Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, welcomed international Lutheran and Protestant leaders from Malaysia and Indonesia on Jan. 11, and Germany on Jan. 15. While at the Seminary, the visitors attended morning chapel services, toured the campus and met with Seminary faculty, staff and students.
Dr. Dale A. Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary, expressed his pleasure with the Seminary serving increasingly as a destination and meeting place for church leaders from around the world. “Large international airports have meeting places. Concordia Seminary is becoming more and more an international meeting place for people to become acquainted, to strengthen existing Gospel partnerships and to form new ones. These visits are energizing!”
Visitors from Malaysia and Indonesia on Jan. 11 included Rt. Rev. Julius Paul, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia; Rev. Willem Simarmata, secretary general of the Protestant Christian Batak (HKBP), Indonesia; Rev. Nelson Siregar, director of Diakonia, HKBP, Indonesia; and Rev. Bonar Lumbantobing, lecturer at the HKBP seminary, Indonesia. They were accompanied by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver and Darin Storkson of LCMS World Relief and Human Care. The church dignitaries exprexssed gratitude for the opportunity to discuss confessional Lutheran theology and to explore the possibility of enrolling students from their seminary in Concordia Seminary’s graduate studies program.
“The visit of distinguished church leaders to our campus is an indication of how our understanding of Scripture and the Confessions is relevant to the world in which we live today and how that heritage draws others to the witness the Lord has given us to present to the world that surrounds us,” commented Dr. A. R. Victor Raj, mission professor of exegetical theology and assistant director of the Seminary’s Institute for Mission Studies.
Visitors from Germany on Jan. 15 included Rt. Rev. Hans-Joerg Voigt, bishop of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (SELK), Hannover; Rev. Wilhelm Torgerson, dean of East Germany in the SELK, Berlin; and Rev. Roger Zieger, superintendent (DP) of Berlin-Brandenburg District SELK, Berlin. The purpose of the church leaders’ visit to Concordia Seminary was to become better acquainted with the Seminary campus and community.
“Concordia Seminary is playing a vital role far beyond its own campus,” commented Dr. Robert Kolb, mission professor of systematic theology and director of the Seminary’s Institute for Mission Studies. “Alongside cooperative efforts with our traditional partner churches, such as the SELK, opportunities to confess the faith together with churches we have not known in the past are being provided each year for us by the Holy Spirit.”
For more information, contact Seminary Relations, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; (314) 505-7370; [email protected] [1].