Thursday was the last day of Dr. Michael Rodewald before leaving for a Christmas furlough in the United States and home for him. His family was there already and only his son Caleb was still with him here in Pretoria. A good time for father and son according to their comments on Thursday evening when they came over to Rubida Street 196 for a last dinner farewell.
As usual we had good fun together and good even get talking on a number of common issues: Seminary and Church business mainly, but Africa and the USA featured too. I am glad for this close partnership with Mike and his office of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's World Mission Africa - and not only because he can hopefully carry a number of the Seminary books back here, when he returns with his family early in January. The Hoffmeiers will be very glad that some more of those many books stored at their home in South Illinois will leave with him.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Salome van Niekerk on Holiday
After the first five months at Seminary, Salome van Niekerk, has gone on a well earned vacation. She has made a considerable difference to the work at the Lutheran Theological Seminary by getting things addressed, opened, filed and dealt with. She's a good contact for students, staff and visitors, knowing where things are and when things happen. Now we are hopeful to see her again at the beginning of January.
Bishop and Director of Missions coming to visit
Last week Bishop Hans-Joerg Voigt [Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church - SELK - from Hannover, Germany] and the CEO of Missions of Lutheran Churches Markus Nietzke [Lutherische Kirchenmission from Bleckmar, Germany] visited South Africa and also the Seminary.
They arrived safe and sound on Monday at O.T. Tambo, where I picked them up to start their busy tour through Southern Africa. Today they are leaving again for Germany after their whirlwind tour up and down the eastern parts of SA.
On Monday we visited the Theological faculty at the University of Pretoria. The SELK has decided to free Prof. Dr. habil. Werner Klaen and make him available for the Lutheran Chair of theology at UP. That is a sign of confidence in this work. We need to raise the required funds still, but the gesture is there. Hopefully this can work out rather sooner than later. It is obvious that financial constraints everywhere are influencing a lot of decisions and ways forward. We will have to see, how best to continue to raise money not only to do the work of the Seminary, but also of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.
We had a very intensive discussion throughout the day and long into the night. I wanted to hear why Markus Nietzke has taken a call into the dual-parish in Hermannsburg [Kl.Kreuz/Bleckmar] and no longer standing as CEO of the Mission. This will impact on our work too, because he was always very supportive of the Seminary work. However the Bishop assured me that the new candidate for this post, would not dramatically shift this focus. Perhaps it can be worked out that various mission and church partners can concentrate their efforts to maximize their impact. Let's see, what can be done!
I was impressed by options at Ramathea in Botswana and also in Wartburg in KwaZulu/Natal. Both options were raised by brother Christoph Weber and I think they will make the work of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa even more effective, relevant and successful.
On Tuesday it was examination of the Sebeelo brothers from Botswana. Bishop David Tswaedi DD, Markus Nietzke and myself were on the examination panel. The brothers did a good job and I learnt a lot too from their sermon, catechesis and mission task. This took most of the morning because afterwards the Bishop, the students and I went to have lunch together to catch up on the developments in Botswana and in their respective congregations. It was a very enjoyable time together!
Later in the afternoon the shareholders of the Lutheran Theological Seminary [LCSA, MLC and FELSiSA] finally signed the shareholders agreement. That was a brief ceremony - short and sweet - after which our German guests left for KwaZulu/Natal. The trip to the airport was another chance to discuss cooperation and continued partnership between SELK and LCSA. Always the time is very short and there is always such a lot left unsaid. Our thoughts, words and deeds remain unfinished drafts. We are beggars that's the truth! Luther is spot-on.
Friday Markus Nietzke and brother Christoph slept over on their way from KwaZulu to Botswana. This also was very fruitful, because Christoph as representative of Mission of Lutheran Church in South Africa has a lot of ideas himself. It was good to catch up on those too. Especially the idea of sending pastors children to Wartburg High School on a bursary basis and promoting Ramathea Ranch in Botswana were new idea to me. However I think they are very practical and hopefully we can go through with them - soon.
After a hearty breakfast on Saturday these two mission friends left for Ventersdorp on their way to Gaborone in Botswana, where the Sebeelo brothers were to be ordained on the 3. Sunday in Advent.
They arrived safe and sound on Monday at O.T. Tambo, where I picked them up to start their busy tour through Southern Africa. Today they are leaving again for Germany after their whirlwind tour up and down the eastern parts of SA.
On Monday we visited the Theological faculty at the University of Pretoria. The SELK has decided to free Prof. Dr. habil. Werner Klaen and make him available for the Lutheran Chair of theology at UP. That is a sign of confidence in this work. We need to raise the required funds still, but the gesture is there. Hopefully this can work out rather sooner than later. It is obvious that financial constraints everywhere are influencing a lot of decisions and ways forward. We will have to see, how best to continue to raise money not only to do the work of the Seminary, but also of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.
We had a very intensive discussion throughout the day and long into the night. I wanted to hear why Markus Nietzke has taken a call into the dual-parish in Hermannsburg [Kl.Kreuz/Bleckmar] and no longer standing as CEO of the Mission. This will impact on our work too, because he was always very supportive of the Seminary work. However the Bishop assured me that the new candidate for this post, would not dramatically shift this focus. Perhaps it can be worked out that various mission and church partners can concentrate their efforts to maximize their impact. Let's see, what can be done!
I was impressed by options at Ramathea in Botswana and also in Wartburg in KwaZulu/Natal. Both options were raised by brother Christoph Weber and I think they will make the work of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa even more effective, relevant and successful.
On Tuesday it was examination of the Sebeelo brothers from Botswana. Bishop David Tswaedi DD, Markus Nietzke and myself were on the examination panel. The brothers did a good job and I learnt a lot too from their sermon, catechesis and mission task. This took most of the morning because afterwards the Bishop, the students and I went to have lunch together to catch up on the developments in Botswana and in their respective congregations. It was a very enjoyable time together!
Later in the afternoon the shareholders of the Lutheran Theological Seminary [LCSA, MLC and FELSiSA] finally signed the shareholders agreement. That was a brief ceremony - short and sweet - after which our German guests left for KwaZulu/Natal. The trip to the airport was another chance to discuss cooperation and continued partnership between SELK and LCSA. Always the time is very short and there is always such a lot left unsaid. Our thoughts, words and deeds remain unfinished drafts. We are beggars that's the truth! Luther is spot-on.
Friday Markus Nietzke and brother Christoph slept over on their way from KwaZulu to Botswana. This also was very fruitful, because Christoph as representative of Mission of Lutheran Church in South Africa has a lot of ideas himself. It was good to catch up on those too. Especially the idea of sending pastors children to Wartburg High School on a bursary basis and promoting Ramathea Ranch in Botswana were new idea to me. However I think they are very practical and hopefully we can go through with them - soon.
After a hearty breakfast on Saturday these two mission friends left for Ventersdorp on their way to Gaborone in Botswana, where the Sebeelo brothers were to be ordained on the 3. Sunday in Advent.
Obed Gyabaa pops in at St. Pauls
Elders at St. Paul's had requested my service for today. That's why I conducted the divine liturgy there. Angelika and Friederike are part of the choir and so we went there before eight already. It's not so bad, seeing our sun is up by 5h00 and the Diedericks cuckoo is already calling by that time. Even the Sunday Independent is delivered by then.
Professor Stephans Grove accompanied the hymns on the organ and so the music was a delight for the ears. The Advent hymns are such pleasure to sing. Perhaps because of their familiarity? Or is it because of good memories? Or is it just plain good music? Grove off course sees to it that we also sing Martin Luther's transcript of the Nicene Creed on the 2nd Sunday in the month. As it's still the 3rd Sunday in Advent there was no "Soli Deo gloria", but the Halleluja verse for Advent. Still some people say the liturgy is always the same. I think thats mainly due to overlooking these propers changing from Sunday to Sunday and also from Church season to Church season.
From the pulpit it's easy to pick up whose there and whose missing. Guests from Wittenberg like the Reinstorfs or from Temba like Reinhild and her entourage are worth mentioning. After church we caught up on developments on their side. However I was most pleased to see Obed Gyabaa from Ghana there. He studied at the LTS in 2008 after finding out about the Seminary via the Internet. Parallel to his engineering studies through UNISA he successfully completed the first introductory year at LTS studying Greek, Hebrew, New Testament Introduction and Augsburg Confession paying his own way. Well, in 2009 he concentrated entirely on his engineering studies, no longer living at the LTS, but rather with his brother in Johannesburg. This concentration paid off and he has passed his 2nd year too. He is willing to join the LTS again in 2010. Let's see if that works out. Anyway - he looks great, happy and healthy. So I really was overjoyed that he came after Church to greet.
Children, teenagers and members of the youth were all gone for their respective retreats in Hermannsburg, Wartburg and Luneburg. So we did have a number of empty seats at Church and didn't get around to sing all those hymns selected for the celebration of the Lord's Supper because time just flew by too quickly.
Serving at St. Pauls was again a great pleasure and thankfully they ask my now and again to conduct the divine service. It is true: "Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells."
Professor Stephans Grove accompanied the hymns on the organ and so the music was a delight for the ears. The Advent hymns are such pleasure to sing. Perhaps because of their familiarity? Or is it because of good memories? Or is it just plain good music? Grove off course sees to it that we also sing Martin Luther's transcript of the Nicene Creed on the 2nd Sunday in the month. As it's still the 3rd Sunday in Advent there was no "Soli Deo gloria", but the Halleluja verse for Advent. Still some people say the liturgy is always the same. I think thats mainly due to overlooking these propers changing from Sunday to Sunday and also from Church season to Church season.
From the pulpit it's easy to pick up whose there and whose missing. Guests from Wittenberg like the Reinstorfs or from Temba like Reinhild and her entourage are worth mentioning. After church we caught up on developments on their side. However I was most pleased to see Obed Gyabaa from Ghana there. He studied at the LTS in 2008 after finding out about the Seminary via the Internet. Parallel to his engineering studies through UNISA he successfully completed the first introductory year at LTS studying Greek, Hebrew, New Testament Introduction and Augsburg Confession paying his own way. Well, in 2009 he concentrated entirely on his engineering studies, no longer living at the LTS, but rather with his brother in Johannesburg. This concentration paid off and he has passed his 2nd year too. He is willing to join the LTS again in 2010. Let's see if that works out. Anyway - he looks great, happy and healthy. So I really was overjoyed that he came after Church to greet.
Children, teenagers and members of the youth were all gone for their respective retreats in Hermannsburg, Wartburg and Luneburg. So we did have a number of empty seats at Church and didn't get around to sing all those hymns selected for the celebration of the Lord's Supper because time just flew by too quickly.
Serving at St. Pauls was again a great pleasure and thankfully they ask my now and again to conduct the divine service. It is true: "Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells."
Sunday, December 6, 2009
A new rector at LTS? Bishop Tswaedi the ideal candidate!
Nobody at Seminary or on its Board of directors had anticipated that I would be elected to become the 3rd Bishop of the LCSA. That is why we did not have contingency plans in place for this. However due to the difficult financial situation at Seminary I had looked at a number of options, which could possibly relieve the LTS of this burden. That is why there have been some alternatives for the LTS Board of Directors to consider all along.
Presently we are most encouraged by Bishop Tswaedi's willingness to give up on his original plans to start a PhD in Concordia Seminary St. Louis [USA] and rather jump in to address this higher priority concern of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. This has been communicated to the Board and we will have to see how this will work out. Therefore it seems quite likely that he will be the next rector at the LTS starting in 2010 as his duties as Bishop are handed over to his successor.
Added to this option we feel that the Seminary should have an administrator and obviously an ideal candidate would be President Peter Ahlers, who excels at admin and who is retiring from being president this month anyway. That would give the FELSiSA a first-hand look into Seminary matters and would also give Bishop Tswaedi welcome assistance in this work at Seminary. If this does not work out, there might be another candidate from LCMS WM, whose name Dr. Mike Rodewald has brought up. Let's see how this will proceed.
Thirdly we have thought that just as Bishop Tswaedi was always closely connected to the Seminary in teaching New Testament subjects, I could possibly continue with teaching Lutheran Symbolics and Systematics for the time being. Let's see how the the Seminary Board will view these prospects.
The decisions are to be felled by tomorrow afternoon, because the three shareholders of the Seminary: Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa and the Mission of Lutheran Churches are to hear and sanctify these options too.
Presently we are most encouraged by Bishop Tswaedi's willingness to give up on his original plans to start a PhD in Concordia Seminary St. Louis [USA] and rather jump in to address this higher priority concern of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. This has been communicated to the Board and we will have to see how this will work out. Therefore it seems quite likely that he will be the next rector at the LTS starting in 2010 as his duties as Bishop are handed over to his successor.
Added to this option we feel that the Seminary should have an administrator and obviously an ideal candidate would be President Peter Ahlers, who excels at admin and who is retiring from being president this month anyway. That would give the FELSiSA a first-hand look into Seminary matters and would also give Bishop Tswaedi welcome assistance in this work at Seminary. If this does not work out, there might be another candidate from LCMS WM, whose name Dr. Mike Rodewald has brought up. Let's see how this will proceed.
Thirdly we have thought that just as Bishop Tswaedi was always closely connected to the Seminary in teaching New Testament subjects, I could possibly continue with teaching Lutheran Symbolics and Systematics for the time being. Let's see how the the Seminary Board will view these prospects.
The decisions are to be felled by tomorrow afternoon, because the three shareholders of the Seminary: Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa and the Mission of Lutheran Churches are to hear and sanctify these options too.
President Mueller SID on the LCSA election
Dear Brothers in Christ Jesus!
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in Jesus, our coming King!
Thank you for your recent letters keeping us informed of the results of the 15th Synod of the LCSA. Both of you have been quite open and helpful to us in your responses. We also saw, before our meeting last evening, the pictures Dr. Weber put up on his face-book page. In our hearts, we wished that we could have been present with you!
In our meeting December 3rd, members of our Southern Illinois District Task Force for our Mission Partnership with the LCSA and LCMS World Mission spent significant time in prayer. We had already planned for this meeting to be focused on Scripture and prayer, but news from the 15th General Synod of the LCSA doubly focused our hearts on laying before the Lord of the Church the needs of both the SID and the LCSA. After a study of Colossians 3:1-17 and discussion of our mutual needs, we spent significant time lifting up our thoughts and concerns to the Lord of all.
For you in the LCSA we prayed specifically:
- To thank God for a spirit of wisdom and unity to enable the LCSA to recognize the Lord’s hand in the results of the election for Bishop. As Bishop Tswaedi indicated in his letter, you were all taken by surprise that a strong majority of a voting delegation of 71 Black persons would elect a non-Black candidate, but that your surprise was quickly removed by the realization that in Christ there is no Tswana, Zulu or German, but we are all baptized and forgiven children of God, and that this is a concrete living out of the vision of South Africa as a “Rainbow Nation.”
- We prayed for wisdom, humility, patience, vision, energy and a clear focus on Christ alone for Bishop Elect Weber.
- We prayed for exactly the same for Bishop Tswaedi for the time remaining in his term as Bishop and for guidance for him for the future.
- For the LCSA we prayed for unity and for faithfulness to the Scriptures and the confessions, for the living out of the fact proclaimed in Colossians 3, that “Christ is all, and in all.”
- We prayed for the many rural people moving to the cities that they would be gathered into congregations.
- We prayed for the seminary (LTS) and for Mofolo North parish during these times of transition. We prayed that God would raise up faithful leaders in all the churches, and give faithful pastors and theologians to His people.
- We prayed for all these things in
- For our task force we prayed for wisdom in our partnership, for protection for Lee and Pat Hoffmeier as they prepare for their next trip to
- I do plan to make every effort to be present for the installation of the new Bishop March 21, 2010, but our plans must always be qualified with a Deo volente – God willing!
- And much more…
Today, I am praying for the meetings between the two of you, and the meeting of Bishop Elect Weber with the LCSA Church Council, as well as the shareholders of LTS-Tshwane and its Board of Directors. There are many, many issues, I am sure, to work out for this transition and for your working together for the future, but rest assured, God will provide. “With man this is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible!” (Mark 10:27).
In the spirit of our partnership, we stand ready to help in whatever way we can, as God gives opportunity, strength, wisdom and resources. I am sure we will have further conversations regarding all necessary concerns in the future. May God bless both of you, directing you, guiding you and keeping you in His hands and on His path for His future, all so that Christ may be exalted and His saving Gospel proclaimed.
Peace be with you!
+ Herb Mueller
Rev. Herbert C. Mueller, Jr
District President
Southern Illinois District
Office - 618 234 4767
Cell - 618 567 5223
"One Sure Hope"
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! (1 Peter 1:3)
Yours truly as Bishop elect
Well, reading last weeks posting after the synod, I am humbled that it has turned out the way it has. Finally the synod of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa elected me to become their 3rd Bishop. This is both intimidating, but also exhilarating. Obviously both emotions will calm down and make way to mature, sober and conscientious leadership.
For me it is comforting that the procedure was blameless. Foreign and local observers like Dr. Mike Rodewald [LCMS World Mission], Ruben Dumehlezi Dlamini [LCSA], Rev. Paul Mosenogi [MLC, Botswana] and Rev. Rainhald Meyer [MLC, KwaZulu/Natal] attested this. In no way did I anticipate my nomination. The procedure is anonymous and the 70 plus pastors/delegates hand in their envelopes with nominees without any prior consultation or discussion at the synod. The three top nominees are then asked whether they will stand for election and then the voting proceeds. Well, the triune God answers prayers in his own way. In three consecutive rounds I was reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ's question to Peter: Do you love me? and his response to Peter's acknowledgement: "Tend my sheep!" I want to do that too.
The worldwide community of confessional Lutherans has accompanied this election in the LCSA and this also comforts me tremendously. The letter of President Herb Mueller from the LCMS district in South Illinois is an example for this.
For me it is comforting that the procedure was blameless. Foreign and local observers like Dr. Mike Rodewald [LCMS World Mission], Ruben Dumehlezi Dlamini [LCSA], Rev. Paul Mosenogi [MLC, Botswana] and Rev. Rainhald Meyer [MLC, KwaZulu/Natal] attested this. In no way did I anticipate my nomination. The procedure is anonymous and the 70 plus pastors/delegates hand in their envelopes with nominees without any prior consultation or discussion at the synod. The three top nominees are then asked whether they will stand for election and then the voting proceeds. Well, the triune God answers prayers in his own way. In three consecutive rounds I was reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ's question to Peter: Do you love me? and his response to Peter's acknowledgement: "Tend my sheep!" I want to do that too.
The worldwide community of confessional Lutherans has accompanied this election in the LCSA and this also comforts me tremendously. The letter of President Herb Mueller from the LCMS district in South Illinois is an example for this.
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