2019 President's Christmas Card - Wartburg College

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!�

“We praise you, O Lord, for your saints, the faithful cloud of witnesses, who have borne the Good News of your Grace through your holy Church to this time and place.

As we dedicate this building, we remember with thanksgiving that we, with them, are a Spiritual House of living stones, signs of your love and presence in your world.”

– F rom the Litany of Dedication, Wartburg Chapel dedication service, October 30, 1994

Cover: Scripture from Psalm 122, Verse 1, read at the dedication of the Wartburg Chapel

In this blessed season, may we all be inspired by the faithful cloud of witnesses and share their joy.

Darrel and Christy Colson and the Wartburg College community

Lebenskreuz

This fall, on the occasion of the Wartburg Chapel’s 25th anniversary, the College dedicated Lebenskreuz (Life Cross), a sculpture based on the wooden crosses handcrafted in Neuendettelsau, Germany. This tiny diaconal community was founded by Wilhelm Löhe, the pastor who sent Georg Grossmann to the New World to found our school in 1852. One of these wooden crosses adorns the Chapel altar, along with paraments on the altar, lectern, and pulpit, all of which depict the acts of mercy found in Matthew 25: “… I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Lebenskreuz, Tom Stancliffe, 2019

Visit the 25th anniversary website at www.wartburg.edu/chapel-25 to see historical photos, read submitted memories of the Chapel, and watch videos detailing the Chapel’s history, construction, and impact.

Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.