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Rochester L'Abri,
Minnesota
May, 2009
Dear Friends,
Have you ever tried to explain L’Abri to someone who had never heard of it? I ‘m sure you did not find it easy. Well, if it’s any consolation, after over 20 years working for L’Abri, I still find it a pretty difficult task! The problem is that there are just so many aspects to L’Abri - and we don’t fit too easily into any of the normal categories for Christian ‘ministry’.
Of course, over the years we have developed certain phrases like ‘residential study center’ or ‘missional community’ but they are just as likely to give the wrong impression as the right one. Lately I’ve taken to describing us as a place where we give people ‘space’ to think through the important questions and issues of their lives, a place where people are taken seriously and ideas are taken seriously.
And it doesn’t get any easier when you start to talk of the different branches of L’Abri either. Yes, we all share the same theological convictions and the same ethos; we all have a similar rhythm of life and try to offer the same redemptive experience to all that come. But there are interesting distinctions as well. Each branch has a unique history and is significantly shaped by the folk that live and work there - and by the distinct opportunities that God has opened up in that geographical area. If we had space it would be wonderful to describe each of the unique stories and flavors that define each of the eight branches of L’Abri. But for this Annual Newsletter, I thought I would simply try to give you a ‘taste’ of the Rochester L’Abri. For it occurred to me recently that God has raised up some things here in Rochester that are really quite unique even in L’Abri – and we are very thankful for that.
Student terms:
As with every residential branch of L’Abri, the heart of the L’Abri work in Rochester involves the opening up of our homes and the creation of a welcoming community, where ‘students’ can come and live alongside us, seeking answers to their deepest life questions, and where they can be both nurtured and challenged, in the light of a Christian Biblical worldview. It has been wonderful to see this central aspect of the work here grow so tremendously over the past 4 or 5 years. Our two long 8-week summer terms (open periods within which folk can come for whatever length of time suits them) are now regularly full. The shorter 4-week terms are also growing – in fact, at present we have 10 students and two helpers making for a wonderfully full and busy community. Larry and Nancy, Alison and I and our single worker, Prisca, have our hands full - feeding and caring for the folk as they come and go while at the same time prayerfully engaging them in study and discussions in ways that commend the Faith and demonstrate the reality of the God who is truly there. What a joy to see this fabulous property fully realizing its potential during these busy terms.
But what about our closed periods I hear you asking? Well that is where God has blessed us in a number of pretty unique ways.
Conferences:
Perhaps the best known distinctive of the Rochester branch is our Annual L’Abri conference down at the Kahler hotel. From its earliest beginnings as a Saturday morning seminar in Mrs. Schaeffer’s drawing room, the Rochester conference now regularly attracts between 600 and 700 people each year for two very full days with some 40 plenary sessions and workshops to choose from. We are the only branch to run our own conference and under the careful stewardship of Larry and Nancy this has become an annual gathering of many dear friends of L’Abri, and an opportunity to hear from present and former workers of L’Abri and many like-minded friends. It is also increasingly introducing Schaeffer and the teachings of L’Abri to a new generation, as more and more college students find the conference a ‘window’ into L’Abri.
Less well known, but equally exciting is the steady growth of our Iowa Conference. Put together by a committee of friends, this smaller day conference has grown over four years to some 140 attendees. With Larry and I doing the main talks and drawing more on local folk for the workshops, this mini conference has become a regular date for many Iowans in November.
L’Abri Retreat – St Louis:
Looking further south into Missouri, we come across another unique extension of the Rochester branch. For the past 8 years, Alison and I have been running what we call a ‘L’Abri Retreat’ for two weeks in January every year. While the branch up here is closed for a winter break, we essentially relocate the work to a beautiful 500 acre farm about 1.5 hours SW of St Louis in the foothills of the Ozarks. The folk in that part of the world (as well as others who get to hear of it) join us for a regular L’Abri experience of studies, meal discussions, community living and all that goes along with a visit to a regular branch. What makes this little venture so exciting is the way it came about and the direction it is heading. A joint venture of the Rochester L’Abri and the Francis Schaeffer Institute (FSI) at Covenant Seminary in St Louis, it was initiated by the Kramer family, who own the farm, as a way to bring L’Abri into that area and also to foster closer ties between L’Abri and the seminary. Essentially we help the seminary students get a taste of L’Abri.
So successful have these annual retreats been, that we are now in the midst of a building project to construct a designated Retreat Center out on the farm that will enable these Retreats and other L’Abri activities to grow. Fifty acres of pristine wooded hillside overlooking a beautiful river valley have been donated to a non-profit (Ebenezer Trust) specifically set up with L’Abri and FSI folk on the Board to manage the building construction. At present foundations have been laid and funds are being quietly gathered to move forward with the rest of the building, but in these economic times that is a slow process - so please do be in prayer that God would enable us to bring this wonderful development to completion. Ties with the FSI have always been strong of course, as their resident scholar, Jerram Barrs, regularly kicks off our February conference - but our prayer is that connections with our many, many friends in St Louis would grow ever stronger through this project.
Local Church & Community:
How God weaves people together is a central part of the next feature of Rochester L’Abri that I’d like to tell you about. And that is the wonderful way we are connected to our local Church and our local community. From the beginning, Dr Schaeffer always wanted L’Abri to serve the Church and to model good Churchmanship. Though a para-Church organization, L’Abri has always sought good relationships with local Churches. In Rochester we are particularly blessed by a long-standing and rich relationship with our local Church – Trinity Presbyterian Church. Both Larry and I have been Elders there for extended periods of time and the people of Trinity have been incredibly supportive and helpful to us and indeed to all our students, whom they welcome with open arms each Sunday. Trinity helps us with our annual conference and we try to help Trinity where possible. Through the Church, for the past 9 years I have been involved in the leadership of an excellent Bible study outreach to the Mayo clinic and especially its Medical students. In turn, many from the clinic find our Friday night public lectures useful in deepening their Christian understanding.
Of course, we also have many friends and supporters in other local Churches and in the wider community and our students (as well as we, ourselves) gain immeasurably from this wider context. On Wednesday nights, Larry and Nancy invite in different local Christian families to join our students for a meal and talk about living the Christian life in their particular vocation or circumstance. It was from contacts within this local context that we were also able to develop a rather unique presence on a local campus. For the past 6 years, L’Abri has had a small student group operating at St Olaf College, an hour North of Rochester. Five or six times a year, I take speakers up to the college and the L’Abri group sets up the event under the rubric of ‘Presenting a Thoughtful Christianity’. It’s small but it is very encouraging to see the relationships that develop through this and to get a window into contemporary student life at a typical Liberal Arts college. I believe this is the only L’Abri group on any campus anywhere!
Students that ‘hang around’:
Our local community has also been the context for another distinctive aspect of the Rochester L’Abri – one that has only developed relatively recently. It is usual for our students to come from all across the nation and indeed, even from across the globe, but after completing their time as students with us, they usually return home. However, recently we have had a significant number of folk ‘stay around’ for much longer than the normal term. For some this means an extended time as a volunteer helper but for others it has also meant staying on as special guests and even settling into the neighborhood. This means we find ourselves often ’tutoring’ folk who are actually no longer in the L’Abri structure but living nearby. Folk become a part of our lives in a new way and Alison and I find ourselves becoming something of a ‘life coach’ or surrogate parent to a number of young folk. Here the support of our local Church and community has been critical and we have seen God working in wonderful ways through these extended involvements, weaving all things together for good. Mrs. Schaeffer often called L’Abri a ‘bundle of life’ and it is never more so than in this last respect. But let me just illustrate how God weaves all these distinctives together by telling you two lovely stories:
One example is Will and Rachel.
Will, a graduate of Skidmore College, was working in theatre in New York when the urban bankruptcy of city life provoked a spiritual crisis. He decided to go to Africa for a year, but came first for a week to the L’Abri Retreat in St Louis - though he knew nothing of L’Abri. It made such an impression that a year later he returned. Newly back from Africa he was at a loose end and so followed Alison and I back to Rochester. There, after doing a student session, he settled in our basement for an extended stay. Starting with nothing but the clothes on his back, within 6 months he had a car, an excellent job, money in the bank, and most precious of all, a renewed Faith. And did I mention Rachel?
Rachel, a Rochester girl, had recently returned from extended overseas travel when she heard about L’Abri. Though never a ‘formal’ student with us, she began to attend our Friday night lectures, loved the Conference, grew into the local L’Abri community and was soon in a tutoring relationship with us - struggling to work out future educational plans as well as rooting herself more deeply in the Faith. Well, the inevitable happened - and soon I found myself preaching at their wedding! Now they are happily married and living in Portland where Will is prospering in his new career and Rachel is completing her Arts degree.
Another example is Matt and Amy.
I first met Matt at St Olaf, where he joined and then ended up leading our small L’Abri group. After graduation, he started Medical studies at none other than the Mayo Medical School. So he became a stalwart member of the Bible study we were running there. That led to him joining our Church and making a great contribution there over a number of years. And did I mention Amy?
Amy came up from Texas to work as a nurse at the Mayo. Away from home, she soon found L’Abri, with its Friday lectures and Tuesday evening film discussions, a friendly and ready-made community. And there she met Matt. They marry in May with a reception at the L’Abri house!
And no, the moral of these stories is not marriage – in fact we have a number of other L’Abri-ites that have settled in the area and are happily single. What these stories demonstrate is how wonderfully our gracious God uses all the varied aspects of this rather unusual work and weaves them together in people’s lives. It is all rather small and often chaotic, with our ministry seemingly made up of countless scattered ‘bits’. But every now and then we can step back and see that the Lord has produced something beautiful and real.
We do not know, of course, how it will all develop into the future. New opportunities may arise, some things may grow faster than others – there will certainly be struggles. But our prayer is that this particular branch in Rochester will continue to see its various rather unique offshoots grow and flourish and that by God’s grace the whole thing will continue to bear much fruit. Thank you so much for your good wishes, your prayers and concerns, your practical and spiritual support – for being our extended family. Do come and visit us when you can.
For Larry, Nancy, Alison & Prisca,
Yours in Christ,
Jock McGregor
Please Note: Now that most of you have access to the Internet, we would like to be able to send our newsletter out electronically so as to save on printing costs. If you would like to receive our newsletter via e-mail, please send us your e-mail address. It is important that you respond one way or the other. You will also be able to access the Rochester newsletter at the L’Abri website, www.labri.org.
L’Abri Fellowship Rochester
1465 12th Ave. NE
Rochester, MN 55906-4383
Prayer items:
Prisca, our single worker who oversees the main house, leaves for grad school in the Fall.
The long Summer terms are always a stretch and we need the people of God’s choice to come.
The Retreat Center building project is very close to having enough funds for the next building phase but more is needed if we want to build this summer as hoped.
Planning the February Conference and the November Iowa Conference is a year round need for wisdom.
Health for Alison and Nancy to keep going as we none of us get younger.
For the work of the Spirit in our non-believing students, when human wisdom is exhausted.
For God to be glorified in the work and future growth of L’Abri, here and abroad.
