Summer Greetings, Spring Memories!

Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you established the moon and the sun.

You made summer and winter

and gave them to the earth.

~ Psalm 74:16-17 ~

Introducing New LuMin Leader, Anne

I’ll begin as any newcomer should — Hello! How are you? It’s lovely to meet you!

My name is Anne. I’m one of the new Student Leaders for LuMin this year, working mainly with Pastor Kari and Patrick to support and develop LuMin’s ministry at Yale. I’m a rising senior, majoring in Global Affairs and I’m from Prescott, Arizona. I’m a fan of languages, blueberry crisp and On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I am very much not a fan of burpees, being hot, and cockroaches who feel the need to scuttle out of shower drains with no warning whatsoever.

My experiences with LuMin have been limited thus far. I’ve come to Taizé Prayer, attended a few events here and there, and — of course — snarfed the goodies that Pastor Kari has graciously sent over the years in her outreach efforts; but I didn’t fully engage. I invested most of my religious focus internally, with halting attempts to establish a routine of prayer and Bible study, and off-campus, with weekly(ish) services at Trinity Lutheran Church.

This year, I look forward to investing in LuMin, too. As a LuMin noob, there’s a lot to learn, but Patrick and Pastor Kari have been superb teachers over the past few weeks. I’m excited to work with them on the initiatives that they spearheaded last year and the changes already in the works for the coming year. I’m grateful for this opportunity to open my heart and mind more fully to God’s love and share that love with others. And I am eager to get to know more of you(!!) — the wonderful people who have built such a rich and welcoming community of believers.

It’s gonna be a great year!

Anne Northrup

The Tenacity of Hope

The image shows four LuMin students, Pastor Kari, and Vicar Maeve; all six are outside Bethesda Lutheran Church, and all six are wearing face masks.

This past semester proved the tenacity of hope within our community. We arrived in January to an uncertain semester. As the snow fell, LuMin considered how it would continue to be a place of faith and meaning for community members. Even remotely, we remained an active space of faith. Our first event ensured that students had ashes to celebrate the beginning of the Lenten season. Students, both old and new, joined together on zoom for a special Ash Wednesday service. Even apart, our community found new ways to live and practice our faith. As the semester progressed, we continued to connect with each other at weekly Taizé and as spring flowers bloomed and Alleluia’s rang out from churches, the hope of vaccines brought renewed life to our ministries.

At the end of the semester, after well over a year, our community gathered in person to sing Taizé together at the Bethesda fire pit. I know personally for me, the best moment from this semester was celebrating Ascension Day at Bethesda. Following the CDC’s newest guidance on that day, we were able to unmask outdoors and share a meal together. Throughout this pandemic, I missed the beauty of the church, and it wasn’t until I was outside eating a grilled hot dog that I realized the beauty of church extends beyond the sanctuary into every interaction we have as Christians. This semester I rediscovered the hope of my own faith and as we look towards an in person fall, I can not wait to see where this ministry goes next.

Patrick Chappel

Semester Photo Round-Up!

The image shows members of LuMin observing Ash Wednesday over Zoom. The majority of attendees have ashes on their foreheads; there are 10 participants in the Zoom meeting.

LuMin celebrating Ash Wednesday online. Thanks to some creative solutions and crafting from Pastor Kari, Vicar Maeve, and Patrick, we were able to deliver bags of ashes to all of our members!

Story Hour continued into a second semester of laughs, joy, and learning. One of our favorite games after reading was writing our own group story. We came up with some pretty neat stuff!

Members of LuMin are gathered at Bethesda Lutheran Church sharing snacks and making gift bags.

As the semester continued we once again shared in the blessings of fellowship together. LuMin was able to host two in person Taizé Prayers, where we welcomed some first-timers (!) and gave gift bags and blessings to those moving on.

Members of LuMin share a picnic together in the summer sun; there are five students and Pastor Kari pictured.

To honor and celebrate the hard work and perseverance of our seniors we hosted an end of year picnic on the last day of finals to say goodbye for now!

Many Thanks to Vicar Maeve

Vicar Maeve is shown outside, wearing an "I [heart] New Haven" shirt, except the heart is a slice of pizza. She has long, blonde hair and sunglasses on the top of her head; she is smiling.

It has been a wonderful blessing to serve as Vicar for LuMin Campus Ministry at Yale this year. It was a great experience to learn the in’s and out’s of campus ministry from Pastor Kari. The ministry is gifted with thoughtful students and student leaders who are eager to connect with one another and with their community.

I enjoyed getting to lead and craft Taizé worship, participate in the Story Hour program, and learn during the Bible and book studies. Although the year was mostly spent at a distance, I was able to build relationships with the students and grow alongside them. I was grateful to learn from the Directing Committee and to participate in ELCA-wide campus ministry conferences.

I look forward to seeing how this ministry continues to flourish with leadership from Vicar Kurt, Patrick, Anne, and Pastor Kari. Thank you for embracing me with hospitality this year!

Peace in Christ,

Vicar Maeve Schurz

A Word from Pastor Kari

Three smiling people are shown in a selfie; Pastor Kari is on the left with a shoulder-length brown bob and glasses, student leader Bella Back is in the middle with a backwards hat and glasses, and Vicar Maeve is on the right with long, blonde hair.

Dear friends,

As grateful as I am that Zoom gatherings served to hold our community together for a full year, when we finally got to meet in-person again, I was truly blown away by the depth of my joy. Once we all had been fully vaccinated, we were able to sing, pray, and catch up around a campfire just outside our LuMin office at Bethesda. And then after classes were over, some of us got to meet for a picnic on Cross Campus. Such precious memories! Thanks be to God for strengthening us all the way through the year in so many different ways.

I’m also immensely grateful for the ministry of Vicar Maeve Schurz, our Intern Pastor who has been working with both LuMin and Bethesda this past year! Saying goodbye has been tough, as we have so benefited Maeve’s encouraging presence, her insightful worship leadership, her walking alongside students through this challenging year, and so much more.

And wow, have our Student Leaders been amazing! Thank you, Bella Back (pictured above in the center), for leading our Bible Study and our Anti-Racism Book Club. Thank you, Patrick Chappel, for heading up our online Story Hour for children experiencing housing insecurity, and for buoying us with your positivity and hard-working leadership.

Finally I’m grateful for YOU. Whether you are a current student in the LuMin community, or an alum, a board member, a prayer partner, a generous donor, or many of those things (!), I offer you my deepest thanks for your steadfast support for campus ministry and for all the ways you live out your faith in the world!

Pastor Kari

Kari Henkelmann Keyl

University Lutheran Ministry of New Haven (LuMin at Yale)

karihenkelmann.keyl@yale.edu

Summer 2021