there. As a campus pastor, I wonder how many young adults are standing witness to the escalating tensions going on all around us and what decisions they are making about what they are going to dedicate their life to. After the stabbing happened in Crossroads Mall, I wondered how many SCSU students were there that night, what had they seen or experienced, and what sense were they making out of it. This winter, I stumbled across a video of a bus of St John’s students chanting “Build that wall. Build that wall.” Again I wondered what those students were witnessing about building and crossing boundaries and what they were going to dedicate their lives to. How many young adults are holding our coats and standing witness right now? How does Jesus break into these moments?

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t give us those details. What was it that Saul thought about for three days? What did Ananias and the other followers of the Way tell Saul exactly?

Even though we don’t know what caused Saul to repent, what phrase or feeling, we do know what got everything started. Jesus came and asked Saul “Why?” which really is a weird thing for Jesus to ask. Why would Jesus the son of God need to come down and ask why? Shouldn’t he already know? Shouldn’t he just get in Saul’s face and tell him to knock it off? Aren’t we the ones who should be asking God why? Jesus is the son of God, and Jesus is the son of a Jewish woman, and as a Jew, Jesus knew that faithfulness and truth and love emerge from asking good questions. Jesus met Saul with a question instead of a command. That question changed Saul’s life, and the life of our faith.

My challenge to you is to bear Jesus’ "why?" with you in this time of confusion and escalation. Why are things this way? Why is this happening? Why am I doing this? Bring Jesus’ "why?" with you wherever you go. Bring it to your co-workers, to your children, to our leaders, and to our young adults. When Jesus asks “why,” light shines and lives are changed. Amen.

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Newsletter - February 2017

2/23/2017

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Let the Light Shine
Aside from being a type of lamp, a torchiere was a stand used to hold candles. Just as a light is no good hidden beneath a bushel basket, it isn’t very good far from where you need it. Torchieres were helpful because they allowed a person to move their candle, their source of light, right where they needed it. That is what you do for LuMin in St. Cloud. You provide a place for the light of Christ to shine in and on the students of St. Cloud State University, right on campus.

One Year in Our New Way
LuMin in St. Cloud has just finished our first full year with our new pastor and without a church building, which means that we have completed our first year as a fundraising ministry.
Our long term goal is to get the pastor’s position to full-time. More time means more opportunities to meet with students and make sure they have the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical support they need as they learn what it means to be an adult and a Christian in a post-modern world. It looks like we are on track to bump up my hours from 20 hours/week to 25 hours/week at the start of the next academic year.

Exposed
Last year for Bible study, we met in a room adjacent to Garvey. This year the students thought it would be better if we held our Bible study in the cafeteria instead of just outside of it. What a difference it has made! In the midst of talking about Jesus and discipleship, the students of LuMin, our LuMinaries, greet and chat with their friends and invite them to join us. Mostly we end up talking about classes and movies, but I feel LuMin is much more a part of life on campus now that we are exposed and engaged.

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A Reflection upon the 60th Anniversary of LCM in St. Cloud

9/16/2016

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Welcome to our 60th Anniversary Celebration.

I’m Pastor Courtney Young, and I’m the new Lutheran Campus Pastor at SCSU. I actually went to St. Olaf for my college education so part of my work here has been to figure out what Lutheran Campus Ministry is both in St. Cloud and in general as part of the ELCA. As I’ve been digging into the history of this organization, there has been a lot of other conversations going on about the impending 500th anniversary of the Reformation. We Lutherans really like to talk about the Reformation, but we don’t like to talk about what reformation implies. Really, reformation is just a fancy way of talking about change and with change always comes sacrifice. Sometimes we choose the sacrifices we make, sometimes we are forced by circumstances to make sacrifices and adapt.

Now, as I’ve been learning about the history of campus ministry here in St. Cloud, I’ve heard many different stories of reformation and sacrifice. First, I heard how this ministry grew out of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and eventually became its own standalone ministry. They reformed so that they could have closer ties to campus and to other campus ministries, but there was sacrifice there - they lost intimacy with the community at Bethlehem. The second big change that I heard about was when they sold the houses to found University Lutheran Church of the Epiphany. They reformed so that they could draw together a more diverse community around worship. They sacrificed some of the everyday, run-of-the-mill moments that are more likely to happen in a ministry that functions out of a house. The third change, which I’ve heard the most about, is the closing of University Lutheran Church of the Epiphany. So far this has been the only major story in LCM@SCSU’s history where they had reformation and sacrifice thrust upon them. At least, the only major story that I’ve heard. They sacrificed much - a worshipping community, a building near campus. The change has brought opportunities too, now I work where the students work and my focus has turned entirely to campus and exploring what students today need from the church.

A key part of our ongoing reformation has been continually asking ourselves how can students and churches and alumni and supporters can be served by and stay connected to Lutheran Campus Ministry. Tonight is not only a chance for us to celebrate 60 years of ministry at St. Cloud State University but it is also the start of developing news ways to be in relationship with one another.

O God, we give you thanks for those who founded Lutheran Campus Ministry in St. Cloud 60 years ago and for those who nurtured it in all of its forms. You have promised through your Son to be with your church forever, and we give you thanks for the signs of your presence in our midst, then and now. We rest in assurance that you walk with us still, even as we endeavor to gather in a new way as a Christian community. Increase in us the spirit of faith and love and make our fellowship an example to all believers. We pray through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Summer Sermon 2016 - Disturb the Law

8/15/2016

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Mark 2:23-3:6
One sabbath [Jesus] was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”
And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Greetings to you and peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Abiding Holy Spirit.

These two little stories in Mark give us the chance to consider what our relationship is to the law. Now I am using law in the broadest sense. Law is something that is part of creation to provide order, health, and meaning. There are many things that serve as law in our lives - natural laws like gravity, traditions, rituals, civic law, manners, morality, protocol, culture and on and on it goes. And all of these things are good because God created them either directly or through our existence so that we can have order, health, and meaning in our lives. These laws make our very lives possible. They come together so that we can breathe, that we can talk and walk, that we can communicate, create poetry, make sense of the world we live in.

The two little stories in Mark consider how to properly observe the Sabbath. In Jesus’ time the Jews had very precise rules of things that you could do on the Sabbath and, more importantly, things you could not do.

In the first story Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field. His disciples pluck some of the grain, presumably to eat, and the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. Jesus was accountable for what his disciples did because he directed their actions; he was their teacher. Jesus brings up the plain fact that his disciples are hungry, and the Sabbath was made for humanity and not the other way around. The Sabbath was created to meet needs, not to aggravate them.

In the second story Jesus meets a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees are waiting to see what he is going to do. Jesus gets angry at them. This is the only time in all the gospels that Jesus is described as angry. Here they have a man who needs help and they are paralyzed by their desire to keep the Sabbath to the letter of the law that they will not help him. Jesus saw them and was angry as their hard hearts. Jesus healed the man with the withered hand.

In both stories when the Pharisees question Jesus’ dedication to the law, Jesus notices people’s needs. He notices his disciples hunger, and he notices the pain the man’s hand brings him, whether physical or emotional. Jesus notices people. He notices their need for care or nourishment and responds.

Here’s the tension that we as Christians have to live with. Every day our lives are governed by laws - rituals, traditions, natural law, manners, civic law. These laws are good. They give necessary structure to our lives. Even the practice and expression of Christianity itself is a whole set and series of laws - the church seasons, the books that compose the Bible, when we sing certain hymns and when we don’t, having a church council, voting on calling a pastor. All of this is good and necessary so that we can gather together around the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So that we can remember and join in his story. But Jesus shows us that we have to keep our eye on the people these laws and protocols and traditions are supposed to serve. The Sabbath was created for humanity, but Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus, as the second person in the Trinity, is not only gracious in giving us law so that we can have order, health, and meaning in our lives; Jesus is also gracious that laws can change. They are not forever. Because what is forever is Jesus’ love and care for humanity. The structure that expresses that love needs to change from time to time so that the love can continue to be shown. Jesus doesn’t break the laws in these two stories. He doesn’t do away with the law. We still need it. We still encourage ourselves to keep a Sabbath day. Instead, Jesus disturbs the law. He disturbs the law within the Pharisees. Some synonyms for the word disturb - amaze, annoy, complicate, confuse, excite, frighten, vex, worry. He disturbs the law, and since we are creatures that need law, many times Jesus disturbs us too. It would be disturbing to see a man you had known all your life with a useless hand, stretch it out into the light to see that it was strong and functional.

One reason I love being in campus ministry is there are few other places in our lives that we take being disturbed by the law so seriously. I am honored that I get to walk with these students as they have to face the realities of our world thoughtfully - race, gender, happiness, poverty, innovation, tradition, sustainability, and on and on it goes. Another reason I love being a part of our campus ministry in St. Cloud is because my students and I have the opportunity to disturb the law and ask, “Does this practice serve the development or maintenance of my faith or my faith community? Could we do this a different way so that my faith makes more sense in my day to day life?” Especially in our case since we are a campus ministry without a building. Our ministry was reborn asking the question does a church need a building to be a church? How much of our community gathering can be done online and how much do we yearn for face-to-face gathering time? How do you worship without musicians? We learn by being disturbed. Disruption encourages questions. Good questions lead us back to Jesus.

Now as you all go back out into the world - and I have to be honest here - for me, it feels like a big, futile, burdensome mess of a world right now. Our country, our schools, our churches are all having all sorts of conversations about how well our laws are serving the people they should serve. Do not get sucked into the catchphrases or the buzzy hashtags. Keep your eye on the people. Listen to their stories. See their needs. Be disturbed. When you see the law disturbed or feel the law disturbed within yourself, I hope you also see Jesus. I hope you see Jesus’ grace and love winding its way into our reality and giving us the chance for renewal and healing. Amen.

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Newsletter - August 2016

8/10/2016

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Time for a Change
My name is Pastor Courtney Young. I am the new campus pastor here at Saint Cloud State University as of August 15, 2015. Over the past couple of years Lutheran Campus Ministry at SCSU was obliged to change. University Lutheran Church of the Epiphany was officially closed in the fall of 2015. The building was sold, and it continues its life as a place of worship for a new people. When I was called I was given the challenge, honor, and joy of finding a new way of life for this ministry - a ministry without a building in a postmodern and pluralistic world. I don’t have an office. Instead, I meet with students and get my work done in the student center, the library, and the cafeteria. I am where the students are. The students and I are having fun popping up all over campus. We hold our weekly Bible study in Garvey and meet up at the Caribou Coffee in Atwood to chat.

Different Form, Same Purpose
Even though our form has changed, our purpose has not. Just like those who came before us, we are passionate about sharing Jesus with young adults. Our new purpose statement is that we are a safe community at St Cloud State University that welcomes, loves, and affirms others as we walk humbly with God on our spiritual journey. Young adults need trusted companions as they navigate what it means to follow Jesus in an uncertain landscape. I am honored that I get to be one of those trusted companions.

Meet Us on the Road
You are receiving this invitation and newsletter because your name was given to us as a supporter or alumni of campus ministry. I hope I get to meet you in person at our 60th or when I get out into congregations around St. Cloud or the Twin Cities to preach and talk about young adults and campus ministry.

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Report to Great River Conference Assembly

2/21/2016

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2015 gave Lutheran Campus Ministry a fresh start. The Lutheran Campus Ministry Board worked hard to call a new half-time pastor - Courtney Young. She started August 15th, 2015. She received an exemption from the "three-year rule" so that she could be ordained into a non-traditional setting, which occurred on Nov. 29th, 2015. She has been working to get familiar with campus, students, and the rhythms of life at St. Cloud State University. Courtney and the students have regular Bible study, a new service opportunity with Fare for All and Salem Lutheran Church, just held their first worship service on campus, and went on their first retreat. Courtney is also working to build and strengthen relationships between the conference churches and Lutheran Campus Ministry in St. Cloud. They are looking forward to celebrating their 60th anniversary in the fall of 2016.

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Newsletter - October 2017

Summer Sermon 2017 - Saul's Conversions

Newsletter - February 2017

A Reflection upon the 60th Anniversary of LCM in St. Cloud

Summer Sermon 2016 - Disturb the Law

Newsletter - August 2016

Report to Great River Conference Assembly

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