Read letters from Jane Holslag
November 2014
Fall 2013
August 2013
March 2013
September 30, 2012
June 2012
March 2012
November 2011
December 22, 2010
July 2010
April 2010
October 2009
June 24, 2009
January 12, 2009
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Rev. Jane Holslag
Mission co-worker in Lithuania
Serving with LCC International University
Jane ended her mission work in Lithuania at the end of 2014. Thank you for your support of Jane's ministry.
Email Jane to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Jane Holslag's ministry
After a four-year hiatus during which she conducted doctoral research in Germany, Jane Holslag returned as a theology instructor to LCC International University in August 2008. She is currently preparing to defend a dissertation on East German and Presbyterian Church history at the Protestant Theological University of the Netherlands.
Jane began her service in Klaipeda, Lithuania in 1997. She teaches primarily in the theology department. She is also working cooperatively with congregations in the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania.
From 1990 until 1997 Jane was working with the Berlin Fellowship Program in Berlin, Germany, and as coordinator for ecumenical fellowship in Central and Eastern Europe to establish relationships between congregations in the United States and congregations in eastern Germany and Poland.
Download a prayer card that lifts up the work of Jane Holslag in Lithuania.
Klaipeda, population 200,000, is the only port city in Lithuania, the largest and southernmost of the three Baltic states. Bordered by the Kaliningrad Oblast and Poland to the south, Belarus to the south and east and Latvia to the north, Lithuania is a rather flat and primarily agricultural land dotted with lakes and forests. In Lithuania the predominant Christian tradition is Roman Catholicism, although Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist and Baptist churches persisted through the Soviet era. Since independence in 1992, some free churches and charismatic movements have also established themselves in the country.
LCC International University (originally Lithuania Christian College) was founded in 1991. It is an accredited, independent, four-year liberal arts school. With funding help from U.S. and Canadian foundations and voluntary donations, the college offers business, English, psychology, and theology majors. A Master of Arts in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) is also offered.
The international student body is made up of young men and women from 20 countries, including study-abroad students from the United States and Canada. The general education curriculum seeks to integrate the liberal arts tradition with Christian faith. The faculty come from a variety of church backgrounds; many of them are mission personnel and volunteers from the West, 60 of whom over the last 20 years have been Presbyterians.
Country context
Lithuania is located in northeastern Europe and borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Russia, and the Baltic Sea. The story and history of Lithuania is very much tied in with the story and history of its neighbor Poland, both of which have been affected by their proximity to Russia. During World War II the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, and then it annexed Lithuania following the war. Lithuania gained its independence from the Soviets in 1990, and today it is one of the most successful of the former Soviet republics. Recent financial difficulties in Europe, however, have also affected Lithuania negatively, and unemployment levels have risen. Christianity is the dominant religion in Lithuania, and 79 percent of Lithuanians are Catholic; a little over 4 percent are Russian Orthodox; the rest are Protestant and other religions. Lithuanian is the official language, but Russian and Polish are also spoken there.
About Jane Holslag
A native of Denver, Colorado, Jane received her B.A. in English and education from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. Jane worked with youth and students at First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs and served as associate pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, before her appointment to Central Europe in 1990. She is a member of the Presbytery of Los Ranchos.
Birthday: May 7
