When he thinks back to his time studying religion at Carthage, alumnus Geoff Sinibaldo remembers two particular moments. The first came on a cold spring day outside Lentz Hall, when he asked Religion Prof. Dudley Riggle what it might mean to go to seminary. The second came during a conversation with President Campbell. President Campbell was teaching one of Mr. Sinibaldo's classes at the time. "President Campbell told me once when I doubted myself, 'You will not only be a pastor, but a leader of pastors,'" the Rev. Sinibaldo says. He still carries those two conversations with him.

"Carthage prepared me very well for the adventure that is full-time ordained ministry," The Rev. Sinibaldo says. "Good people not only care about the bottom line, they care about you. Carthage is such a community. My wife, Tammie, and our two children, Joe and Mia, share in this richness first learned at Carthage."

The Rev. Sinibaldo and his wife recently traveled to Germany, where he served for two weeks as the English-speaking pastor in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

"It was at Carthage that I gained the confidence to put the knowledge of faith in academics into the practice of faith -- first through working in two of our Lutheran Camps (Crossways and Lutherdale), and then onto Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn," he says. "Each of the teachers I had -- particularly Bill Kuhn and Tom Noer in History; and Dudley Riggle, Dan Schowalter, Rom Maczka and Christian von Dehsen in Religion -- provided me with the attention that supported both my academic and formational discernment. Their care and expertise has helped me strive to excel, at seminary and the two congregations I have served since 2002. Thank you, Carthage."

The Rev. Sinibaldo has served as pastor at Our Savior's in Hermosa, S.D., and St. Matthew in Avon, Conn.