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A training ground for service and leadership

By Lenore Franzen

Myrna Sheie, Augsburg Class of 1968, feels "superbly prepared" for her position as executive assistant to the ELCA bishop.

Yet even she admits, "Working for the church was not on my screen during my college years." Some 30 years later, the grounding experience Augsburg gave her seems the obvious training for her roles at the synod and national offices.

For 11 years Sheie served as assistant to two Saint Paul Area Synod bishops, Lowell Erdahl and Mark Hanson. In 1998, she moved to Chicago, where she is executive assistant to ELCA Bishop H. George Anderson. In that capacity, she and two colleagues coordinate staff services on behalf of the bishop. Sheie is involved in planning, budgeting and preparing agendas for churchwide assemblies and councils, and acts as liaison with a variety of boards and groups.

Comparing her synod and national roles, Sheie said, "I work for the same church but with a different focus. At the synod level, I was more connected with congregations, pastors and lay leaders. Here my focus is churchwide."

Augsburg prepared her well. "With its urban location, Augsburg has always been oriented to service beyond its walls," said Sheie. "As an English and education major, I had direct experience with children in the neighborhood built into my training."

Mark Hanson and Sheie were classmates at Augsburg. "When Mark became Saint Paul Area Synod bishop in 1995," said Sheie, "our long connection strengthened our working relationship."

Sheie also acknowledges the many leaders Augsburg has nurtured, Hanson among them. Sheie herself was active in campus leadership roles during college.

Daily, Sheie sees Augsburg's mission for its students played out in her life. "My liberal arts education at Augsburg gave me a broad base to move from," she said. "I was encouraged to engage in both critical and creative thinking. Yes, we had to learn the material, but in new and fresh ways, so that we could embed that learning into our lives and minds."

From her current perspective, Sheie understands the critical role Augsburg and other ELCA colleges play. "Unlike schools in some other denominations, Lutheran colleges have maintained a strong connection to the church," said Sheie. "The ELCA sees its colleges as valuable resources. The church's link strengthens the colleges and gives us a way to claim a mission in the world.

"Graduates of Lutheran colleges also become tremendous resources to congregations because they continue to be involved in the church, often as leaders," she added.

For Sheie personally, Augsburg holds a meaningful place in her life. She transferred her sophomore year so she could live at home following her father's death. After graduation, she lived one mile from campus for 14 years.

"I always had reason or desire to visit," she said. She enjoyed the annual Advent Vespers concert and has stayed in touch with college friends.

In a sense, Sheie has never left Augsburg. By preparing her broadly and connecting her with a community of leaders committed to service, she continues to live out what first grounded her.

As she herself said, "I wandered onto campus, loved it, and stayed."

Lenore Franzen is a freelance writer who lives in St. Paul.

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