MARY LEE TALBOT
Staff Writer
“All my texts this week are from the book of Deuteronomy. I find the laws of Israel fascinating. These laws are cited often by the founders of Israel and the founders of the United States,” said Michael Chan, Ph.D.
Chan is the vice president for Mission and Inclusion at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He will preach at the 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning ecumenical worship service. His sermon title is “Memory and the Flourishing of the World.”
He will preach at the 9:15 a.m. morning worship services Monday through Wednesday mornings in the Amphitheater. His sermon titles will include “Memory and the Neighbor,” “Remembering our Way Forward” and “Back to the Future.” Chan will share his faith journey at the 9:15 a.m. morning worship service Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy.
Chan’s work at Concordia involves working with two campus ministers and interfaith endowments and programming. “One of the key issues today is how to build a more trustworthy world. Trust is in short supply, and our students feel that deeply. They are experiencing a moral awakening. It is a gift for us elders to not feel this as deeply, to be able to give perspective,” he said.
For Lutherans, vocation means all the invisible threads of responsibility. Students are making a real attempt to see what that means for them. “I am fortunate to see them up close, to be part of that attempt,” Chan said.
In using scriptures from the Hebrew Bible, he tries to remember the British phrase “mind the gap.” He said, “We have to mind the gap between the cultural and linguistic setting in ancient Israel and the Christian setting today. We live in a remarkable moment, and I am grateful to reflect on that with others. I am excited to come to Chautauqua.”
When Chan joined the Concordia College community in June 2022, he was the executive director for faith and learning. His promotion to vice president is recent. Prior to that, he was associate professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He joined Luther Seminary after completing his Ph.D. at Emory University and a year of research and teaching at the University of Helsinki. He is a graduate of Luther Seminary (Master of Arts in biblical theology) and Pacific Lutheran University (Bachelor of Arts in elementary education).
This program is made possible by the generous support of The Edmond E. Robb-Walter C. Shaw Fund and The John William Tyrrell Endowment for Religion.
