It’s Happening

My daily Bible reading today began with 1 Chronicles 23, a chapter entitled "David Organizes the Levites" in the ESV. Read a portion of it (v. 2-5) with me:

David assembled all the leaders of Israel and the priests and the Levites. The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men. “Twenty-four thousand of these,” David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord, 6,000 shall be officers and judges, 4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.” And David organized them in divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Having just been part of the team that hosted Concordia the Reformer Seminary's V Annual Theological Symposium, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80 guests, I cannot fathom what went into coordinating 38,000. Without Microsoft Excel. 

Planning discussions got going around the start of the New Year, key people started meeting weekly in March, and things kicked off in earnest on Monday, arrival day. 

Airport run #1 of 4: 1:48 am. 

I made one trip to the seminary between airport runs to drop off groceries, including meticulously sorted and labeled snacks for AM & PM coffee breaks. Unfortunately I couldn't stay, but the place was a hive of activity with people setting up each of the indoor and outdoor spaces we'd be utilizing, a task that didn't wrap up until well after airport run #4 of 4. 

A scene like this greeted me when I arrived Tuesday morning. My first conscious thought, a refrain that would continue throughout the week: it's happening. After so many months of watching everything come together from behind my laptop screen, I was in shock that people were really here and we were really doing this thing. 

According to the "Nametags" tab of the master Excel workbook, representatives from 17 countries were on hand. 

Opening Matins was a historic occasion: Himnario Luterano, "un himnario hecho por la iglesia de Latinoamérica para la iglesia de Latinoamérica" (a hymnal by the Latin American church for the Latin American church) was dedicated to the glory of God; eight Latin American church body presidents received some of the first copies; and hymnal committee members were formally recognized for their decade plus of faithful labor. I translated the certificate wording!

Moments later, one floor up, Rev. Joel Fritsche formally declared the Symposium underway. 

My shock wore off somewhat as everyone settled in but was replaced with a sense of feeling lost - literally in a crowd of so many people and figuratively in that I didn't have a particular day-to-day role. I wound up spending most of my time in the quiet, air conditioned library, doing other work (I banged out a newsletter!) while making myself available for questions and errands. I'm sure that as we debrief, we'll identify multiple areas in which we could make things more professional, inviting, and relevant for next year, but from my perspective, things went...dare I say it...well. I'll leave you with a scene from the first of the hymn sings that took place nightly Tuesday-Thursday:

Friday evening's entertainment? Graduation! Until next time, blessings in Christ!