LCM News

Lutheran Campus Ministry

at the University of Delaware

The mission of Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Delaware is to express our Faith in God through fellowship, outreach and service.

Message from the Pastor

Hi, friends!

I can’t quite believe that it’s May already. Camping is behind us, Spring Break is history, and so are some memorable meals made by a lot of neat people in the area that we’ve gotten to know. Soon we have Relay for Life and we’re about to put in a day with Habitat for Humanity; the calendar is full of activity: worship and community-building and service projects. Wow. My head swims at the pace.

One really important thing remains: and that’s the end-of-the-year picnic and the senior send-off. A word to all of you who are getting ready to leave the University of Delaware after it’s been home for four years: I cannot quite believe that you are going, because whether you have been involved for four years or one, you have made Lutheran Campus Ministry an important part of your lives and invested much of yourselves with us. Thanks for what you have given us! We will miss you!

But just because you leave home doesn’t mean that … it’s not home any more. You are remembered and you are always welcome here: in whatever shape Lutheran Campus Ministry takes in the future. The building may change; the people may change (the people surely will change, in fact). But we are all God’s and as you go, you go with God. Be blessed: and be a blessing. As you have been a blessing to us.

Peace and power,

Service Spot

Come help with service projects during the Easter season!

Tutoring

Join us as we tutor elementary students in math and English at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. Rides will be available from Pauls’ Chapel at 6:15 pm.

Fellowship in Serving the Hungry

Join us as we help those in need of supplementary groceries at our next FISH distribution. Our next distribution will be at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on Friday, May 15 from 2 to 6 p.m. Rides will be available from Pauls’ Chapel at 1:45 pm.

Relay For Life will be May 2 to 3!! Join us as we spend the night together raising money for the American Cancer Society! There will be tons of food, socializing and fun, and it all goes toward a great cause!!

Habitat For Humanity is back on! We will be helping build homes in Wilmington, Delaware on May 16. The time will be announced when the date of the event gets closer. Rides will be available.

FISH Offering

LCM has food offerings during every Tuesday-night worship. We would like to ask you to consider bringing non-perishable items to be used toward FISH. Of course, any non-perishable item is fantastic, but here are some ideas. Any monetary donations will also be put toward FISH groceries.

May 5 – Cereal

May 12 – Soup

May 19 – Macaroni & Cheese

May 26 – Any non-perishable

We hope to see you at these events!

Senior Farewells

Seniors Amelia Blenderman, Dan Crouch, Jason Day, Jennifer Heine, Christine Marks and Abby Wolfe share their thoughts on their experiences with Lutheran Campus Ministry.

From left: Jennifer Heine, Jason Day, Dan Crouch, Christine Marks and Amelia Blenderman. Not pictured: Abby Wolfe

Thanks, Seniors!

Lutheran Campus Ministry wishes you

all the best in the future.

Abby Wolfe

Things I remember and will miss:

Camping Trips!

Apples to Apples!

All of the members of LCM!

Amelia Blenderman

As a freshman, my favorite part of Lutheran Campus Ministry was how welcoming everyone was toward me. These were the first people in Delaware I encountered who I truly felt were interested in what was going on in my first few weeks of college. It was also wonderful to receive a home-cooked meal once a week on Tuesday nights. As time went on, I became more and more involved in the numerous service projects LCM did. I have greatly enjoyed Fellowship in Serving the Hungry, tutoring, Relay for Life, the Delaware Basket Brigade and Habitat for Humanity. I am grateful that I found a way to serve the community during my college years. I will miss these service opportunities, but mostly, I will miss the people I’ve met. I have made some of my best friends through LCM, and I am grateful for that. Thank you to all LCMers, Pastor Bruce, and Chris and Gary Ebert for these four years! I will miss you all!

Dan Crouch

LCM has been a strong foundation for me during this, my senior year, at Delaware. While I will miss the weekly get-togethers, the memories I have made and the friends I have come to love will stay with me as I leave the East Coast and head to Montana with the Air Force.

Jason Day

LCM has truly been a blessing in my life. It has helped me through a lot of tough times in college and enabled me to form relationships that will hopefully last a lifetime. I am so glad that this group allowed me to share my faith with so many great people.

Jennifer Heine

Thank you to everyone for a great past few years in LCM. I have many great memories and enjoyed going to Tuesday dinners, worship and social activities. It was also a pleasure to work on this newsletter every month. My favorite part of LCM was meeting such nice, generous and amiable people and making so many new friends! I will miss you all!

Christine Marks

As with a lot of things in my life, I fell into the LCM scene much later in my college career than I wish I would have. That being said, I do not discount any of the experiences I drew from the group. LCM was a perfect combination of faith, service and friendship. It was a two-way street between us and the community, which is something the group should be very proud of. I looked forward to every Tuesday when we were shown love from our church family with delicious meals and then having the opportunity to give back in the form of tutoring, FISH and other service projects. Thank you to everyone for accepting new people (like me!) with open arms and open hearts.

President’s Goodbye

Senior Jason Day, who has served as Lutheran Campus Ministry’s president for the past three years, discusses his past four years with LCM.

It was just four years ago that I came to this university with absolutely no expectation of going to even one meeting of the Lutheran Campus Ministry. I thought I was burned out from church stuff and needed a break. But now, at the end of this important time for me, I can look back on this ministry and see the great things we have accomplished and look forward to what is to come.

When I first started, I had grandiose ideas of what this ministry could become. I had a few obstacles to overcome. The first was lack of students that had enough time to lead, the second was lack of understanding of how LCM worked, and the third was that I had no idea about the traditions and history of this ministry. Still we trudged forward, and now we have a great set of students to lead this ministry, an intense understanding of how to make this ministry work, and we have created an environment in which new traditions can be started and new relationships can be formed.

With all that we have accomplished, I want to remind the whole ministry of our purpose here. Our mission states that we are to express our faith in God through fellowship, outreach and service. The core to this mission is our faith. In my four years I have learned a lot about my faith, and I hope that all of you have benefited from that. What I charge you to do today is to look at your faith, never stop questioning, and most importantly go to God for the answers.

Time after time I have heard, “What will we do next year without Jason?” After I get over the initial flattering, I stop and think that I wouldn’t have been able to do anything here without the devotion of a lot of people. Our ministry is mission-focused, filled with the Holy Spirit, and led by the power of the cross. We are this way not because of the work that I have done, but because of the work that God has done through all of us. At this critical moment in our history together, it is imperative that we

don’t dwell in the past, but look toward the future, in order that we may see how we can help the work of God be done.

Over the four years, I was glad to meet all of the students, supporters, and alumni. I wish to extend my gratitude to all these people for helping make my time here worthwhile. I wish to personally thank Pastor Bruce for his spiritual guidance through these years. I also wish to thank Chris and Gary Ebert for all that they do and making it so I don’t have to worry about all the little details. I also thank the directing committee for their leadership, but more importantly listening to me every time I wanted money. I also send my gratitude to every student, especially those who are serving or have served on the LSA board with me. There are no words to express what you all do. You are all truly a blessing to this ministry, and I trust that this ministry will prosper because of you all.

On that note, I end this last message from the president with the line that Paul used when he concluded his letter to the Ephesians. “Peace be to the whole community, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.” May God continue to send His countenance upon this ministry, and may the light of Christ fill all of our hearts. Amen.

Lutheran Campus Ministry Contact Information

The Rev. Dr. Bruce Allen Heggen, Pastor heggen@udel.edu

Mrs. Ann Warner, Administrator lutheransatud@gmail.com

Ms. Amelia Blenderman, Service Peer Minister ameliaib@udel.edu

Ms. Kristy Kassinger, Interim Outreach Peer Minister kristyk@udel.edu

Mr. Jason Day, President LSA jday@udel.edu

General Ministry lutherans@udel.edu

Website http://www.lutheransatud.org

Lutheran Campus Ministry is in need of three peer ministers for the

2009-2010 school year.

One for Fellowship.

One for Outreach.

One for Service.

Do you have gifts in these areas?

Do you want to hear more?

Contact Pastor Bruce at heggen@udel.edu for more information.

Must be a full-time University of Delaware student in the 2009-2010 school year. You will receive a stipend for your service if selected.

LCM heads outdoors

During April, 16 LCMers braved the wilds of the dense Maryland forest for the third-annual LCM Camping Trip. Despite rabid animals and strenuous hiking conditions, the daring students had a great time during their three-day, two-night stay in Cunningham Falls State Park. The weather was perfect, reaching near 75 degrees on Saturday! The days were packed with hiking, storytelling, and campfires. Highlights included hikes to Cunningham Falls, the highest cascading falls in Maryland; Catocin Furnace; and Cat Rock, a rocky outcrop overlooking the park.

Plans are already underway for next year's trip! Please consider joining us next spring — it's always a relaxing trip and fun getaway.