A special service will mark the establishment of the Lutheran Studies Program at Yale on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m. in the Divinity School's Marquand Chapel, 409 Prospect St. The event is open to the public, and all are invited to attend.
The Divinity School's newest program will offer a diploma in Lutheran studies, certifying that candidates have followed a prescribed course of study designed to make them familiar with core texts, and with a particularly Lutheran approach to theological education. The program is authorized by the Berkeley Divinity School, an affiliate of the Divinity School, and is overseen by a special committee that includes the Lutheran faculty at the Divinity School.
The Lutheran Studies Program is "one expression of the [Divinity School's] commitment ... to training candidates for the ministries of the churches," says Richard Wood, dean of the school. He adds that the April 9 service is intended as a celebration of this commitment.
The service will be a joint Lutheran/Episcopal Eucharist, marking the continued close relationship between the Lutheran and Episcopal communities, for which the sharing of the Eucharist has become a regular practice at Yale. Lutheran and Episcopal clergy are invited to participate in the procession; the liturgical color of the day is white.
"It is especially appropriate that the inauguration of the Lutheran Studies Program should take place at a joint celebration of the Eucharist," says Philip Turner, dean of the Berkeley Divinity School, who will preside over the service using the Lutheran Book of Worship. George Lindbeck, the Pitkin Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology, will preach.
Those interested in the Lutheran Studies Program at Yale should call 432-5292 or write to Paul F. Stuehrenberg, Lutheran Studies Program, Yale Divinity School, 409 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511.