Reflections on my Seminex Spirituality

 Spirituality at Seminex- a Personal Recollection

 

     One aspect of the 50^th Anniversary of the walkout that brought Seminex (later Christ Seminary-Seminex) into existence that could have been mentioned was the richness of communal worship and spiritual life there. I do not mean this as a criticism; there was much to discuss, and rightfully so. By spirituality, I do not mean that

the word is used in recent times, i.e. in opposition to religious. Instead, I define spirituality here as an expression of Christian faith and being deeply rooted in that same faith.

     I will mention the three major points, speak briefly to them, and then give some background about myself and more detail about these three points.

   Worship: Daily chapel with community Eucharist on Wednesdays exposed us not only to a wide variety of styles but also resources. The Lutheran Book of Worship was brand-new, and Worship Professor Mark Bangert had helped in its development.

     There was also Daily Mass except on Wednesday). I was raised anti-Catholic and was wary of such a thing, but I tried it. More about that in the next section.

   I received exposure to how people could worship, to a variety of musical styles and instruments, and came to realize that flexibility was good.

   Another takeaway was that when corporate worship was not possible, one could read an office using the hymnal and other resources. Since I am a linguist, I found it enjoyable to say devotions in German, etc.

 Sacrament of the Altar: Holy Communion became important to be in my home parish. Each week I was forgiven, renewed, and sent out to a place that was not satisfying me anymore. Through the professional confusions of my time at Seminex (all related to inter-Lutheran squabbles), the Eucharist grounded me and was a sign of God’s presence through it all. And the Sacrament has remained that ever since.

     At those Daily Masses, I saw celebrants (mainly Fr. John Damm and Fr. James Fackler) who were strong, pastoral, faithful, and full of joy. I also saw fellow worshippers whose piety influenced me. Also, I gained a sense that this small group in the 11th-floor chapel was connected to the “faithful of all times and all places”.

     In my pastoral career, I have been fortunate to see many congregations celebrating weekly Eucharist, and shut-ins who wish to receive regularly.

Ecumenism: Over the years, I came to appreciate things from a tradition even if I did not want to formally attach myself to it. In grad school at UC-Berkeley for German, I took a Luther course and realized I could no longer be a Presbyterian even though a former pastor and later colleague told me I could believe what I wanted to. I told him I could not share it with a congregation.

     Seminex received an outpouring of support not only ecumenically, but from Jews as well. We could use Jesuit-run St. Louis University’s excellent theological Library, their Fieldhouse, and health services. I even turned to a Jesuit for advice on something! Trinity Episcopal Church in the Central West End received us at their services and into their lives. There were other instances, but these are the ones that influenced me. 

     When I went into my first parish, I was blessed with a strong ecumenical group, and have found others since. As an Army chaplain, I learned to see the rich variety of God’s people, and not always Christians.

     By no means do I intend to disparage the spiritual life at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, from which I graduated in 1981. I did miss the Daily Mass, though; eventually, I learned that Seminex had to discontinue it.

     As seminaries have to make hard choices on staffing, location, and their very existence, it concerns me that the worship component of theological education is reduced or seen as something that is left up to wherever graduates find themselves.

Being an Evangelical Catholic has sustained me, and I firmly believe it can do so still for others. It is not about the music, or liturgy, but the Augsburg Confessions Article VII sums it up. To paraphrase, the Church exists where the Gospel is proclaimed and the Sacraments rightly administered.

     I add some personal background in the following section and welcome -----comments and your insights.  

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          The 1977 first-year class as Seminex had 37 of us, a majority of which were not from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod system. That included me, and it was a shock for all concerned. Most everyone seemed to have been cradle Lutherans or who had spent a considerable time as a Lutheran Christian.

     I did not; in fact, I only attended church regularly from the age of 12, with a break at Penn State as an undergraduate. There were Lutherans in my family background, but outside of attending a church near where I lived in suburban Philadelphia several times, I considered myself Presbyterian because I attended a congregation that was based at a local mall even after I dropped out of confirmation class.

     In 1975, I was in graduate school for German at UC Berkeley but was unable to land a teaching assistantship. UC Irvine offered me one, and I had begun to attend the University Chapel at Berkeley. I wanted a community of faith in Orange County, and I knew it would be Lutheran. At St. Matthew’s in Irvine, I was accepted, nurtured, assisted in worship, and felt at ease. The parish did not survive the Missouri Civil War, sad to say.