This month’s feature is an alumni couple, Tom and Laurie Summerfield (’98 & ’98, IA).  Tom shared the following words with us regarding their ministry:

“Our family has served as missionaries with the World Mission Prayer League in East Africa and most recently in Bolivia, South America. Tom has been teaching Latin American missionaries at a missionary training center and launching graduates off to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It has been great to be a part of the burgeoning missionary movement that has been growing in the 'southern (Asian, African and Latin American) Church.'

"We lived in Bolivia longer than anywhere else as a family and so we came to consider it home. It was hard to say goodbye, but Arianna and Jacob finished high school, and so we have returned to the US so that they can transition to the next phase of their lives. We moved to northwestern Iowa in late June, where we served as 'missionaries in residence' at the Ingham Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp on West Lake Okoboji. It was while at camp that we learned of the need for a pastor at Zion Lutheran in Ruthven (pop. 700).

"Laurie and I have spent time on farms and in smaller towns, but as a family we have never lived in a town of less than 60,000. The transition back to North American culture and to life in a smaller town will take some adjustment, but the folks at Zion have been amazing. They have been very welcoming and have really gone out of their way to help us feel right at home. We look forward to meeting folks in town and in the area. God has been doing some pretty amazing things through the folks in Ruthven for over a century, and we look forward to being a part of that legacy.”

Each Tuesday night this fall semester, Academic Dean Emerita, Jean Wahlstrom (LBI-California‘64) joins six Trinity students majoring in Intercultural Studies (ICUL) and 17 other people from local churches to take the "Perspectives" course. Trinity partnered with Perspectives, an internationally known educational program for equipping and mobilizing Christians with a biblical foundation of the Mission of God, the history of the expansion of the Christian movement, and holistic strategies to build bridges of love across cultures. While the ICUL students are taking the course for credit, Jean and the others have lighter academic requirements as they are either earning the Perspectives certificate or are auditing the class. She joins more than 80,000 Christians who have taken this course since 1974.

Jean has also been recruited to bring her guitar and lead the beginning worship session a few times. This brings back memories for Prof. Beth Elness-Hanson (‘84, ’90), Chair of the Biblical Studies Department, who had Jean as her worship teacher at LBI. Beth is one of 15 instructors for the course, who were strategically selected to present content in their areas of expertise.

Leslie Urie (LBI-California ‘81), Regional Director of the World Mission Prayer League, a Lutheran mission agency, is co-coordinator of the course. Leslie recently took advantage of the two free audit courses per year offered for pan-LBI/Trinity alumni, taking choir and the biblical CORE course, Light of the World. Another Trinity/LBI alumnus from '93, who works with a local non-profit organization, is the other co-coordinator and one of the instructors, bringing his experience from service abroad.

Another instructor is Dr. Mark Williams (LBI-California ’82), who with his wife, Kathi (LBI-California ’85) are our Missionaries-in-Residence this year, bringing 16 years of mission experience in a Muslim area of southern Philippines with the World Mission Prayer League.

While about half the class comes from Lutheran churches in Snohomish and King Counties, other churches include Four Square, Assemblies of God, Calvary Chapel, Mars Hill, and other community churches. The leadership is inviting visitors for one or two sessions, to get a taste of Perspectives, so please join us on Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. For more information on visiting contact Beth at beth.elnesshanson@tlc.edu. For information about Perspectives, visit www.perspectives.org.

In September, Trinity alumna, Dr. Lace Williams-Tinajero, came to the college to speak with Theology & Philosophy majors about her recent publication, The Reshaped Mind: Searle, The Biblical Writers, and Christ’s Blood (Brill, 2011).  “It was an intelligent and insightful presentation,” recalls sophomore Shannon Van Bavel, “especially where she brought new light to biblical language about the blood of Christ in Paul’s context.”

After Trinity, Lace went on to study at Luther Seminary, and completed a Ph.D. at Fuller Seminary, studying with the world-renowned scholar Nancey Murphy.  She credits Dr. Bruce Grigsby, who remains a favorite faculty member with students, for providing strong training in Greek, which was essential to her ground breaking contributions. 

While Lace is humble about her work, students and Academic Dean, Dr. Jeff Mallinson, left the session incredibly impressed by the value of her research.  Reflecting on the guest lecture, Mallinson noted: “It is rare—and incredibly valuable—to find someone with the right balance of philosophical sophistication, theological awareness, proficiency in the biblical languages and a strong and evident personal faith.  Dr. Williams-Tinajero has all of those qualities, and she is great at modeling the right kind of scholarship for our students.”  Recent alumnus Lance Green (‘11) agrees: “The help she gave me as I was preparing to present a conference paper on the philosophy of language and gospel preaching was priceless.  I’m amazed at her understanding of the philosophy of language and how it relates to the Bible.” 

Lace will be helping future students in the Biblical Studies and Theology & Philosophy majors by overseeing their final research projects.  Lace lives with her husband Ernesto (Tito) and their young son, Tito Jr., in Spokane, Washington.

Purchase a copy of Lace’s book on Amazon.com