Advent
Following Thanksgiving recess, the end of term rush of papers,
projects, and exams tends to occupy the minds and hearts of everyone on
campus. Let's not forget, in the midst of this hectic (if not
frantic) season of the academic year, that we are also in the midst of
that most wonderful of seasons of the church year: Advent!
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Latin Complines
We'll be singing the compline office in Latin, using the traditional
chants, on the second Sunday of Advent (December 6) and on
Gaudete (December 13), at
8:00 PM, at the Lutheran Campus Chapel. This is a free event
and it is open to the public. Please join us and bring a friend
or two along. Compline is intended to be participatory. No
one is required to sing along, but, if you are comfortable doing so,
you may add your voice as little or as much as you like.
Remember, it is perfectly acceptable to participate by merely attending
to what is being sung.
Compline is the last prayer office of the day. It last about twenty minutes. It is contemplative in nature.
Given the hectic pace of life in general, compline offers a
spiritual alternative. Compline answers vapid
frivolity with meaningful solemnity, rushed noise with peaceful silence,
and mundane profanity with sublime transcendence. For some, it is
simply a chance to enjoy an ancient musical form. For still
others, it is an opportunity to sample something from our past.
Prior to compline, a public educational offering, "Putting the
School Back in Schola," will provide some basic instruction in
Gregorian chant. Learn neumatic notation and some of the
techniques associated with this venerable musical form. This
begins at 7:00 PM.
Sunday Mass: New Time for Advent
We're going to experiment with the Sunday schedule a little. Mass
will
be moved to 9:00 PM. This will be a somewhat abridged liturgy,
e.g., only one lesson, one hymn, etc.. Mass will return to its
normal time in January when we return from Christmas recess.
Final Fortnight: Extra Devotions and Fellowship
During the final fortnight of the term, we will pray sext and compline
every weekday at 12:30 PM and 9:45 PM respectively. A light lunch
will follow sext. Ten-Chow (chow at 10:00 PM) will follow compline.
Sext, the midday prayer office, is only 10 minutes in length.
Compline, the last prayer office of the day, is about 15 minutes.
Both provide an wonderful moment of peace in the midst of all the noise.
LDRCC Picks LARRI
The Lutheran Disaster Response Collegiate Corps has made arrangements
to deploy, over the Spring break, to NW indiana to assist with on-going
flood recovery operations. LDRCC has 20 slots reserved. If
you are interested in participating,
contact us.
Funding Cuts Expected
A recent communiqué from the Vocation & Education Program
Unit of the ELCA warns of expected funding cuts for campus ministries
before the end of this fiscal year. A series of cuts earlier in
this fiscal year affected ELCA related colleges and seminaries.
Staffing cuts at the national office were made throughout the program
unit, meaning the elimination of the three deployed directors for
campus ministry among others. Grants for campus ministries was
the only line not cut at the time.
While we are informed that the grant level for 2010 will be the same as
that originally projected for 2009, we are also informed that on-going
developments in ELCA mission support may necessitate future
reductions. It is not known at this time
if the LCM@WVU will have it's 2009 grant from the ELCA reduced, but we
are not
optimistic. The politico-economic realities of the ELCA are such
that campus
ministry, if it is to continue to bear witness, will need to raise more
and more of its own financial support. You can help. We
will be working in the next few days to revamp our webpages related to
support. We invite you to visit again and check out those
pages. In the meantime, we're happy to answer your
questions. Simply
contact us.
Chaplain to Head Study
The West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod Council has appointed Chap.
Riegel to head a study on the structures of the ELCA and alternatives
to them. At its November retreat, the synod council discussed
Riegel's synod assembly resolution "to memorialize the churchwide
assembly to initiate a process for the orderly and amicable dissolution
of the ELCA into multiple judicatories." While that resolution
failed, garnering only 25% of the vote at the June 2009 WV-WMD Synod
Assembly, some voices on the synod council complained that the question
was called too soon during debate and that the landscape of the ELCA
has changed enough since then to warrant reexamination of the question.
(Un)Bible Study Wraps Up
Glenn Propst led the last session of The (Un)Bible Study on December 2,
2009. This study, sponsored by the Lutheran Student Movement
(LSM), ran throughout the fall semester, exploring the noncanonical
texts which you've heard talked about in various media outlets but may
have never had the opportunity to read. Glenn is to be commended
for tackling this difficult project and for his diligence in research
and presentation.
One might well ask, "Why even examine these writings?" Given
their popularity in the media of late, it makes sense to actually read
them rather than to depend upon second hand accounts. Some of the
texts, such as the
Didache,
First Clement,
Epistle of Barnabas, were positively regarded in their day and give a glimpse into the life of the early church. Others, such as the
Gospel of Thomas and other gnostic writings, are all the rage among those critical of orthodox Christianity. Still others, such as
Ethiopic Enoch,
reflect out the apocalypticism of the age. Be assured, this
campus ministry recognizes only the canon as authoritative.
Nevertheless, familiarity with these writings isn't a bad idea for
those confronted by the modern proponents these texts.
Reformation
Daze! Fun & Informative
Reformation in an American Jacksonian Key
Our celebration of the Reformation began and ended an ante-bellum
American Lutheran liturgy, the General
Synod liturgy of 1832. Hymn selection was even period as all the
hymns were drawn from the 1839 printing of the 1828 English language
hymnal in use at that time.
Our practice of the past several years of resurrecting an historic
Lutheran liturgy explores the maxim,
Semper
ecclesia reformanda,
by experiencing the on-going reform of
worship. Up to this point, we've done Luther's
German Mass (in
German), Muhlenberg's liturgy, Schmucker's
Provisional Liturgy of 1862,
the Washington Service, the
Army & Navy Service Book (Great War),
and the Common Service incarnations of 1888, 1917 (
CSB), and 1958
(
SBH).
It was a rare opportunity to hear Jacksonian language and experience
that form this year. If you or your congregation is interested in
reprising an historic liturgy for an anniversary or just to learn
something new (or experience something old),
contact us. We're happy to help.
Charles V's iPOD
On Monday night, Oct. 26, we held a Brot und Bier mit Doktorin
Mary
Ferer. Dr. Ferer shared with us her research into the music
of the court of Charles V. Charles V was the Holy Roman Emperor
before which Luther appeared at the Diet of Worms. It was truly
fascinating to explore a side of Charles V which is simply
not discussed in the typical Lutheran retelling of the
Reformation. Did you know that court musicians where the spin
doctors of the 16th century? Or that Charles V had such a good
ear that he could spot musical plagiarism? Or that he traveled
with a retinue of 1500?
Luther
Tuesday night was movie night. At the request of students, we
showed the historic 1953 movie,
Martin Luther.
That black & white calssic never grows old. We're still
trying to find the silent movie made in the 1920s. Let us know if
you have a lead on it.
Wurst
If it is wurst, it has to be good! The Wurst Dinner on Campus was
held Wednesday, and, for the first time, we ran out of potatoes and
sauerkraut. A bumper crop of hungry students descended upon the
Chapel, devouring the tastey wursts with much conversation and
laughter. We were also blessed to have some faculty and even
parishioners from Fairmont join us. Next year, we make 30 lbs. of
potatoes.
War
The Mountaineer War College joined our celebration by holding a wargame
night in the undercroft on Friday. The featured game will be
Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation,
1517-1555.
This rare wargame integrates combat, economics,
politics, and even theological disputation in one game. It must
be reported that Heston Glenn, playing the Protestants was sweeping
through the Holy Roman empire, converting Catholics to the Protetant
movement with seemingly unstoppable energy. The Papacy, played by
inveterate Paprist Martin Smay, attempted to excommunicate Luther, but
Glenn responded by throwing the "I Protest" card, nullifying the Papal
Bull. The MWC hopes to reprise this game before the end of the
academic year. If you enjoy this sort of things, visit the
MCW fbGroup.
Splat
On Saturday, we spent the day paintballing at the nearby Mountain
Valley Paintball Park. Rain, football, and other lame excuses
resulted in a low turnout, but, for those of us there, it was a
ridculously good time. Playing hard from 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM,
with only a break for lunch (which included a brief explanation of the
role of the
Schmalkaldischer Bund
in the Reformation), we walked off the field of battle covered in paint
and bruises but exultant even in our exhaustion. We are doing
this again! We also highly recommend the
Mountain Valley Paintball Park:
thanks guys for showing us a great time! Hey, Boas, I still need
a copy of the photo you took so that I can replace the old one posted
here.
Synod Assembly Report
Just too much has been going on since the
last update of this page. So, we're working late tonight to get
everything in order.
The Report to the 2009
Synod Assemblies is posted here.
Click on the link and take the quiz. If you have already taken
the quiz, just scroll down to the bottom of the quiz to click on the
answers.
HSC Luncheon Update
HSC Luncheon is an
opportunity to gather informally for lunch in the HSC Cafeteria.
We meet Thursdays at 12:00 noon in the HSC
Cafeteria.
Look for us at a table in the far corner from the
entrance. These luncheons are open to faculty, staff,
students, and anyone else that happens to be at the HSC.
Lutheran Monastery Reaches Out to Collegians & Seminarians
St. Augustine's House, the only Lutheran monastery in the USA is
issuing a special invitation to collegians and seminarians to visit
"for a time (whether long or short) of formation in the life of
prayer." For more information about St. Augustine's House, visit
http://www.StAugustinesHouse.org
or speak with Chap. Riegel.
eMail List
In the never ending quest to improve communications, we're switching
our e-mail announcements to Yahoo! Groups. With this "list-serve"
system, we hope to provide a convenient way for you to receive up to
date information about the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU. This
is an announcements-only service. Only posts sent from the
LCM@WVU
office will be sent. We promise that there will be no chain
letters, inspirational spams, or jokes sent via this service.
Signing up is easy (and so is unsubscribing). Just fill in the
box and hit [return]. If you would like more information about
service,
click here. Oh, you don't
have to be a Yahoo! member to take advantage of this service.
A Fan Page on FaceBook®
We've added a "fan page" on facebook.
We're not sure how well it will do, but we're giving it a shot.
By clicking
here,
you can visit the site and decide if you would like to "become a
fan." If this develops the way we hope it does, this "fan page"
will become an important place to get information and share ideas about
the LCM@WVU.
This addition augments are previous developments on facebook.
Facebook groups have been started for
LSM@WVU
(our university recognized student group),
Lutheran
Campus Ministry Alumni/ae,
Schola
Cantorum (our early sacred music ensemble), and the
Lutheran
Disaster Response Collegiate Corps. A full list of all our
associated facebook groups can be found at the
fan page.
If you are on facebook, feel free to join up.
Remember, whenever you see
, you can click on the badge to
access pages on facebook related to the article.
Meet the Chaplain
If you are on FaceBook, click the badge to meet Chap. Riegel.
"Support" Pages On-Line
In an effort to make easier for you to
support the LCM@WVU, we've now upgraded to allow supporters to make
donations using any one of four major credit cards. There is much
more
to supporting the LCM@WVU. The thematic design of our support
webpages
provides a way for your to navigate through the options and perhaps
discover things you had not even considered. Although the
redesign is
not
complete,
you can check out the substantial progress at...
Supporting LCM@WVU
More
News
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| Dave & Paul rafting |
There's more to tell than fits on this page! If you would like to
get a feel for the life of the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU, one way
to do it is visit our "
News & Olds"
pages. Find out about past worship offerings, fellowship
and
service events, educational programming, and other matters related to
the
campus ministry.
General Information
If you would like to read more about the Lutheran Campus Ministry at
WVU,
please visit our "general information" page where you will find "At a
Glance"
and "FAQs."
Click here.
Footnotes
