http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-01-23/megadeath-band-seminary/52759794/1
CLAYTON, Mo. – As new students wandered onto the
campus of Concordia Seminary last September, they were joined by another group
of theological rookies — mostly midcareer types — joining the school's program
that allows students to train for the ministry online.
As the consultants,
electricians, farmers and entrepreneurs in the Specific Ministry Pastor Program
met up before reconnecting online from hundreds or thousands of miles away in
the coming weeks, one student's story truly rocked. David Ellefson was an honest-to-God founding
member of the legendary thrash metal band Megadeth.
Ellefson's studies at
Concordia illustrate why distance-learning seminary programs are increasingly
popular nationwide as the convenience of online education brings new candidates
to divinity schools who don't have to uproot their lives to attend. But for Ellefson, his new quest for the
ministry is also about a peculiar foray through the apparent contradictions of
rock and religion that began in his childhood.
Ellefson grew up in the
church. Each Sunday, his family drove from their farm in southwest Minnesota to
Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Jackson, where David attended Sunday school and was
confirmed at age 16. His mother sang in the choir; his father was active on the
building committee.
Just a few years after
his confirmation in the summer of 1983, Ellefson moved to Los Angeles. Within a
week, he had formed a band and named it Megadeth for the unit of measurement
equal to the death of 1 million people by nuclear explosion.
Soon, he was playing
bass on stage in front of thousands of heavy metal fans in New York with other bands like Metallica
and Slayer. In 1985, Megadeth released its first album, "Killing Is My
Business … And Business Is Good!"
In the 1980s and 1990s,
Megadeth gained a reputation for an intelligent take on heavy metal, earning
several Grammy Award nominations,
and was known for its album covers, many of which depicted a character named
Vic Rattlehead, a skeleton whose eyes, ears and mouth were fused closed with
metal.
But by the time Ellefson
was 25, the rock star lifestyle had caught up to him. In a 12-step recovery
program, he was reintroduced to his faith and embraced it. He moved to Arizona,
married and had children. He eventually landed at Shepherd of the Desert
Lutheran Church, a Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod congregation in Scottsdale. "I came from a good family, not a broken
home," said Ellefson, 47. "That became a model for me, and I saw
church at (the) center of it."
The Rev. Jon Bjorgaard,
pastor of Shepherd of the Desert, asked Ellefson to start a contemporary
worship service. Ellefson began to use lyrics from the Old Testament as a
springboard for song writing, penning praise music and worship songs with a
soft-rock hook. "For a Christmas
service, I remixed some classics, not quite in a Megadeth fashion, but in a
pretty heavy rock fashion," Ellefson said.
Combining his musical
abilities and his faith led Ellefson to a deeper exploration of Christianity,
he said. And it led him to start a new music ministry within the walls of
Shepherd of the Desert. He called it
MEGA Life, partially a play on Megadeth. But it's also a reference to a verse
from the Gospel of John: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
MEGA Life became so
popular that Shepherd of the Desert bought a new space for the ministry. Last
year, Bjorgaard asked Ellefson and MEGA Life director Jeremy DaPena to enroll
in Concordia's Specific Ministry Pastor Program. "Most people want to become a rock
star," Bjorgaard said. "David's a rock star who wants to become a
pastor."
After two years at
Concordia, Ellefson will be eligible for ordination, something he hopes will
happen. "People take you more seriously when you've gone through the
proper training to be able to help them," he said.
David Wollenburg,
director of Concordia's distance learning, said more than 100 students are
enrolled in the program, which is limited to students who have been sponsored
by someone already working in the ministry. Classes include "Lutheran
Distinctions," "Preaching I & II," "Introduction to
Worship" and "Scripture and Faith."
Wollenburg said students
are as young as 35 and as old as late 60s, and their interests are just as
varied — from church planting to inner-city ministries. Students return to
campus every so often for "residential retreats."
The trend of distance
learning at divinity schools "is definitely growing," said Eliza
Brown of the Association of Theological Schools, the accreditation body for U.S. seminaries. But there is some debate
about its merits, she said.
"Some feel you
can't be adequately formed as a church leader unless you're engaged in a
residential program that has serious face-to-face formation components,"
she said. Despite that concern, 124 seminaries accredited by the organization
offer some form of distance education.
As Megadeth kicks off a
new tour with Motorhead, Ellefson plans to tackle his studies during down time
on the Megadeth tour bus with his laptop and some books. He's under no illusion
about how difficult it will be. "This
is going to be the acid test," he said.
Classes begin each
Monday, and on Tuesday nights, Ellefson and eight other students wired in from
around the country sit in on a two-hour live session with a professor teaching
from a Concordia classroom. Once a week, he meets with Bjorgaard to discuss
that week's work. Finally, late in the week, he uploads his homework for the
professor to grade.
"It makes higher
education possible for me," he said. "As a guy my age, to be involved
in any kind of higher learning is a great thing. And so far, it's worked."
Tim Townsend writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in St. Louis.
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