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Dr. Mark Schuler

About Dr. Mark Schuler

http://markschuler.com

Posts by Dr. Mark Schuler:

Chapel at Mekane Yesus Seminary, Addis Ababa

Mission to Teach -Ethiopia

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Since about 2000, my primary external focus has been excavation and research associated with the Northeast Insulae Project of the Hippos Excavations. I was set to return to the Albright Institute in Jerusalem last October for more work on the research when those plans were disrupted by the war between Hamas and Israel. I have no idea when I might return again.

Then this spring, I received an invitation to be visiting professor for a semester in the new PhD program at the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa. The seminary is affiliated with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus, the largest Lutheran denomination in the world with over 10 million members. I will teach Advanced Hermeneutics and Advanced Biblical Greek in that program.

Once the teaching begins, I plan to post a weekly update here. If you are interested in following my work.

I will soon be setting up a way by which you may subscribe to these posts and receive them via email. I will echo these posts on Facebook.

Below are a few pictures of the seminary from my visit there in 2023.

Luther Memorial Church

A new direction…

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The Hamas Israel war that broke out in early October is not only a terrible tragedy for both peoples, it also disrupted my plans to return to the Albright in Jerusalem for two more months of research.

In early November, my retirement took on a new direction as I was approached about serving a pastoral vacancy at Luther Memorial in River Falls, Wisconsin.

I did supply preaching there beginning 19 November and on 27 November began a 6 month contract as vacancy pastor while the church seek to call a new lead pastor.  My prime duties are preaching, teaching and encouragement.

LMC is a very active congregation with a strong outreach to their community and the campus of the University of Wisconsin, River Falls.  They are also involved in supporting a mission in Costa Rica.

They are a warm community blessed with very competent leadership and staff. It is an honor for me to serve there and to be involved again in regular preaching.

My archaeological research has slowed down, but I am hopeful to get back to the Albright in 2024.

Luther Memorial in River Falls

Luther Memorial in River Falls

Koschmann family

Koschmann tour

During the month of May, I had the joy of welcoming the Koschmann family to Israel and, with the help of Rhoda, showing them the sites in Galilee and Jerusalem. We even got to Sussita, climbing it twice in one day. (With the paved path and steps, the hike is a lot easier.)  One of the products of spending a lot of time in Israel, as I have done over the years, is the “normalization” of many sites. It is refreshing to be with folks full of wonder at it all. Indeed, the land, and the stories that took place her, are wonderful. Sharing them is a blessing. In many ways, this family became our family.

Schuler at Mekane Yesus Seminary

Apostolicity Today

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It was my pleasure to address the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa at the inaugural lecture series for the Rev. Dr. Yonas Deressa Research Center on 26-28 April 2023. This center will become the locus for new PhD programs in Biblical Studies, Biblical Languages, and Theological Studies to be offered by the seminary beginning in another year.

Under the topic of “Apostolicity in the Church,” I delivered three plenary lectures: “The First Apostles,” “After the Apostles,” and “Apostles Today.” Of particular focus for this series is the use of to title of “apostle” and claims of apostolic authority in many African Independent Churches.

I am hopeful that my work was beneficial for the church and set the stage for rigorous scholarship among coming generations of church leaders in Ethiopia.

Participants in the lecture series
GSTJ

Journal Project

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Sam Deressa and I are pleased to announce the publication of Vol. 1, No. 1 of the new Global South Theological Journal at https://gstjournal.org. 

Five articles make up the first issue:

  1. Ibrahim Bitrus, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A “Living Dead” In Africa
  2. Gerd Decke, Gudina Tumsa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  3. Ezekiel Gebissa, The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) Between Indigeneity and Globalism: Re-Measuring Growth,
  4. Re-Visioning Mission, Recasting Leadership
  5. Darrell Jodock, Gudina Tumsa’s Contributions to Theology
  6. Gemechu Olana, An Empowering and Reconciling Presence: Public Ministry in The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus: A Brief Historical Perspective Review with Some Prospective Remarks

All articles are in English, but we have built in capability to use Google Translate for reading the articles in other languages.

Editorial and Publication

  • Samuel Deressa, PhD, Concordia University, Saint Paul, MN, USA, editor
  • Mark Schuler, ThD (emeritus), Concordia University, Saint Paul, MN USA, managing editor

Reviewers

  • Bruk Ayele, PhD, Mekane Yesus Seminary, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Ibrahim Bitrus, PhD, Federal College of Education, Yola, Nigeria
  • Suzanne Hequet, PhD (emerita), Concordia University, Saint Paul, MN, USA
  • Julius Kiambi Kithinji, PhD, St. Paul University, Limuru, Kenya
  • Pum Za Mang, PhD, Myanmar Institute of Theology, Yangon, Myanmar
  • Misgana Mathewos, PhD, Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Detlev Schulz, PhD , Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN, USA

This open-source digital journal is published by the Department of Theology and Ministry at Concordia University, Saint Paul, with assistance of a grant from the Hoffmann Initiatives. It is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International  licensing (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

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