IF ONE WERE TO ASK CHARLES LOUIS MANSKE ABOUT THE greatest influences upon his faith and life, the reply would undoubtedly include the following: Jesus Christ (especially the commands and promises of his "Great Commission"), the inspired theology of Saint Paul, the Christological positions of the Council of Chalcedon, the insights of Saint Augustine, the writings of Martin Luther, and the confessional documents of sixteenth century Lutheranism. Added to these are H. Richard Niebuhr's ethical insights regarding social justice and "Christ and culture," aided by a variety of interdisciplinary insights concerning the cross-cultural backdrop of the world's people and faiths today. Central to the understanding and presentation of biblical truths for Charles Manske is the often-forgotten distinction of the Two Kingdoms as rediscovered by Luther as the reformer expounded the foundational articles of creation and redemption. Although most commonly recognized as the founding president of Christ College (now Concordia University) in Irvine, California (1971-1979), Charles Manske is known best by many-especially those who have studied under him-as a dedicated mentor of students, both inside and outside the classroom. Offering instruction in the areas of theology, ethics, world religions and Christian apologetics, Charles Manske taught at Christ College/Concordia University for twenty-five years (1973-1998); Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana for eighteen years (1980-1998); as well as Simon Greenleaf University in Anaheim, California (1985-1987), The Center for Theological Study at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California (I984-1988), and Coastline Community College in Costa Mesa, California (1982-1985). He has also taught as guest professor of ethics at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri. Charles Louis Manske was born on October 20, 1932, the son of Charles Louis Manske, a teacher at Immanuel Lutheran School, and Lorna Estella Manske in Sebewaing, Michigan, where Charles Manske attended school, finishing his pre-college education at Peace Lutheran School, South Intermediate School and Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Michigan. He attended Concordia College, Fort Wayne, Indiana and St. John's College, Winfield, Kansas (A.A. in 1952), earning a B.A. from Concordia College (Seminary), Saint Louis, Missouri in June of 1954. Charles Manske continued his theological training at Concordia Seminary, receiving the M.Div. (B.D.) in 1 958 with the thesis, "Lutheran Church Work in Blighted Areas." That same year he earned the M.A. in sociology-anthropology (with a minor in communications) at Washington University in Saint Louis with the thesis, "A Lutheran Church in a Changing Area." He also attended the Graduate School at Loyola University in Chicago in 1955, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1956-1957), and California State University at Long Beach, California (1980). Charles Manske received the Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in Social Ethics in 1978. Areas of examination included philosophy, world religions, theological ethics, contemporary theology, social ethics and sociology of religion; the title of his dissertation was "Luther's Ethics of Social Responsibility as the Criterion for Evaluating the Social-Ethical Statements of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (1959-1971)." In his graduate studies Charles Manske was deeply influenced by the renaissance of Reformation Studies which emerged in Europe and North America in the first half of the twentieth century. He studied under Wilhelm Pauck and others influenced by him, including Ernest Koenker, Carl S. Meyer, Theodore Hoyer, and Charles Nielsen. William Danker, G. RAY JORDAN, and Robert Ellwood advanced his interest in the world's religions. H. Richard Niebuhr was a significant influence upon his approach to the field of ethics, with William May and John Orr contributing to his understanding of social ethics and social justice, and John Crossley informing his stance on the theology of ethics. Cross-cultural experiences in the Los Angeles church communities provided the background for much of his research and teaching. In his twenty-five years of teaching theology, ethics and world religions, there was lateral enrichment from his teaching associates, which included W. Rod Rosenbladt, Lowell C. Green, W. Robert Godfrey, James M. Kittelson, George W. Forell, John Warwick Montgomery, Donald Deffner, Arthur Carl Piepkorn, Martin Scharlemann and Paul W. Maier. A television series focusing on issues of Christian apologetics, Reformation theology and world religions entitled "Christianity on Trial" was developed jointly with John Warwick Montgomery in 1988 and filmed by Trinity Broadcasting Network in Israel, Germany, South Africa and the United States. The eighty-two program series continued for six years with Charles Manske serving as producer and host, winning four Angel Awards for excellence in media in international network television in 1989 (for "Slaughter of the Innocents"), 1990 (for "Christian Change in South Africa"), 1992 (for "How Do We Get to Heaven?"), and 1993 (for "The Cosmological Argument for God"). "Christianity on Trial" segments have since been rebroadcast over three times via the three hundred and fifty international stations airing TBN programming. Charles Manske served in some forty-five academic and professional organizations, many times serving in executive positions, including president of the Interfaith Foundation at the University of California Irvine, president of the Southern California chapter of the Religious Public Relations Council, and president of the Pacific Region of the Society of Christian Ethics. Charles Manske has also served The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod on the district and synodical boards, including Synod's Board for Communications. He served for ten years as Public Relations Director for the Southern California (now Pacific Southwest) District, responsible for approximately three hundred news releases from 1964 until 1973. For fifteen years (1958-1973) Manske served as a Lutheran university minister at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where a Lutheran congregation was established on campus. Other universities at which he served as campus pastor included University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Los Angeles, and University of California, Irvine. Probably best remembered for twenty-five years as professor at Concordia University Irvine, Charles Manske came from the University of Southern California to Concordia University Irvine in 1973 as founding president. A parcel of 113 acres had been purchased by The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod ten years earlier; he was given a simple charge: to secure the millions of dollars necessary to establish the college facilities and staff, to develop the educational objectives and curriculum, to recruit able Christian faculty to fill teaching positions, to establish student scholarship programs and to recruit a student body. In 1976 the campus opened with five full-time professors and administrators and thirty-six full-time students living on campus. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges granted "Candidacy Status" for accreditation to the young college during its first year of operation in June of 1977.

"We teach letters, arts and sciences in time to prepare individuals for time and eternity. Concordia is here to help people use their God-given talents to understand more deeply and use their lives more profoundly to serve others in accordance with the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. God wants us to know his promises and to live our lives in his world."

At the time of his retirement at Concordia University on January 1, 1998, Charles Manske was serving as director of the graduate programs in the school of arts and sciences at Concordia University. In that position he had established the Master of Arts Program in Reformation Theology and the Ethnic Pastor Certification Program (a four year in-residence seminary curriculum) in cooperation with Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A tireless advocate of Martin Luther's Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, Charles Manske continues to dedicate himself to sharpening the church's understanding of the proper relationship between the Kingdom of Power (the world of God's creation) and the Kingdom of Grace (the world of redemption and sanctification through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit through Scripture, Baptism and the Lord's Supper).

"Christ calls us to forgive and love others as a Christian community. Such a community includes cultural sensitivity to the world's religions and cultures while bringing them the revelation of both Kingdoms: the justice of God in the realm of power and the forgiveness of God in the realm of grace."

At sixty-five years of age, Charles Manske has completed a forty-year ministry in the Church of Christ on earth and in the academic community, "a ministry of bringing the Message of hope and reconciliation to a fragmented world through Christ Jesus." Charles Manske's civic leadership has been recognized by the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles and Orange County Board of Supervisors, and the mayor of Los Angeles.

Charles Manske was married to Barbara Meinzen Amt on July 23, 1966. She serves the church as a Lutheran deaconess and preschool director, but primarily serves as a Christian mother, grandparent and wife enriching the ministry of Christ in the life of her husband. Their marriage has been blessed with three children: David Charles Manske (1969), a Christian businessman (married to Tammy Froeming Manske, a Christian teacher), Christine Joy Manske Schneider (1971), a Christian teacher (married to Kristopher Schneider, a Christian teacher), and Noel Ruth Manske Fairchild (I974), a director of Christian education (married to Michael Fairchild, now studying to become a Christian attorney).

It is to this life, so blessed by God and by his people, that this Festschrift is dedicated.

by Daniel Harmelink