08/27/2014

Trinity's Midweek Blast for August 27, 2014

Leadership Our World Needs

Joy, hope, and new life to you in the name of the living Christ!

The new academic year began this week. Our seniors have returned to campus from internship. Middlers have returned from CPE or other summer-long immersion experiences. A new group of energetic and talented students finished their orientation last week and are now engaged in classes and community formation. Trinity is back in full session! There is a healthy energy and buzz as this new year and new community-in-formation begins.

Last week at our faculty retreat, I shared my vision for what I hope Trinity can become. Over the next several weeks I will share some aspects of that vision in this forum of a midweek blast. Today, I want to share with you the outcomes of what a Trinity degree means. God's world desperately needs leaders, and the leaders Trinity produces will be:

• Inspired and called by the one who raises the dead, and grasped by the promises of the resurrection;
• Formed theologically, biblically, and confessionally;
• Connected and in tune globally, culturally, ecologically, and contextually;
• Equipped to be authentic, adaptive, servant-leaders;
• Evangelical;
• Self-differentiated;
• Healthy;
• Humble and courageous; and,
• Role models for the way, the truth, and the life.

I also hope for our graduates to be "entrepreneurial" and "personable," as well as some other characteristics we could name. The list above is my attempt to highlight the desired outcomes for any student we admit, and they are not dependent upon an entering student having certain spiritual gifts. In other words, not everyone has the gift to be entrepreneurial, and not everyone is naturally personable. This does not mean, however, that such students could not be formed into highly effective leaders.

I believe that the call God has placed on Trinity is the formation of leaders. It's clear in our mission statement, and I am bold enough to believe that we can be truly outstanding in this regard... for the sake of the world.

In the abiding hope of the empty tomb,

Rick Barger, '89
President
Trinity Lutheran Seminary