News

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Greetings from St Paul, MN!  I pray that all is well with you, your loved ones, your vocational and your ministries.

I wanted to extend my humble gratitude to the support of $2600 that you have raised as your offering to help my studies at Luther Seminary in becoming a pastor for the ELCA community!  I have been officially entranced by the St Paul Area Synod, St Paul, MN and my degree has now been switched from Master of Arts in Children, Youth and Family Ministry to Master of Divinity.  Praise God! I have one more year of coursework with one year of internship.  I plan to graduate from the Seminary in May 2022 and hope to receive a call by September 2022.  This summer I will be doing my Christian Public Education (CPE) as part of the requirement in MDiv program with Lutheran Social Services and  Center for Changing Lives.  These two awesome organizations focus in providing affordable or free housing, access to education, health and food & hot meals to immigrants, children, youth, special needs, homeless, senior citizens and unfortunate families. It is a non paid work but I am really looking forward to my CPE. Although, it has been a challenge for me to fulfill our living expenses, I am blessed I can reach out to you and ask for your gracious help.  This shows God’s grace and abundance are within you and ULC Tempe! I will be continuing to look for scholarships or funds to cover the following year of my studies.  If you have other sources of grants or information, please let me know so that I can apply. I am grateful that Luther Seminary has covered my full tuition with some on-campus jobs until I complete my degree.

My son, Jonathan Sitorus (goes by Jonah) is also doing well! He’s in 8th grade and doing confirmation class at Christ Lutheran on Capitol Hill, St Paul.  He has been a great kid and independent with all the juggling of schedules and needs.  It’s truly a blessing to have each other as a team!

We truly appreciate the support from the entire ULC Tempe congregation. Please add us to your prayer list as we are journeying open ended of learning and discovering  God’s calling. My prayers to you.

If you need to reach me or you are in St Paul areas, please contact me! Attach is our last December 2019 photo of myself and Jonah (my son).

Best hopes, 
Esther K. Sianipar

Sundays 9:15am-10:15am Church Library

Have a forum to present or a forum idea? Contact Pastor Gary

• February 16: “Unpacking White Privilege” What questions do you have as a person of color…as a white person concerning White Privilege? What might it be like to grow up as a person of color in the US? In the whitest denomination in the US (our own ELCA)?  Student and member Kayla Pagel will be with us to share her experience. Bring your questions. Read the Article “Unpacking White Privilege” from the Living Lutheran Magazine.  You can also Download The Study Guide (PDF).
• February 23: “Biblical Show & Tell: Artifacts, Archaeology, and the Bible” led by Kim Savage.  This forum will be hands on and kids are welcome.
• March 1: How We View God & the World: Does one’s understanding of God result in one’s position on issues? We will use Climate Change as one example. Led by Pastor Gary
• March 8: “Christian Nation!?!: Yes? No? Sort of?” led by Pastor Gary