InFocus Staff WRITER/EDITOR Laurie Gauger DMLC ’87
Please Take My Seat
PHOTOGRAPHERS Jonathan Witte MLC ’18 Shelby Pitt MLC ’19 Adam Marley MLC ’17
By Rev. Mark Zarling President, Martin Luther College
STUDENT ASSISTANT Kylah Schroeder MLC ’18 GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lime Valley Advertising, Inc. Office of Mission Advancement VICE PRESIDENT Michael Otterstatter WLS ’94 PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR William Pekrul DMLC ’80 ALUMNI DIRECTOR Steve Balza DMLC ’93 College Administration PRESIDENT Mark Zarling WLS ’80 VP for ADMINISTRATION Steven Thiesfeldt DMLC ’74 VP for ACADEMICS Jeffery Wiechman DMLC ’90 VP for STUDENT LIFE Jeffrey Schone WLS ’87 VP for MISSION ADVANCEMENT Michael Otterstatter WLS ’94 Governing Board Chairman Michael Woldt WLS ’81 Vice Chairman Jonathan Kolander WLS ’91 Secretary Steven Rosenbaum DMLC ’86 Joe Archer DMLC ’77 Dale Krause Timothy Petermann Barry Price Duane Schmeichel WLS ’91 Michael Seifert WLS ’03 David Uhlhorn MLC ’99 Michael Valleau Steven Vasold MLC ’02 Mark Wessel WLS ’86
Dear supporters of the Great Commission, please take my seat! Usually, I’m sitting toward the back. That way I can come early and watch the students assemble in Chapel of the Christ. Look at their faces, each one a precious sight to a mom or a dad at home. Each one a precious and permanent sight to the Father above! The Lord who counts the stars and calls them each by name also relishes in his heart the name of every student. Through his Son he even promises each one, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Look at their faces again, and silently pray as they boisterously file in—with the joy and energy and excitement of youth who are not only friends, but friends united in faith and purpose. Pray a petition of gratitude to the Holy Spirit, for each one is a miracle of the Spirit’s omnipotence unleashed through the gospel. The Spirit calls to faith, sustains faith, and raises up a new cadre of Christians who train to serve anywhere the Lord Christ deems best. To this gray head, how comforting it is to see Jesus keep his promises. Until the trumpet, he says. Until the trumpet sounds, the Good Shepherd will send shepherds to gather and guard the elect of God. The Spirit will create a boldness to stand in the name of Jesus, and that means they will never stand alone. Even in the face of aggressive evil, they don’t stand alone, because for them fights the valiant One, whom God himself elected. How comforting for them to be in this place at this time, a place where the omnipotent Word is like a cloud enveloping them with the gospel joy of the living Savior. Joy—to come again and again and hear, Take heart, child, your sons are forgiven. Joy—to be reassured that it is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. Joy—to take confidence knowing that Jesus said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Finally, by the Spirit’s grace, it sinks in. That means we can say with the apostle, For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. How they need to hear that truth in these end times. How I need to hear that truth in these perilous times. You do, too, my friend. So please take my seat. Rejoice in Christ’s promises and pray for Christ’s proclaimers!
Advisory: Charles Degner WLS ’79 Randy Matter Paul Prange WLS ’88 Mark Schroeder WLS ’81 Mark Zarling WLS ’80
On our cover: Rev. Matthew Crass WLS ’86 participates in the ordination of his son, Rev. Isaac Crass WLS ‘15 at MLC’s opening service in August. Isaac is a new instructor at MLC this year. Pastor Crass is president of Luther Preparatory School (LPS) in Watertown, Wisconsin. This year LPS is celebrating its 150th anniversary of ministry training at the high school level.
All InFocus magazines are online at mlc-wels.edu/ publications. If you’d like to receive your magazine electronically ONLY, please let us know. Contact Tami at boardtl@mlc-wels.edu.
MLC InFocus is published by Martin Luther College Mission Advancement Office and is distributed free of charge to students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends. Owned and operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), Martin Luther College exists to serve the ministerial needs of the WELS. Comments are welcomed and should be directed to gaugerlf@mlc-wels.edu or Laurie Gauger, MLC InFocus, 1995 Luther Court, New Ulm MN 56073.
The alumni photos at the bottom of the pages are from the anniversary classes of MLC, NWC, and DMLC: ’41, ’46, ’51, ’56, ’61, ’66, ’71, ’76, ’81, ’86, ’91, ’96, ’01, ’06, and ’11. Thanks to Alumni Director Steve Balza DMLC ’93, who provided this random selection of alumni. Correction: In the July 2015 issue, we inadvertently printed Arlington, Minnesota, as the hometown of Bleick. Dennis hails from New Ulm. 2Dennis mlc-wels.edu
Aaron Voss MLC 2011 Williamston MI
Althea Zank NWC 1946 Lake Mills WI
Harvey Witte NWC 1951 Hutchinson MN