Dear ELCA rostered leaders, You are enthusiastically invited to campus to join PLU’s opening Convocation ceremonies, followed by a hosted lunch, on Tuesday, September 8th. 9:30-11:00am – procession and Convocation 11:15-1pm – lunch and conversation (lunch at 11:45am) Please RSVP here by August 25th. Convocation ceremony You are invited to vest (any color stole is suitable for the occasion – Pastor Jen usually wears a rainbow one for this celebratory day!) and process with the faculty. This is a fun and festive celebration welcoming our new students to campus and to the mission of the university. The processional begins around 9:30am, and Convocation begins at 10am. We’ll send details about where and when to meet after you RSVP. Your presence at this event is a powerful statement to students, staff, and faculty, about how Lutheran higher education is rooted in the values and communities of the Lutheran faith tradition. Since 1890 (136 years!), PLU has valued its connection to the Lutheran church and your presence is meaningful. It communicates welcome and an inclusive sense of grace and embrace of our learning community by the ELCA. Lunch Campus Ministry, Lutheran Studies, and the Wild Hope Center for Vocation would like to host you for lunch following Convocation, from 11:15am – 1pm. We know that some of you have to travel some distance for this day and we would like to take the opportunity to host you. This is a time for us to connect and recharge together. We will have a brief program, including conversation about your ideas on ways PLU and our ELCA congregations and synods can stay connected and mutually enrich one another. It is a relationship of over a century that we want to tend and nourish. We hope to see many of you this fall! Once again, please RSVP here by August 25th. In a spirit of gratitude and partnership, Pastor Jen Rude, University Pastor Dr. Marit Trelstad, Chair of Lutheran Studies and Professor of Religion Ms. Z. Laree Winer, Director of the Wild Hope Center for Vocation | 
