Greetings from St Louis once again!
It’s been an eventful couple of months for the newest Ketelsen household. Vicarage in Salem, IL finished well with a successful evangelism project to the community and a grand farewell by the Salem Lutheran congregation. They were a wonderful temporary church home for us and will be greatly missed. We found a great house in St Louis to rent. It was previously being rented by the seminarian and his wife who are now vicaring in Salem. The landlords are a wonderful couple who have taught in St Louis and worked at CPH for years, and they lease the house to seminarians for far less than most rental properties in the area, so we were truly blessed to find out about it. We’ll have more information, including some pictures, on our blog soon, so be watching for that (http://teamketelsen.blogspot.com).
Classes started up three weeks ago and are now in full swing. I’m taking a full load of 15 credits. Most of them are typical 4th year classes (Systematics, Pastoral Counseling, The Gospel of John), but there are some particularly fun ones included. My favorite thus far has been a course entitled “Literature and the Gospel” in which we examine the Gospel’s influence on and presence in major works of literature, from Shakespeare to Dostoyevsky. You can imagine a book nut like myself would have fun with that.
While I’m away at class, Stefani is hard at work teaching. She has returned to her previous job as a teaching assistant at Andrews Academy, this year working in the 2nd grade. In addition, she’s taken on a part-time position tutoring children at Huntington Learning Center. She’s relatively happy at both, and put together they just barely manage to pay the bills. However, she would still love to have her own classroom. To that end, we’re both eagerly awaiting the results of an interview at Immanuel Lutheran School, who are in need of a contract teacher to take over in November when their 1st grade teacher takes maternity leave for the remainder of the school year. Please keep this in your prayers.
Last, but certainly not least, is the beginning of the call placement process. Just this past week I sent in the forms indicating our intentions and preferences regarding my first call. While many elements of this process are still quite uncertain, we can provide a few details. First, I am indeed planning to take a call in April of ’09 with the rest of my class. I have given further graduate work serious thought and prayer, but have determined that after 4 years of seminary training my first priority is to the church alone. Furthermore, there are many options for graduate work that could be conducted while in a full or part time parish ministry, so I’m really not limiting my possibilities by requesting a call. Second, Stefani and I have expressed a preference for a call in a Midwest metropolitan area. We were both raised in this environment and feel most comfortable with the ministry opportunities and challenges it entails. This is not to say that I will actually receive a call to either the Midwest or to a city, only that I’ve requested it. The Lord – and the seminary placement office – work in mysterious ways.
Well, I’ve rambled long enough. As you can see, there’s a lot in our lives that could use your prayers. We thank you all for your support – both financial and otherwise – over the years, and ask that you prayerfully consider continuing that financial support for one final year.
May God bless you all richly,
Joshua and Stefani Ketelsen
