February 12, 2024
Editor: Haley Wels
Early Ministry Experience
This year 34 first-year students participated in a new requirement for the preseminary program: Early Ministry Experience I.
EME I connects first-year preseminary students with pastors who can show them what ministry looks like in a variety of settings—from established churches to home missions and everything in between.

For Wyatt Groskreutz (St. John-Saint Clair MN), EME I provided hands-on training at Christ the Lord-Cottage Grove MN this January. Alongside his host, Pastor David Barkow (MLC ’05, WLS ’09), Wyatt learned how challenging and how rewarding ministry can be.

“Every day is something different,” he said. “I was able to go to a shut-in visit and sit in on a Bible information class. I was even able to be part of a circuit meeting.”

The ministry training benefits of EME I are clear, but the encouragement it provides to preseminary students is just as valuable. “It helped me see how important this work really is,” Wyatt said. “Being able to share the gospel with people as a career is a privilege.”

Watch for more on Early Ministry Experiences in the spring InFocus magazine!

Pictured: Pastor David Barkow with Wyatt Groskreutz.
Winter Carnival: Knightgeist!
Green grass and balmy temperatures aren’t the norm for Winter Carnival, but despite the lack of winter weather, MLC students were in high spirits for the week’s festivities!
Under the theme “Knightgeist,” students celebrated the college’s heritage and the traditions that have made MLC what it is today.

The hockey game between MLC and WLS captured the week’s theme especially well, highlighting the strong connections between the two schools of ministry. Those connections encourage students in their ministry preparations and help them build lasting relationships.

Check out the Winter Carnival photo gallery!

Pictured: MLC and WLS teams after the hockey game.
New Resource Development Counselor
MLC welcomes Sarah Gieseke as a new resource development counselor, working with financial aid and scholarships.

Sarah is a DMLC ’82 graduate and has served as a called teacher. Her experience also includes serving in a variety of management roles, from design work, advertising, proofreading, and copywriting, to marketing and fundraising, to production and purchasing, to human resources.

Sarah's work as a volunteer at St. Paul-New Ulm MN and a speech coach at Minnesota Valley LHS, along with her education, experience as a teacher, and vast experience in the secular industry, have well prepared her for this role at MLC.
UMAC Academic All-Conference Honors
On January 24, UMAC named 96 MLC athletes to the Academic All-Conference team! These awards are given to 2023 fall athletes who earn a 3.5 or better GPA during their respective semesters of competition.

MLC’s teams also claimed five of the eight awards given to the team with the top team GPA for their respective corresponding semesters. Men's cross country, volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, and football received the team honors.
Thanks for Visiting!
MLC welcomed over 400 visiting students to campus during the first semester!
Many of these visitors—a whopping 385—came to campus for Focus on Ministry. During the first semester, two WELS youth groups and 13 WELS high schools participated in these opportunities to experience MLC’s unique mission of equipping future called workers.

Another 47 students visited campus individually, meeting with admissions counselors, talking with faculty, and experiencing campus life.

Pictured: Evergreen LHS students and their chaperones visit campus.
College Choir Spring Tour
The Martin Luther College Choir will travel to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin over their spring break.

The choir will present the gospel in song under the theme “Piercing the Darkness.” We hope you can join us at a concert near you.

The full itinerary is available on the MLC website.
Hymnody and the Wind Band
Composers of wind band music have used traditional Christian hymn melodies as thematic source material for decades. Hymn tunes do not always employ a regular musical structure; instead, they often reflect the style conventions of the time.

Please join the Martin Luther College Wind Symphony for a unique concert experience as we explore the use of hymnody in wind band music. Each piece on the program will be preceded by a short introduction discussing how the composer has taken an irregularly structured melody and made it fit into contemporary musical conventions.

“Hymnody and the Wind Band” will take place on Thursday, February 22, at 7:30 pm in the Chapel of the Christ as part of a special Focus on Fine Arts weekend.
Winter Forum Production
Call Updates
Calls Extended by MLC:
  • Miss Joanna Smith (Trinity LES-Hoskins NE) received a call to MLC to serve as a student teaching supervisor and professor of education.
  • Mrs. Janet Justice (Christ LES-Eagle River WI) accepted a call to MLC to serve as an admissions counselor.

Calls Received by MLC Faculty:
  • Professor David Scharf (theology) received a call to serve as a pastor at St. Paul-Muskego WI.
Contact us today:

507.354.8221