The 2008-2009 Vocatio Chapel Series, “Faith and the Imagination: The Call to the Arts” continues Wednesday, Dec. 10 with organist and Central Lutheran Church music director, Mark Sedio. Vocatio Chapel begins at 10:20 a.m. in Foss Center.

Mark may be well known to the Augsburg community, not only as an alumnus (1976) but also as the organist at Central Lutheran. After completing his bachelor’s at Augsburg, Sedio attended the University of Iowa, St. John’s University, and Luther Seminary. Frequent requests to present hymn festivals, workshops and clinics have taken him to all parts of the United States and Canada as well as Central Europe. His compositions for choir, organ, piano, solo voice and instrument ensembles are published by AMSI, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Choristers Guild, Concordia Publishing House, MorningStar Music Publishers, and Selah Music Publishers. His hymns and psalm settings have been included in several denominational hymnals and hymnal supplements. Other publications include articles on liturgy and church music, multi-cultural music and worship aids, children in worship, vacation Bible school curricula and multi-cultural music.

A charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Sedio served on the organization’s founding board and was elected its first Director for Ecclesiastical Concerns. He has also held positions in the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is active in the American Composers Forum and the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada.

Mark will also play the organ with the orchestra during this year’s Advent Vespers.

Interested students, faculty, and staff are invited to lunch with Mark at 11 a.m. in the Riverside Room, Christensen Center. To RSVP for the lunch, email Ross Murray at murray@ausgburg.edu.

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The 2008-2009 Vocatio Chapel Series, “Faith and the Imagination: The Call to the Arts” continues on Nov. 12 with Aimee K. Bryant. Often lauded as one of the Twin Cities’ finest musical theater performers, Aimee K. Bryant has finally released her highly anticipated debut CD. “Becoming” captures the blossoming of this singer/songwriter like a storyboard of still photographs in nonlinear detail. This CD is a journey to self-love. Aimee’s voice is silk and sandpaper: smooth and sweet enough to make you think you could be listening to an angel, with a touch of grit that brings you back to the street. That combined with her catchy melodies and uncommonly intelligent lyrics make Becoming an instant indie classic.

Steeped in gospel harmonies and black consciousness, the influence of the city and its music resonate in the poetry and delivery of Aimee’s compositions. Aimee learned her way around a recording studio by putting in time writing and singing background vocals for former Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis protégé Lance Alexander when Baby Honey Records was still in Minneapolis. Aimee holds a BFA with a concentration in musical Theatre from Howard University. While in D.C. she sang with the Howard Gospel Choir and did some background gigging for gospel heavy-hitters Yolanda Adams, LaShun Pace, and BeBe and CeCe Winans. Aimee has been filling the short gaps between plays with on-camera, voice over and jingle work, as well as gigging and recording with other musicians and spoken word artists. Her work is featured on the albums of Truth Maze, Sha Cage, Nazirah P. Mickey, and local folk legend Larry Long. Aimee has also become the voice of Yohannes Tona Band, an afro-funk jazz ensemble that doubles as her band. Still, while acting and gigging on stages across the country and landing national commercials and jingles she was also turning her experiences into poetry and melody.

The vocatio service is held at 10:20 a.m., during the daily chapel time. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to join Aimee for lunch following chapel at 11 a.m. in the Riverside Room. To RSVP, email murray@augsburg.edu.

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Johnson is a consultant in the Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic and assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School. Her major interests are medical education, medical ethics and women’s health. She founded the Mayo Breast Clinic in 1993 and continues in patient care, education and research for women with benign and malignant breast disease, and women at high risk for breast cancer.

Majoring in chemistry and biology at Augsburg, Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude, graduated from Mayo Medical School and completed her residency at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. In 1996 Johnson was named a Distinguished Alumna; in 2007 she rejoined Augsburg’s Board of Regents. She is married to Phil Quanbeck II, chair of Augsburg’s Department of Religion.

A luncheon at 11 a.m. follows the chapel service. To RSVP for the luncheon or for more information, e-mail Ross Murray at murray@augsburg.edu or call x1151.

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Padgett is vitally interested in the dialogue between theology and science, as well as such varying topics as Christian spirituality, systematic theology, and Christian ethics and the relationship between religion and science. He is currently editor of the online Journal for Christian Theological Research, and he is general editor of the book series, Sacra Doctrina.

Lunch with Dr. Padgett will follow the chapel service at 11 a.m. To RSVP for the lunch, or for more questions about the Vocatio Chapel series, contact Ross Murray at murray@augsburg.edu or x1151.

The Vocatio Chapel series is part of Exploring Our Gifts, funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. It is a collegewide program dedicated to making the Christian concept of vocation a vital part of Augsburg’s classrooms and co-curricular activities.

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Stuthman is a plant geneticist at the University of Minnesota with special interest areas of oat genetics and breeding; durable pest resistance and sustainable agricultural systems. He has a special interest in communicating with the agricultural and the general public about the urgency of reducing the environmental damage, such as soil erosion, generated while producing field crops. His research seeks to help answer questions surrounding world hunger and nutrition.

Following chapel, Stuthman will join interested community members for lunch in East Commons at 11:00. People interested in joining the group for lunch should contact Ross Murray at murray@augsburg.edu.

This chapel talk is supported by Exploring Our Gifts: The Lilly Grant at Augsburg.

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