Concordia TheoBLOGical Seminary

Located on the east side of Kramer Chapel is the Springfield Bell Tower. The bell itself was cast in 1882 for use at Concordia Theological Seminary when it resided in Springfield, Illinois. When the seminary was moved back to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1976, however, the bell was put in storage until 1984 when it was rediscovered and students resolved to hang the bell in the Kramer Chapel belfry. In 1993, though, the seminary architects recommended construction of the bell’s own tower because the Kramer belfry was not designed to hold the additional weight of the bell. The new tower was dedicated in 1994 with these remarks by Dr. David Scaer:

The bell which we dedicate today ties together our old home on the campus in Springfield, Illinois, with our new home here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It goes before us and follows after us. The bell whose knell called our brothers in the ministry, many of whom have received the final crown, to prayer, to the preaching of the Word, and to the participation in the Blessed Sacrament will now call us to perform our sacred obligations. The places where this bell has rung have changed, but those who today hear and obey the call of the bell confess the same faith and believe the same Lord. We all bless one holy name, we partake one holy food, and like those before us we press on to our one hope, endowed with every grace of God. We who hear today the call of this bell will with all saints hear the final triumph sounded over our graves, and then we will hear the trumpets of a myriad of angels when the Lamb of God whose message we proclaim and whose flesh and blood we drink will Himself be the host at the everlasting banquet of heaven.

The tradition here is that graduating seminarians who have closed the book on their final classes ring the Springfield Bell in celebration of the completion their seminary preparation and formation, and it serves as a proclamation to the entire campus that what was begun four years ago in a leap of faith and trust in God has now been brought to its completion. And yet it is more than this too. It is also a harbinger of things to come, that though this time has come to a close and the sun has set on this stage, the sun will rise on a new day of work in and for the church as pastors and deaconesses. It is a bittersweet time for all of us. The faculty and staff have witnessed good men and women grow from students into colleagues, into fellow workers in and for the church. Though we celebrate with them at every clang and ring of that bell, we also must say goodbye. We must send them off from here with their charge, which is the purpose for which they came.

And for students, they must also say goodbye and leave the friendly confines of their alma mater into new places with new people and with new horizons to behold. They must say farewell to those professors, who through their teaching, preaching, and counsel, have left an indelible mark on their character and faith–a character and faith nurtured and formed by Jesus Christ himself in the seminary community through gospel and sacrament. They leave friendships forged through vigorous study and sustained by a common goal and faith. They leave the quiet and jovial atmosphere of study and robust discourse and go to be the Lord’s man to hear confession, absolve sin, and counsel the weary and heavy laden. And yet this is not loss but gain, and they look forward to it with eager anticipation.

Indeed, this time is bittersweet. And even though graduates leave, the faculty and staff remain. They remain not only to nurture and cultivate the next crop, but also to serve as the people in that place for those once here but now gone to be reinvigorated and rejuvenated in their callings as servants of our Lord Jesus Christ in and for the church. So do not be strangers and remember, yes, know that you remain a member of this community, for your presence has left an indelible mark on us, too, and you will be dearly missed and not forgotten.

The bell tolls on, and when you hear it know that the Lord of the harvest has answered the prayers of his people to raise up faithful servants formed in Jesus Christ who will teach the faithful, reach the lost, and care for all.