Nordic Lands J-Term 2018

Back in 2007, in the midst of final preparations for the first J-Term Immersion trip to Iceland, I would not have guessed that a decade later a sixth group of students from Wartburg Theological Seminary would be preparing to head over again to the land of fire and ice.

With the generous support of many friends in Iceland, the Bishop of Iceland, and Wartburg Seminary’s commitment to cross-cultural theological education, we have provided immersions to Icelandic church and culture to twenty-nine ELCA seminarians, some of whom are approaching their tenth ordination anniversaries.  In January 2016, we added a few days also in Norway.
In both Iceland and Norway friendships continue to grow.  

This year (2-22 January 2018) our merry band of theologians will be in both Iceland and Norway.  In addition to building friendships, the world becomes the horizon for our theological education in a deeper and more complex way.  Colleagues in ministry, sisters and brothers in Christ’s church, become our teachers as they generously share their lives and wisdom and settings with us.
This is the motley crew that I’ll accompany this January — numbers 30-33. Clockwise from top left: Coco Lyons, Halcyon Bjornstad, Daniel Grainger, and Shadoe Hanson.  Look for their reflections on this blog starting after 3 January 2018.  

Peace in Christ.

Sam