ALMA — Alma College’s speaker for Veterans Day this year served as an active-duty U.S. Army chaplain for nine years with ground combat, special operations, and medical units, including a deployment to Afghanistan.
The Wright Leppien Opera House in downtown Alma is the site of a speech from Adam Tietje, a New York native who went on from his Army career to work as an author. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins on Friday at 7 p.m. and be livestreamed on youtube.com/almacollege. It’s sponsored by the Center for College and Community Engagement (3CE) and the MFA in Creative Writing program.
“We are thrilled for the opportunity to honor our military veterans, and to have Adam Tietje speak to our students and campus community,” said the Rev. Dr. Andrew Pomerville ’01, director of the 3CE. “The lessons he brings to us from his experiences serving our country are — unfortunately — as relevant as they have ever been. I believe we’ll all benefit from listening to him speak.”
At the event on Nov. 11, Alma College will offer a virtual recognition to alumni who have served in the U.S. military, as well as a general recognition for all those who have served.
Tietje is a Doctor of Theology degree candidate at Duke Divinity School and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. His primary scholarly interests include theological ethics, political theology, ethics and care of moral injury and trauma, and military chaplains at the intersection of church and state. He continues to serve as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Tietje’s book, “Toward a Pastoral Theology of Holy Saturday: Providing Spiritual Care for War Wounded Souls,” suggests that pastoral caregivers might understand trauma and moral injury as soul wounds. His address on Nov. 11 is titled “Conscripted Soldier, Conscripted Saint: The Witness of St. Martin for War, Care, and the Church.”
The Wright Leppien Opera House block is located at the intersection of 101–113 E. Superior St. and 408 N. State St. Tickets are not required to attend the event. For more information, call (989) 463-7231.
