Grass-Roots Introduction Brochure

 

Visitors from Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway

On October 22, three missionaries from the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway visited CLS. Two were former missionaries to Taiwan, having served 50 years ago and retired 20 years ago. They had an informal meeting with Mr. Joseph Lu, Dr. James Pan, and Mr. Steven Ju. After the meeting, they took a campus tour including Luther hall, the library, and classrooms.

The visitors gave CLS the gift of a new missiology and theology book written by Dr. Martin Smith, a Jewish theologian. Ms. Nora Margaret Bråtveit Gimse also told us Rev. Jan Ivar Nilsen, the 8^th president of China Lutheran Seminary, planned to devote his birthday gift to China Lutheran Seminary. We thank God for His abounding love and faithfulness.

Below is a thank you letter from Mr. Joseph Lu, our acting president.

Dear Rev. Nilsen：

Warm greetings from China Lutheran Seminary, Taiwan!

We would like to congratulate you on the occasion of your 70th birthday celebration. This is great news for us. We thank God for keeping you in good health and for making you a blessing to many people. 

We heard from Ms. Nora Margaret Bråtveit Gimse that you plan to devote your birthday gift to China Lutheran Seminary. When we heard about this, we were deeply touched and grateful. Thank you for dedicating your life to serve the churches in Taiwan and to laying the foundation for China Lutheran Seminary. China Lutheran Seminary is currently the only seminary in Taiwan supported by six domestic Lutheran synods, eight overseas partners, various congregations and para-church organizations, and individuals. Thank you for still remembering and caring about us after your retirement. Your love compels us to keep following Jesus’ footsteps.

There is a Chinese saying, life starts at 70. We wish you good health and many blessings from our God.

 Happy Birthday and Immanuel

Joseph Lu

Acting President, CLS, on behalf of the CLS faculty, staff, and students

Visitors from Norwegian Mission

       

        On August 14, there were three Norwegian Mission friends accompanied by Anna Saether, Georg Steinsland (Regional Youth Director), Kenneth Ellefsen (Academic Dean of Fjellhaug International University College) and Robert Lilleaasen (Teacher of Fjellhaug International University College), visited CLS. 

       Since President Yu is taking a six-month sabbatical leave from July 1, 2012, they received a detailed briefing from Mr. Joseph Lu, the Acting President. Mr. Kenneth Ellefsen asked some questions about ATA (Asia Theological Association) certification of our degree program. Rev. Dr. James Pan shared the information and experiences from our Seminary with them. At the end of the meeting, members from both seminaries expressed their hope that there may be opportunities in the future for us to begin an exchange programs involving our students and teachers.

        After the briefing they took a campus tour of the library, the classrooms and dormitory, and then went out for dinner together with our faculty. 

A Symposium at CLS

        On August 4, 2012, a theological symposium entitled “Acquainting with Lutheran Churches” was held at CLS. Led by CLS academic dean and speaker Mr. Chen Kuan-shian, the symposium drew fifty-three participants from across Taiwan. The two topics included “living by faith” and “the unique characteristics of Lutheranism.”

Lutheran pastors and congregations not only need a deeper grasp of what is distinctive about Lutheran theology, but also need help in thinking through how to apply the treasures of our rich Lutheran tradition in today’s context. This purpose seemed to have been achieved as Th.D. candidate Chen’s talks were well received, leading to lively discussions on both topics.

Summer Short-term Mission Team

   
    During the summer break a short-term mission trip was made by a team from CLS to Thailand and Macao. The team leader was our vice president, Mr. Joseph Lu who led a group of twelve students, together with Rev. and Ms. Hsu (from Triumph Church).

character education camp

   
    In Thailand the group held a character education camp and handed out gospel flyers on the street. According to Rev. Hsu the Thais were very polite, accepting and reading the flyers when handed out to them and listening to the members from the team sharing the gospel with them.




ministry to deaf people

    
   
    In Macao, we cooperated with local Lutheran Church. They put a lot of effort into ministry to deaf people in society. We can learn a lot from their concern for the needs and their love for this particular group.

    

preach on the bus

   
    Mr. Weng, a missionary (who is also our alumnus) shared a testimony about our short-term mission team. He said our students grabbed every chance to preach the good news about Jesus whether on campus or on the bus. Although they could speak only little Thai they still proclaimed the word of the Lord with boldness. Many Thais read the gospel flyers and some people gave their heart to Jesus Christ.

    Vice President Joseph Lu also shared that the team gave out gospel flyers during the day and at night an evangelical program for those interested in learning more about Christ. We were extremely tired but greatly encouraged by the fact some people accepted God as their savior everyday. We became servants of the gospel by the gift of God’s grace given us through the working of his power. We gained a lot of experience on this trip. Each member of our team learned how to better serve each other and to cooperate with on another by using the different gifts given to us by our risen God.

CLS 44th Commencement

        On June 16th, we joyfully celebrated our 44th Commencement in which 41 graduates received the following degrees: M. Th., M. Div., M.A. in Care and Counseling, and the Certificate for Grassroots Ministry. We also granted our third M. Th. degree diploma to Rev. Chi-Chieh Miao.

President Chow and President Yu

        Dr Siu Chun Chow, President of Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong), was this year’s commencement speaker. During the ceremony, a memorandum was signed to promote cooperation between the two seminaries, including the exchange of teachers and students. We believe this arrangement will benefit the development of theological education between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.




Commissioning

          President Chow’s address was titled “Serve

wholeheartedly.”Using John 12:26“whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be,”Dr Chow explained how serving God is not going wherever you want to go, but rather it means following in the steps of Jesus. What this means is further spelled out in Mark 8:34, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” The result of submitting oneself to God is that “my Father will honor the one who serves me.” As a concrete example of this, Dr Chow cited Mark 14. In this passage, Jesus comments on the woman who anointed him at Bethany by saying, “she has done a beautiful thing to me.” We pray that each of our graduates will be both a dynamic witness to the Gospel and a living gift to the people they are called to serve.

APELT Symposium at CLS

On March 5, 2012, there was an APELT symposium at CLS, the title is “Justification and Spiritual Growth”. There were 131 participants. The two speakers were President Yu, and Dr. Armin Buchholz, Director of Graduate School for Luther’s Studies.

President Yu’s topic was “Justification by Faith and the Growth of Spiritual Life. The key to the growth of spiritual life is to keep Jesus always at the center. The power of gospel of justification by faith transforms people’s life. If not, it’s not because we do not try our best but because we do not understand the gospel thoroughly and experience the life-changing grace.

The characteristic of sin is egocentric. The sinner sees only everything in relation to themselves. Since humankind went astray from God, they sought “gods” in their own ways. Instead of forsaking His creature, God called Adam “Where are you?” He has also prepared the plan of redemption for us.

“By faith” we do not mean that faith is the cause but the attitude of receiving gift. We are declared righteousness by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Dr. Rev. Armin Buchholz explained justification by faith as an amazing exchange. Justification by faith is like the relationship of marriage. Faith is our heart connected with Christ, like husband and wife sharing everything in any circumstances. Jesus Christ gives us goodness as our adornment, also says to us “you are mine”. Dr. Buchholz emphasized that God gives us His righteousness all by grace, our good deeds make no contribution to our relationship to God. If we trust in God, the relationship between Creator and creature can be restored. If we have Christ, we have everything.