Dr. Quentin Wesselschmidt

I mentioned in the Ascension Vespers service and on Sunday that we'd include the family of the Rev. Dr. Quentin Wesselschmidt. Dr. Wesselschmidt died last week and we wanted to support the family in their mourning and grief.

Dr. Wesselschmidt was one of my professors at Concordia Seminary. He was a professor in the historical theology department, and according to Dr. William Weinrich, the best patristics scholar the LCMS has ever produced. Patristics is the study of the early church 'fathers'- their writing, their work, their theology, and the time they lived in the first few centuries after the life of Christ.

Dr. Wesselschmidt was a powerhouse professor, in that he started when the clock said it was time to start and he didn't stop until the clock told him to stop. You had better be prepared to receive all the gifts Dr. Wesselschmidt had stored up for his students. Yet Dr. Wesselschmidt was a humble man, compassionate to the needs of his students and always willing to listen and discuss the questions we brought forth.

His knowledge of the ancient times was key for the students going out in these modern times. God's Church has always dealt with heresies and false teachings about God, His Christ, His Spirit, and His Word. Some people have said that Jesus was not really God, that Jesus didn't really die, that Jesus didn't really rise from the dead, that Holy Communion is not really that important. The false notions put forth in the 5th Century are still being put forth in the 21st Century. Heresies stay around, they just have more modern clothing, fancier shoes, and an iPhone.

Dr. Wesselschmidt also served for a long time as the editor of the Concordia Journal, the quarterly theological journal of the seminary, part of the 'gift' that the seminary gives her graduates in terms of continuing theological education when they leave the campus in order to serve in the parish. Editing the Journal was a hard job, getting the professors to submit their articles, receiving various book reviews and answering questions from all sorts of clergy both within Lutheranism and without. I had a job in the campus post office and was able to work alongside of Dr. Wesselschmidt and his staff in the simple task of affixing mailing labels to the Journals and then sorting them for bulk mailing, but it was in those times when the humble humor of Dr. Wesselschmidt was on display.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them." Revelation 14:13