What's Coming Up?
From the Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry News Desk - July 15, 2026
Our Dinner and Conversation evenings have always been the most visible activity Wittenberg Door has sponsored. We'll be continuing those starting August 21 and continuing on alternating Friday evenings through the semester.
What else do we do? The "meat and potatoes" of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry is centered around study and discussion of Scripture. In the upcoming year we will have the third straight year of a Bible discussion group at a local fraternity house. When we started it was my strong recommendation to the men. Last year the leadership asked if it could continue. We took a walk through the biblical ideas found in Luther's Small Catechism. Before the end of last year, the leadership and the ten or so men who had been attending told me they wanted to continue. Thanks be to God for an increasing interest in His Word!
I have been talking with some of the collegiate people around Trinity Lutheran Church. I believe they want to make a plan to show themselves at a public space around campus rather frequently, to hang together, study together, do a little biblical discussion and prayer together, and make it known that Lutheran Christians have a presence on the Mizzou campus. I'm hoping that some of the fraternity brothers will join in as well, and that people from the other Lutheran congregations in town will decide to join with us as a show of unity in Christ.
Thinking of discussions, I was given a book for Father's Day written by a dear brother in Christ, Alfonso Espinosa, who has been an encouragement to me since we first met on the internet and especially since we spent some face to face time at a conference a few years back. Contending for Christ through the Creed will make an excellent book discussion item. Consisting of 12 brief chapters (about 10 pages each), the book walks through the idea that "contention" is often a very good thing, as we identify, evaluate, and defend truth claims. We'll be working on a day and time to have discussions, probably starting them in the first week of September.
A plain ordinary Bible discussion on campus has temporarily fallen off the calendar. Those who have followed Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry for a long time may well remember our Lunch and Learn Bible discussion. For most of the years, it was a very small group, normally myself and our staunch supporter, Harry, who died unexpectedly in March. I'd like us to restart a Bible discussion, and hope to turn up several people who have a similar desire. This year we'd probably discuss the lectionary readings on the schedule for the upcoming Sunday's church services.
Finally, one of the activities which I've always enjoyed engaging in and which has been a very effective tool for building relationships is doing some conversation partner work for those who are non-native English speakers. For the past two years I've not done this due to schedule constraints. However, it's ready to start up again. In conversations with the International Center and with the Asian Affairs Center, I've found there are plenty of people who want English conversation partners, but there are not enough native English speakers who are willing to participate. Please pray that we can make a difference in the lives of our visitors. If anyone local is interested in serving as a conversation partner, please let me know!
It's wonderful as a Christian and as part of a Christ-centered ministry to welcome others who would like to learn more about God's Word, God's people, and the culture they're living in. Leviticus 19:33-34 tells God's people very clearly that they are to love and care for foreigners who are residing among them, since the people of Israel were also foreigners when in Egypt. By showing a warm welcome to others we are God's ambassadors, loving and serving our new neighbors.
From the Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry News Desk - July 15, 2026
Our Dinner and Conversation evenings have always been the most visible activity Wittenberg Door has sponsored. We'll be continuing those starting August 21 and continuing on alternating Friday evenings through the semester.
What else do we do? The "meat and potatoes" of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry is centered around study and discussion of Scripture. In the upcoming year we will have the third straight year of a Bible discussion group at a local fraternity house. When we started it was my strong recommendation to the men. Last year the leadership asked if it could continue. We took a walk through the biblical ideas found in Luther's Small Catechism. Before the end of last year, the leadership and the ten or so men who had been attending told me they wanted to continue. Thanks be to God for an increasing interest in His Word!
I have been talking with some of the collegiate people around Trinity Lutheran Church. I believe they want to make a plan to show themselves at a public space around campus rather frequently, to hang together, study together, do a little biblical discussion and prayer together, and make it known that Lutheran Christians have a presence on the Mizzou campus. I'm hoping that some of the fraternity brothers will join in as well, and that people from the other Lutheran congregations in town will decide to join with us as a show of unity in Christ.
Thinking of discussions, I was given a book for Father's Day written by a dear brother in Christ, Alfonso Espinosa, who has been an encouragement to me since we first met on the internet and especially since we spent some face to face time at a conference a few years back. Contending for Christ through the Creed will make an excellent book discussion item. Consisting of 12 brief chapters (about 10 pages each), the book walks through the idea that "contention" is often a very good thing, as we identify, evaluate, and defend truth claims. We'll be working on a day and time to have discussions, probably starting them in the first week of September.
A plain ordinary Bible discussion on campus has temporarily fallen off the calendar. Those who have followed Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry for a long time may well remember our Lunch and Learn Bible discussion. For most of the years, it was a very small group, normally myself and our staunch supporter, Harry, who died unexpectedly in March. I'd like us to restart a Bible discussion, and hope to turn up several people who have a similar desire. This year we'd probably discuss the lectionary readings on the schedule for the upcoming Sunday's church services.
Finally, one of the activities which I've always enjoyed engaging in and which has been a very effective tool for building relationships is doing some conversation partner work for those who are non-native English speakers. For the past two years I've not done this due to schedule constraints. However, it's ready to start up again. In conversations with the International Center and with the Asian Affairs Center, I've found there are plenty of people who want English conversation partners, but there are not enough native English speakers who are willing to participate. Please pray that we can make a difference in the lives of our visitors. If anyone local is interested in serving as a conversation partner, please let me know!
It's wonderful as a Christian and as part of a Christ-centered ministry to welcome others who would like to learn more about God's Word, God's people, and the culture they're living in. Leviticus 19:33-34 tells God's people very clearly that they are to love and care for foreigners who are residing among them, since the people of Israel were also foreigners when in Egypt. By showing a warm welcome to others we are God's ambassadors, loving and serving our new neighbors.
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