New Students, Fall 2006

Alexis Twito

I WAS ALWAYS A "CHURCH KID," YOU COULD SAY. I had always attended Sunday School and VBS. It wasn't until Confirmation that I started to do church on my own and to volunteer within the church. During high school, then, it was not uncommon for me to hear people in my congregation say, "Oh, Alexis, you'll make such a good pastor!" I resisted their nudging politely, always responding with my own determination to be a middle school teacher. During the summer after I graduated high school, my youth group attended the St. Louis ELCA Youth Gathering. The theme was "Dancing at the Crossroads," and little did I realize that I was personally dancing at a crossroads.

Eventually I realized that God was calling me to ordained ministry and I haven't looked back since. When I first discovered LTSP, I was amazed at how perfect it seemed for me. It offered both Latino and urban ministry concentrations, and the opportunity to do a dual MDiv and Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree. When I visited the seminary in the spring of 2004, one of the current students told me that LTSP would give me "Lutheran tradition with a progressive edge." It is that Lutheran tradition and the ways in which LTSP sees ministry in a global and diverse world that really impressed me, and ultimately helped me make my decision to attend.