Under the Fig Tree Micah Glenn & Ben Haupt

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” hosts Rev. Micah Glenn and Kati Gaschler sit down with Concordia Seminary alum (’96, ’05) Rev. W. Max Mons, who is pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Chapel and University Center in Iowa City, Iowa, and also chairman of the Seminary’s Board of Regents.

During the episode, Max shares what led him to go into ministry as a pastor, including his time as a student in campus ministry at the University of Michigan. “I consider myself to be a product of campus ministry,” he said.

Today, he serves as a campus pastor of the University of Iowa, and loves sharing the God’s free gift of grace in Christ with the students there.

“In college you’re always being evaluated,” he said. “God isn’t here to weed you out. He’s here to engraft you. He’s already made a decision about you in Jesus. You’re His child. He loves you. He cares about you. Everybody else is saying, ‘You need to measure up to my standard.’ And God says, ‘I’ve just brought you into the fold. And you can’t be plucked out of My hands.’ To have that message in a community and a culture of almost nonstop constant evaluation is a pretty cool thing to be able to do, to tell people about that week to week.”

Max also explained what the Board of Regents is all about, and what it’s like for him to be able to serve on the board. “To have an opportunity to give back to a place that puts so much into you, that invested in you, it’s really just an honor and a joy to turn back and do that,” he said. “I really am so very grateful for the professors that I had and the time that I had at Seminary. I still look back and some of the most joyous days of my life were spent on this campus.”

In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how he feels about pineapple on pizza, “Cats: The Musical,” flying in small airplanes and carrot cake.

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” hosts Rev. Micah Glenn and Kati Gaschler welcome back Dr. Benjamin Haupt, the former podcast host and founder who has been on sabbatical during the spring semester. The two men share big announcements that they both are moving on to other calls: Ben as global executive director of PLI and Micah as head of school at Sierra Lutheran High School in Carson City, Nev. Kati surprises Micah with some pineapple pizza, a recurring topic on the podcast, which he agrees to eat and continues to loathe. The two men also share some words of advice and parting words. “Concordia Seminary not only shaped and formed me to be a pastor my first time around as a student but deeply molded, shaped, formed my life to be a witness for Jesus in profound ways, ways that I will never understand,” Ben says. “This is a fantastic place to come and learn the Word of Christ and to study who God is and to learn what it means to serve Christ’s church among people who absolutely love His church. Listeners, hear loud and clear that Micah and I absolutely love this place. And you would do very well to check out Concordia Seminary.” Micah thanks everyone for listening and told them not to lament. “This isn’t the end of the podcast,” he says. “There’s something that happens when you come to study here,” Micah says. “You are blown away. You’re completely overwhelmed. You probably have a little bit of imposter’s syndrome. In the midst of all that, you are growing closer and closer to your classmates. You’re growing closer and closer to the faculty members. You’re growing closer to God’s church. And before you know it, somebody’s calling you to be their pastor. God has blessed me with this experience. … There is no other place in the world like Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.” In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how the trio feel about cold pizza, grilled pizza, McDonald’s McCrispy chicken sandwich, stargazing and more!

 

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” hosts Rev. Micah Glenn and Kati Gaschler sit down with Concordia Seminary alum Rev. Mark Renner (M.Div. ’20), one of the pastors at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Janesville, Wis. During the episode, Mark shares what led him to go into ministry as a pastor and discusses his recently published book, Curious Cases: A Series of Short Pastoral Case Studies (2024, Wipf and Stock Publishers). “We can empathize with other Christians or with non-Christians by reading this and understand where they are headed,” said Mark.

 

He also reflects on encountering difficult societal issues in ministry. “All of the problems, all the issues that are taking place in our society, we [as Christians] are either directly or indirectly dealing with. We’re influenced by society. And we have security in our Baptism to discuss difficult things,” he said. “That’s the real world that we’re encountering and trying to responsibly share this message of grace.” In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how he feels about pineapple on pizza, Wisconsin Dells, the new Star Trek movies and Vibram shoes. 

 

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” hosts Rev. Micah Glenn and Kati Gaschler sit down with Concordia Seminary alum Rev. Will Hanke (M.Div. ’07), who shares some highlights from his time serving as a student recruitment ambassador for the Seminary. As he thinks of creative ways to connect prospective students to the Seminary and help them discern God’s direction for their lives, Hanke said, “What it means is that I get to be a pastor at my church, but then I get to occasionally go and spend time at events recruiting people. If you know somebody, just pass them to me, and I’ll help them get connected with the Seminary. It doesn’t have to mean that their life-changing decision is right now. We just want to start that conversation with them.” Hanke also shares some advice for prospective students. “Ask pastors you know and be ready to talk about it now,” Hanke said. In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how he feels about pineapple on pizza, prickly pear, walking in wet grass, kayaking, spaghetti squash, tofu and more. 

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” host Rev. Micah Glenn and fill-in host Kati Gaschler sit down with Concordia Seminary alum Rev. Chaplain Kyle Mietzner (M.Div. ’10), who shares his path to chaplaincy. He shares how he discovered that chaplaincy is a beautiful ministry standing where chaplains serve alongside soldiers and provide religious support. “God has gifted me with something that I could never see coming …,” he shares. “There is no one standard path to the ministry, and mine is all over the place.” Kyle also shares some advice for prospective students, “If you can do something else, do that. You will have to have internal motivation that comes only from the Holy Spirit to do this job. It’s a wonderful life; it’s a beautiful life.” In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how Kyle feels about pineapple on pizza, potato wedges, kale smoothies, “That ’70s Show,” conversations with Uber drivers and more. 

https://youtu.be/k-0eidk3Sds

 

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of “Under the Fig Tree,” host Rev. Micah Glenn and fill-in host Kati Gaschler sit down with Deaconess Studies student Abby Reynolds, who shares her unique path to the Seminary. She offers details about how God nudged her from being a pre-medical student to a deaconess student. “I had to really switch my mindset from caring for people in the medical field to people in ministry,” Abby shares. “I think if I had known about a deaconess and the options in high school, I probably would have done that.” Abby also shares some advice for prospective students. She encourages them to pray and ask “God to reveal your motivations to go into church work.” In the recurring segment, “Ripe for the picking or leave it on the tree,” hear how Abby feels about pineapple on pizza, string cheese, the Shrek series, avocado toast and the song “Careless Whisper.”

“Under the Fig Tree” is a video and audio podcast of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. New video and audio episodes are added weekly each Monday during the academic year. “Under the Fig Tree” can be found on YouTube, the Seminary’s Scholar site (scholar.csl.edu) and most podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.