Steadfast on Campus- So What Did Your Students Think of UNWRAPPED?

unwrappedHe began to walk away from the podium and said, “[You are] all damned sinners, one and all,” to which, the assembled college students rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation.

This is why confessional Lutheranism resonates with our college students. They are damned sinners. And, earlier in the morning during his homily, Pres. Harrison reminded them that Jesus came only for sinners.

Our confessions suggest that this proclamation of the Gospel is our greatest treasure: “The blessed proclamation, the Gospel, which proclaims the forgiveness of sins through the blessed Seed, that is, Christ, has from the beginning of the world been the greatest consolation and treasure to all pious kings, all prophets, all believers.” (Apology XII, Triglotta, p. 273) This treasure is for college students too. This treasure was most definitely unwrapped for our students last week in St. Louis.

I asked a few of the students who went with me to give some feedback. Here are a few of their comments.

“The conference never claimed, or showed, to be anything but confessional, historic Lutheranism. Christ-crucified and raised for our salvation was everywhere! Never did the conference digress into a church growth or ‘God loves your good works’ seminar. The speakers did not insult our intelligence as college students. They spoke in a scholarly way and presented us with scholarly evidence, and many of them were recognized experts in the fields they were presenting on. ” – Thomas Cowell

“Amidst a world of ravenous wolves, devourers of truth, we have found ourselves struggling in the heat of the ongoing battle for our very souls… This LCMS Christ- centered conference equipped us with the full armor of God, renewed us with a Spirit eagerly yearning to learn, and comforted us in the remembrance of who we are… To forget who we are, is to forget who He is and who He has made us to be. We are His people, and He is our God.” – Zach Viggers (I asked Zach for a quote and he gave me a paper…)

“The sectionals and plenary speakers were extraordinary, but praying the historic, reverent, Christ-centered liturgy three times a day with 400 plus college students in St.Francis Xavier was my favorite aspect of Unwrapped.” – Emily Smith

“The prayer services were amazing, and many of our students expressed to me how much they loved to see the beautiful music and liturgy and several of them told me that they would love to learn more about Lutheran liturgy in a future Bible study.” – Thomas Cowell

“I thought Unwrapped was a wonderful opportunity to learn about Lutheran beliefs and be in fellowship with other college congregations. The different sectionals and plenaries were constantly sparking discussion between students and many of these discussions have continued since the conference. The most wonderful part of the conference was that it continually pointed back to Christ no matter the subject.”—Lauren Petri

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