St. Olaf College and smudging, but where is Jesus?

(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
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St. Olaf College of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Northfield, Minnesota, was founded by Norwegian pastors in 1874 to teach young adults Christianity. But ELCA colleges have been hijacked by liberal theology and the LGBT movement.

For example, St. Olaf’s President Susan Rundell Singer has announced in St. Olaf Magazine that the beautiful Boe Chapel on campus, once dedicated to the glory of Christ, will now be used for “meditation and smudging”.   Smudging is a pagan practice of Native American religion in which herbs are burned to produce smoke to connect with the spirit world and “balance energies”.  Rundell Singer writes “We are expanding initiatives to support community and belonging on the Hill, including opening two new spaces in Boe Memorial Chapel focused on meditation and faith-related incense and smudging — a practice involving the burning of herbs like sage that has roots in various faith and cultural traditions, including many Indigenous cultures”. (see page 2 here)

I looked through St. Olaf Magazine and did not find one mention of the words “God“ or “Jesus“. But I did find a picture of a lesbian wedding.

Contrast Saint Olaf College with University of Northwestern in Saint Paul, Minnesota, an evangelical college. Northwestern states “We believe that we are under divine obligation to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints by proclaiming to a lost world the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and the enthroning of Him as Lord and Master (Jude 3, Acts 16:30, Col. 3:1-3)…. our relationship to Jesus Christ and commitment to obey God’s Word will be at the very center. This promise to God and to each other is what binds us together and sets us apart from the world. We believe that it is our duty, honor and delight to live under the Lordship of Christ, to study His Holy Scriptures, to reach all nations with the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ and teach them how to be disciples”.

The difference between St. Olaf and Northwestern is night and day.  The ELCA’s Luther Seminary of which I am a graduate also held a Native American smudging service in its chapel. Luther Seminary is now selling off all of its buildings and moving elsewhere as attendance and donations have declined.
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St. Olaf was King of Norway in 1015.  After his conversion to Christ in France, he returned to Norway with a mission to Christianize his kingdom. His influence led to the widespread conversion of the Vikings to Christianity.  I am guessing that Saint Olaf would like to have his name removed from Saint Olaf College.

Sincerely in Christ,

Pastor Tom Brock
Pastorsstudy.org

PS  You will notice that Jesus is nowhere mentioned in St. Olaf’s “Why I Study Religion” (see here)