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Rob Saler


Executive director, Center for Pastoral Excellence, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis Age: 35


Rob Saler’s description of the church as a “diff usively


spatialized event” is a mouthful. But for this ELCA theologian, teacher and director of a center that aims to discover and support excellence in ministry, it means that church becomes “more like an event than an insti- tution” and “there is no one-size-fi ts-all answer.” A lifelong Lutheran from southern Illinois, Saler


“The ELCA should think in terms of how we can be stewards of a legacy that fl ows out beyond our walls … allowing for closure of congregations honorably and without a sense of failure, and empowering and credentialing for new ministries,”


Rob Saler said. “We will always need traditional full-time pastors and congregations, but we need to expand the ‘R and D arm’ (research and dvelopment) in nontraditional, vibrant, experimental ministry.”


Rozella White


ELCA program director for young adult ministry, Chicago Age: 33


Rozella White jokes, “I’m a unicorn: a third


generation black and Puerto Rican Lutheran.” Active in her home congregation in Houston, White still never had a church calling in mind. Aſt er a diffi cult period involving her grand-


mother’s cancer, college plans that didn’t pan out and “a depressive episode,” White worked at a Lutheran camp in Texas. She was then hired part time by a small, urban Lutheran congre- gation and became a synod intern for LYO (Lutheran Youth Organization) events. White “fell in love with ministry,” especially


with older youth and young adults. She earned a certifi cation in youth ministry and later returned to seminary to put theological lan- guage to what she had experienced in so many ministry settings: a need for the church to re-examine its tradi- tional structures within the context of modern communities. Called in 2013 to her current leadership position at the church-


wide offi ce, White sees herself as a “bridge-builder,” seeking to help the ELCA fi nd ways to share “Lutheran theological underpinnings with young adults who aren’t necessarily in church.”


20 www.thelutheran.org


“To be a community hub and center, a broader expression of community coming together 24/7,” Rozella White (left) said.


“We need to develop leaders who look like the world we live in.”


found himself drawn both to academic study and pas- toral ministry. He was ordained while completing his doctorate at the Lutheran School of T eology at Chi- cago. He served two ELCA congregations before being called to Christian T eological Seminary, where he now directs the Center for Pastoral Excellence. Saler also teaches Lutheran studies in conjunc- tion with the Indiana/Kentucky Synod, designing courses that bring seminarians, pastors in continuing education and laity together.


the church’s calling?


What’s


the ELCA’s calling?


What is


DANIELLE BURRUS


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