After more than 18 years of serving as 黑料社区's campus pastor, Rev. Dr. Paul Rohde says he has other callings his aging mother, four grandchildren, more spiritual directing and a part-time calling at Springdale Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls.
淪ome people describe campus ministry as a sprint. It fast. It just fast and I檓 a jogger. And I檝e struggled with that since the beginning, said Rohde, laughing.
And, Rohde has been sprinting for a long time.
淚 could never remember a time in my life that I wasn檛 thinking about being a pastor," said Rohde.
After majoring in German and obtaining his master degree in speech in college, Rohde joined Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He interned at a church in Oak Park, Illinois, and later served at congregations in Lake Preston, Sioux Falls, and New Ulm, Minnesota.
While the Webster native had previously preached and taught some classes at Augustana, in 2001, Rohde said he got the call to come back and has been here ever since.
Rohde said, 淲hen I came, my daughter was a junior in high school and another daughter was a freshman in high school so, college kids were really very much like my own kids. And that was true for a long time.
The husband and father of three said that one of the things he檒l miss the most the people, the students observing their confidence, their sense of self and ownership in what they believe. He said the students are at a pivotal point in their lives and that the center of their work.
淚 will miss seeing how students change. Students change a lot. Mostly, that really fun to watch. I mean, sometimes the changes are painful, things they go through, said Rohde. 淚n ministry of any age, you檝e got to meet people where they are and help them understand what feeds that, understand how that incomplete, understand what yearning is still there and speak to them.
Rohde said he most proud of the number of students he nurtured for ministry.
淚檓 very proud of what our students do and privileged to have been a part of that, said Rohde.
But as much as the students and staff have changed, Rohde said some things haven檛.
湨 rigorous academics and a deeply caring community. Those are the things that everybody says and I think faith speaks to both of those and our vision is to see that both of those (are) grounded in faith and lived out faithfully.
The vitality of the campus ministry also hasn檛 changed said Rohde. When they started services of blessings around five years ago, it helped stir a sense of coming to chapel to receive something, rather than showing up as an expectation or demand.
According to Rohde, 淥ne of the things that I think we檙e seeing increasingly is that Augustana becomes a church for a lot of people who work here and Pr. Ann (Rosendale '04) and I are their pastors.
He says it much more than a job and indicative of the community on campus.
When asked about the campus ministry in his absence, Rohde said it will be just fine. He says he has a lot of confidence in his colleague, Campus Pastor Rev. Ann Rosendale.
淗ope stays true are the things that are constant that people are broken and God is redemptive and Jesus is not only about loving us, he loves us of course, but about teaching us to become that love and to become servants. That what I hope persists.
His last day at Augustana will be Jan. 31, but Rohde said he and his wife, Susan, will always be a part of the Augustana community.
A blessing for Rohde was held on Wednesday, Dec. 4, with a celebration that included the campus congregants laying hands on him to send him off with gratitude and Godspeed.