Winter Newsletter 2006
I had written the sermon for Homiletics II. I had to do some significant revision to satisfy my field work supervisor (its his pulpit!) and to make the sermon relevant to the congregation. I think I ended up with an even better sermon than I started with (even having received an A in the class.) I learned much from this experience and look forward to preaching once more at Trinity and at my home congregation on Epiphany 3 in January. The more the better I say so I’m not completely green on vicarage where I will be preaching 1-2 times a month (or more on occasion!) Oh, How time passes! (Academic news) It has been quite a long time since we have sent out a newsletter. As you might expect, seminary life is a crazy! I had intended to write in May when Spring quarter ended but I started an four week intensive course of Latin. Two weeks later I started Hebrew I and Church History III. Four weeks later I finished Hebrew I and started Hebrew II. I completed Church History III and then started Lutheran Church in America. Four weeks later after completing Lutheran Church in America and Hebrew II, I started some home projects that needed doing. We ripped the carpet out of two rooms on the first floor and the stairs. I stripped, sanded and refinished those floors. Then we ripped the wallpaper off in one room and painted two rooms. When all this summer effort was complete, I had less than a week and fall quarter of Seminary 2 began! Thankfully I did not have a heavy load... only Homiletics II, Pentateuch I (Genesis), Lutheran Confessions II (Smalcald, Large and Small Catechisms), Greek Readings, and Field Education. I managed to squeek my way through with a 3.5 average... my best grades yet. To pass the time, I have been teaching Bible class every week at Trinity (field education congregation) and I taught three weeks at Arbor Glen retirement home. I worked intensively on a couple audio projects for the Seminary including CD collections of the late Dr. Robert Preus and Dr. Kurt Marquart chapel sermons and lectures. I produced audio and videos of the “Image of God†conference on marriage and sexuality. I produced Advent audio devotions for the Admissions department which are available online. I recorded a couple concerts on campus. I probably did some other things too! After a week break for Thanksgiving, I started my winter quarter... this time with a heavier load. I have Pastoral Theology, Reformation Era, Church Year and Hymnology, Christology, Greek Readings, and Field Education. I’m still teaching Bible class. I preached once during Advent and will be preaching a few more times before vicarage. This quarter is now three weeks done. There are seven more weeks of class after Christmas break. We have a week off for Easter then a whirlwind Spring quarter (my heaviest of the year). Circa May/June we will be leaving the comfy confines of Fort Wayne for a year long vicarage of the Seminary’s choosing. Vicarage service is April 23rd at 7:00 p.m. Historically this has been available via the internet so you can share in the surprise/joy/terror of finding out the where and when of our vicarage. It seems like just yesterday that I was struggling through Summer Greek. Now I am taking about my third year vicarage. One more year and then ordination. Pastor Gillespie? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves... Seminarian Gillespie works alright... and Vicar Gillespie has a nice ring to it. Don’t blink or you may miss it! News from the whole family Ethan just got new shoes and they are size 1 1/2! He’s got Dad’s feet. He is growing taller too. He brings words to us which he phonetically spells out. He concentrates during story time and we think he’s reading the words. We know he is as sometimes he will point and say, “Mommy that says [that].†He’s inspired since he knows he gets his own hymnal and Bible when he can read. Elsie's hair grew a lot all at once and is to her waist now. She’s growing out her bangs too. One of her favorite things is to brush her hair and put clips and ponies in it. She also likes to dress up, play with her babies, and color. She is able to write her name too. Gabriel is doing a very good job at potty training with the night-time being the only times he wears a diaper. His vocabulary is greatly increased and he is much easier to understand. He is very eager to help out and proud of his accomplishments. He likes to put away the silverware and set the table. Luke is getting quite big. Luke has four teeth, two bottom and two top. Even though he’s losing his baby fat and slimming down, his density has increased. He is 10 months now and our arms are getting tired. Thankfully he has been crawling for 4 months! We kept waiting for him to be able to sit unassisted like the rest of them, but he never did. We missed the nice phase when you can put them down sitting and they will play for a long time and you don't have to worry about them wandering off. In one week he crawled, sat, sat up from crawling, pulled up and cruised around.  He has to keep up with the big children! Now he has new toys to play with including the garbage can, the toilet, and Maggie’s water dish. Terrific! Anne has been busy with many projects. She canned about twenty quarts of applesauce, made soap (it turned out nicely!), and crocheted many doilies and washcloths. Her most exciting project has been making her own cloth diapers for Luke. This is in ALL of her spare time, of course! :) Maggie, the puppy continues to add to the fun. She is a black lab/australian collie mix...she's all black with a white streak on her chest. Every one seems to be adjusting well except maybe the cat... but that's to be expected! The Travels of the Gillespies We’re Leaving the country... but only temporarily Much to our surprise we are going to be world travelers. My cousin Angela and her husband Grégory are having a reception for his family in the region of Le Mans, France over Christmas. He is from a small town of 1000 called Joué l'abbé. We saw this as a golden opportunity to visit Europe. Neither Anne nor I have ever been to mainland. Eighteen Americans are going to this village that has never met more than one American (my cousin.) Anne, Luke, and I are going while Ethan, Elsie, and Gabriel visits Aunt Mandie and Grammie Schwalge. We are visiting Paris for two days and hope to catch the Louvre, the Eiffel tower, Musee d’Orsay, Notre Dame, Arc du Triumphe, and whatever else we can squeeze in. After this we spend two days in Grégory’s village followed by visits to Normandy beach, Versailles, Chatres, and Le Mans. The wedding reception itself begins at 5:15 p.m. and isn’t scheduled to end until 11:30 the next morning. What a party! We will have plenty of time to work on our stilted French talking to Grégory’s family. This is a ten day trip spanning from December 25th until January 3rd. I’m tentatively planning a less frivolous trip to Novosibersk, Siberia at the end of May. Our Seminary sponsors the Lutheran seminary there. Under communism, Christianity was largely destroyed. Since the fall of communism, churches have been allowed to spread and grow. In all the regions and countries of the former USSR, the churches are brand new, young, and mimic the churches of the apostolic era... meeting in homes and one pastor serving multiple parishes over great distances of thousands of miles. Prof. Pless of the Seminary will be teaching a class there and a group of about 10-15 students will be traveling with he and Prof. Quill. The course on Theological Ethics is a fourth year class and so I would receive credit. It would be very interesting to observe this poverty stricken culture’s approach to the same ethical issues we experience. Part of the trip includes stops in St. Petersburg and Moscow. This is a rare opportunity and I hope to participate. Unfortunately I hadn’t planned or saved for it... and our trip to France already is making the finances tight. So... I am considering going but don’t need to make the final decision until the third week of January. At this point I will have a better idea of our finances and the viability of the trip. Pray for our safety and watch for the pictures! ]]>
