Eighteen members of St. Luke’s traveled for the first time since Covid to the Westfield House Seminary in Cambridge England. Each year, they go to help with work projects throughout the campus.
Westfield House is the theological school in Cambridge England affiliated with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. They are in partnership with the Concordia University System, Valparaiso University, and both Concordia Seminaries. It is part of Cambridge University and students at the Westfield House may take courses and use the resource of Cambridge University including the library system.
The Westfield House trains individuals for full time church work as a pastor, deaconess, DCE, or teacher. Students come from all over Europe, Africa, Australia, and the United States. Once trained these individuals return home to serve the Lord in various capacities.
St. Luke’s has been actively involved with the Westfield House for the past five years with financial support as well as sending servant event teams. We have also helped the school strengthen the ties with their local community. The team this year consisted of 18 individuals including Pastor and Lois Arp. There was even a surprise visit from Pastor Gary Schuschke who took vacation days and flew over from Germany to join the group.
The group, as usual, accomplished much more than was expected. They laid a new parking area, cleaned out dozens of closets and cupboards, replaced the roof on the work shed, and painted – painted – painted. They painted the top floor of the student’s dorm as well as the common area on the first floor, the dining room, laundry hall and two kitchens. All this during the heat spell that broke all records with one day reaching 102 degrees followed by a day of 104. And, of course, in this part of the world there is no air conditioning.
But it wasn’t all work. One day the group took an excursion to Stamford and visited the Burghley House. There were also opportunities to go punting on the River Cam or walk down to Grantchester to see where the PBS tv series was filmed. We also had a birthday party for Fred who turned 91 while we were there. If you are interested in supporting Westfield House or in joining the servant event team please contact the church office.
View the Photo Album for some great shots of the campus, their work and some time of fun around England.