Happy New Year 2026

NEWS FROM TÜBINGEN
by Dennis Lindsay

Happy New Year!

 This new year promises many new developments our work in Tübingen. 

Dennis and Karen Lindsay have now relocated back to Eugene, Oregon, and by the time of this publication will (hopefully!) have received their shipment container of belongings from Germany. Dennis continues to serve as Institute Director while the EES is actively searching for his replacement on the ground in Tübingen. We hope to have some exciting news to share on this front very soon in the new year.

The weekly English-German Colloquium continues to produce engaging and ground-breaking presentations of new research in various fields of New Testament studies and theological studies in general. As the word spreads and as online technology improves, we have participants and presenters from all over the globe eager to engage in this opportunity. A list of recent presentations is always available on the EES website.

This year also promises the completion of editing for and the publication of the volume of collected essays from our October 2024 International Symposium on “The Great Commandment.” This will be published in the “WUNT” series from Mohr Siebeck Publishing in Tübingen We will keep you up to date on the progress of this project.

The staff of the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins are grateful for your ongoing support of our work in Tübingen and we want to wish you a Happy New Year, full of God’s blessings!

Auf Wiedersehen, Tübingen!

NEWS FROM TÜBINGEN

Auf Wiedersehen, Tübingen!

by Dennis Lindsay

After three years of service as on-site Director of the Institute for the Study of Christian Origins, Karen and I moved back to the US at the end of October. We loved living and working in Tübingen and we already miss our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and students—as well as our lovely apartment and its surroundings. We wish we could have stayed longer. Family priorities, however, made clear to us that it was time to return to our home in Eugene, Oregon. 

The past three years were very eventful for the work of the Institute as we emerged from the “standstill” brought on by the Covid pandemic and amplified by my predecessor’s (Dr. Beth Langstaff) untimely death. We gave priority to shoring up our relationship with the University and restoring the regular course offerings and activities of the Institute—including the 2024 International Symposium on “The Great Commandment” that we co-sponsored with the Protestant Faculty. We upgraded the instructional technology in the Institute seminar room, paving the way for even greater outreach with our service to international students and scholars. The German-English Colloquium is thriving and we are booking scholarly presentations—online and in-person—into the 2026 summer semester. 

And, in spite of this latest transition, I am happy to report that our Tübingen ministry continues full speed ahead. Birgit Hallmann faithfully provides day-to-day on-site administrative support, and from my new home in Eugene I continue to serve in my role as Institute Director, participating in the weekly English-German Colloquiums via Zoom and teaching several online courses. In the meantime, the EES is working diligently to appoint a new director who will take up the baton of leadership on-site in Tübingen.

We are grateful for your continued prayers and support during this time of transition—both for the Institute and for the Lindsay family.

Prayer 27.10.2025

by Dennis

Gathering Thoughts

One:    O God, you summon the day to dawn,

            You teach the morning to waken the earth.

ALL:  GREAT IS YOUR NAME.  GREAT IS YOUR LOVE.

One:    For you the valleys shall sing for joy,

            The trees of the field shall clap their hands.

ALL:  GREAT IS YOUR NAME.  GREAT IS YOUR LOVE.

One:    For you the monarchs  and rulers of the earth shall bow,

            The poor and persecuted shall shout for joy.

ALL:  GREAT IS YOUR NAME.  GREAT IS YOUR LOVE.

One:    Your love and mercy shall last forever,

            Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise.

ALL:  GREAT IS YOUR NAME.  GREAT IS YOUR LOVE.

Word of God

Reader:           A reading from Luke 14:12-24.

                        Let us listen for the Word of the Lord.

ALL:              OUR EARS ARE OPEN.

Reader:           This is the Word of our Lord.

ALL:              THANKS BE TO GOD.

Reflection on the Word

Prayers for the Day

One:    Remembering that Christ’s banquet feast is ready, prepared, and open for all to come, let us pray for the Church, the world, and all of creation.  Lord, in your mercy,

ALL:  HEAR OUR PRAYER.

One:    God, who created and who sustains all things, we lay before you our concerns of this day. We pray for the creation that groans and yearns for deliverance from decay. We pray that you would make us responsible stewards of your good gifts, so that the land may have rest and that all the people of the earth may have enough food, fresh water, and the necessities of life.  We pray for peace where there is strife; and we pray for reconciliation where relationships are broken.  Lord, in your mercy,

ALL:  HEAR OUR PRAYER.

One:    Gracious God, you have called us to serve your people. And so we lay before you the people who are on our hearts today—our children; our students; our friends near and far; our co-workers and colleagues; our pastors and mentors; our political leaders; and the strangers and aliens with whom we cross paths today. Let us be vessels of your blessing to one another in our various circumstances and needs.  Lord, in your mercy,

ALL:  HEAR OUR PRAYER.

One:    God of might and power, we lay ourselves before you in prayer, along with the work you have given us to do in this place, on this day, and throughout this week.  Grant us the grace to serve joyfully in all circumstances.  Grant us the wisdom that we need for the choices we have to make.  Help us in our busy-ness always to have open ears and open hearts to hear and to respond to your loving invitation to share in your eternal banquet feast.  Lord, in your mercy,

ALL:  HEAR OUR PRAYER.

One:    Und alles was uns sonst bewegt schliessen wir zusammen in dem Gebet, das Jesus seinen Jüngern gelehrt hat:

ALL:  Unser Vater im Himmel…

Sharing the Peace

Leader: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Response:      And also with you.

Blessing

One: May God bless us;

            May God keep us in the Spirit’s care

            and lead our lives with love.

One:    MAY CHRIST’S WARM WELCOME

            SHINE FROM OUR HEARTS

            AND CHRIST’S OWN PEACE PREVAIL

            THROUGH THIS AND EVERY DAY,

            TILL GREATER LIFE SHALL CALL.

All:     AMEN.

 Vater Unser

Dennis in Estonia

NEWS FROM TÜBINGEN

By Dennis Lindsay

October marks the beginning of the new academic year in Tübingen. The students have returned and there is a flurry of activity around the University. Our German English Colloquium in New Testament has also begun and all but a couple of the dates have been filled with students, professors, and guests who wish to present their current research for scrutiny and feedback.

In early October I (Dennis) travelled to Tallinn, Estonia to teach an intensive course for students at the Baptist Seminary there. The course title was "Teaching and Preaching the New Testament" and fifteen students were enrolled. The lecture schedule was strenuous (9:00 am to 6:30 pm!), but the students were very engaged and it was a blessing for me to be able to share with this group of Christian teachers and preachers.

Prayer 06.10.2025

The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

THANKSGIVING FOR THE GIFT OF CREATION

Bless the Lord, all you creatures!

And forget not all of God’s benefits.

For all your creatures that breathe and move and have life,

We give you thanks and praise, Creator God.

That we may love and honor the works of your hand,

We give you thanks and praise, Creator God.

That all living things may be treasured with care,

We give you thanks and praise, Creator God.

That all life may flourish,

We give you thanks and praise, Creator God. Amen

PSALM 8

O Lord our Lord, how majestic is

your name in all the earth!

you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths

of infants and children; you have set up a fortress against your

enemies, to silence the foe and avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them,

human beings that you should care for them?

Yet you have made them little less than divine;

with glory and honor you crown them.

You have made them rule over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under their feet:

all flocks and cattle, even the wild beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, the fish of the sea,

and whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

O | Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.

LITANY FOR THE WILD ANIMALS

We see the vastness of the plants and animals that fill every corner of this earth

with life and vitality even in spaces where it is hard to imagine anything surviving.

We give thanks for the inevitability of life that God sustains among us.

We recognize how fragile life is in a natural world dominated by sickness and death.

We give thanks for the miracle of life that God sustains among us,

the life the wild animals around us exude is an illustration of the presence of God,

the light of life, among us.

We give thanks for the wild animals and the gift they are to us.

We are called to steward and preserve the life around us on God’s earth.