LTSP 150th Commemorative Book

T h e L UT H E R A N T H E OL OGI C A L S E MI NA RY a t P H I L A D E L P H I A
PS Magazine October 4, 2014

150
th
Anniversary Commemorative Issue
PS MAGAZINE COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
The Rev. Dr. David J. Lose ................................................................................2
CELEBRATIONS
Greetings from our Leaders, Ecumenical Partners, and Friends ................3
FEATURES
Celebrating a Goodly Heritage ......................................................................7
At the Heart of the Celebration: Our Alumni ............................................12
Forming Public Leaders in Faith: Our Seminarians....................................16
Faculty Members Reflect ..................................................................................20
Academics at LTSP for the Future Church ..................................................26
The Changing Face of Philanthropy at LTSP ..............................................29
Our Generous Sponsors and Supporters ..............................................32
LTSP Timeline................................................bottom of the page throughout
Expanded Story!
Visit the 150th expanded
timeline online at
Ltsp150.org where you
can offer your comments
and congratulations.
EDITOR/
DIRECTOR of COMMUNICATIONS
Merri Bender Brown
WRITER
Mark A. Staples
PHOTOGRAPHY
John Kahler
John Kaufmann Collection
Jim Roese
DESIGN
Julia Prymak
EDITORIAL BOARD
Merri Bender Brown
David D. Grafon
Donald G. Johnson
Louise N. Johnson
David J. Lose
John V. Puotinen
Quintin Robertson
J. Jayakiran Sebastian
CORRESPONDENCE
PS,
The Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Philadelphia,
7301 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19119
Telephone: 215.248.6311 or
1.800.286.4616
Email: communications@Ltsp.edu
Visit us online: Ltsp.edu
PS is a publication of The Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and
is distributed without charge to alumni/ae,
faculty, staff, and friends of the seminary.
Copyright 2014
at Philadelphia
Commemorative (96)
Centered in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia seeks to
educate and form public leaders who
are committed to developing and
nurturing individual believers and
communities of faith for
engagement in the world.
THE PHILADELPHIA SEMINARY
PS
MAGAZINE
2 PSCOMMEMORATIVE ISSUE Ltsp.edu

Message from the President
WELCOME IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

as we celebrate being one hundred and fifty years young!
Yes, young.
Thats not the usual way we mark anniversaries, I realize. We
typically remember how old an institution is. But as we welcome
you to our celebration of the rich heritage and many
contributions of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP), I think its important to remember that we
are a community of the resurrection. We live, that is, according
to Christs promise to come again and renew all things.
Which means that as grateful as we are for our august past,
we nevertheless are always looking forward, anticipating
where God is already at work, searching for where God is out
in front of us preparing the way, and discerning where God is
calling us to venture next.
Although LTSP was founded in the fall of 1864, hopes for
such a seminary had been brewing for more than a century.
Sometimes it takes a while for a dream to take root! One
hundred and fifty years later, we can only be grateful for the
perseverance and patience of the founders of our school, and
for the faithful and tireless labor of generations of teachers,
staff, and supporters who kept the Mt. Airy Seminary
focused on its mission.
Well, thats not quite right. For while we are indeed
grateful for the perseverance of our forebears, thats not the
only thing we can do to recognize their achievement and
express our gratitude. We can also commit ourselves to
furthering the mission of the school to raise up men and
women of bold faith and courageous vision and equip them
to be public leaders for a public church.
The ways we educate may have changed, the people who
walk through our doors may look different than in
generations past, the composition of faculty and staff may
more fully represent the diversity of our wonderful urban and
multicultural setting and world, but the commitment to train
leaders to offer witness to the grace and mercy of the God we
know in Jesus Christ remains unchanged.
And so I hope that you do, indeed, feel most welcome to
our shared celebration of this important milestone in the life
of our dear school. But I hope even more that you feel both
inspired and challenged to strengthen us in fulfilling our
mission, the same mission Jesus gave his first disciples to Go
and make disciples of all nations. When you realize that
generations of faithful Christians have been taking up this
commission, you realize that we really are only one hundred
and fifty years young!
For this reason, we welcome you to our festivities, grateful
for your partnership as together we approach a future that we
are confident will be more promising and fruitful than we
can possibly imagine.
Yours in the name of the Risen Christ,
David J. Lose
President
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
T
he Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) has played a huge
role in my ownmoving forward in faithas it has for countless church leaders
for over 150 years.
When I first arrived as a Master of Divinity (MDiv) student on the LTSP campus in
the fall of 1974, there were few female students, and no female professors, yet I
remember being warmly and generously welcomed by the faculty and staff in spite of
the resistance many of the early female MDiv students encountered in other arenas.
Those seminary years were formative in so many ways, but essential in instilling in
me a love of scripture, sacrament, and service, an awe for the deep resilience of the
Church of Christ, and a respect and competence for preaching, teaching, evangelizing,
and equipping people for Gods work to heal and bless the world.
Throughout the next almost four decades I stayed close to the heart and campus of LTSP as a pastor
and alumna, as a donor, an occasional speaker and chapel preacher, and, after being elected bishop in
2006, as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. During my first year as bishop,
President Philip Krey and I conspired to move the offices of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod to
the campus of LTSP. In so doing, it was our desire to further expand the Lutheran identity of LTSP as
an ecumenical, interfaith, and community center.
Visionary leadership matters. In this 150th year I was honored to serve on the Presidential search
committee in order to choose a future-oriented leader. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, our
agencies and institutions as well as our camp, college, global, and ecumenical partners, welcome Dr.
David Lose as our new president with glad and grateful hearts, and pledge our continuing support to
the students, faculty, staff, and administration of our beloved seminary so that a robust Lutheran
witness will continue well into the next century.
Congratulations, kudos, and many blessings are sent to the Philadelphia Seminary for its legacy of
turning out inspired church leaders, and for its willingness to move courageously, hopefully, and
faithfully into Gods future.
With and in Christ,
The Rev. Claire S. Burkat
Bishop, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA
Best Wishes
CELEBRATIONS
F
rom
Muhlen-
berg to
the present
The Lutheran
Theological
Seminary at
Philadelphia
has tended
American Lutheranism. You are
celebrating 150 official years
of service, but your mark on
Lutheran theological education
and the preparation of men and
women for public ministry was
felt long before 1864 and, God
willing, will be felt way into
the future.
Philadelphia Seminary has
been blessed with gifted and
faithful faculty and has blessed us
with gifted and faithful servants
of the gospel. Congratulations
on the occasion of your 150th!
May God continue to bless
your ministry.
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop, ELCA
A
s you celebrate 150 years of preparing men and women to serve in Christs church, we in the New Jersey Synod add
our congratulations and thanksgiving! Looking back at the years since the seminarys founding, so much has
changed in our society and our church, yet the seminary has adapted to the changing times without losing sight of
its central mission of preparing leaders. Looking ahead to the next chapter in the life of the seminary, we are confident that
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia will continue to be a leader in both the community and the church,
adapting to the changing needs and contexts in which we will find ourselves, just as our forebears did. May God continue
to bless your work and your mission!
From your friends (and neighbors) in the New Jersey Synod, ELCA
The Rev. Tracie L. Bartholomew, Bishop
Rejoicings
C
ongratulations to
Philadelphia Seminary
on the occasion of its
150th Anniversary with
gratitude for the many, many
graduates who have served and
will serve in the New England
Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
The Rev. James E. Hazelwood
Bishop, New England Synod, ELCA
O
n behalf of myself and the people of the
Slovak Zion Synod, ELCA, please accept
our heartfelt congratulations at this
celebration of 150 years of theological education
in Philadelphia. Along with our congratulations
comes our gratitude that The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) has been able to
prepare 150 years of people for ministry in the
church, including many from our own Synod. May
LTSP continue to faithfully prepare workers for
Gods Vineyard and be a blessing to the church and
to those whose lives are touched by the seminary.
The Rev. Wilma S. Kucharek
Bishop, Slovak Zion Synod, ELCA
3 I thank my God every time I remember you,4 constantly praying
with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,5 because of your
sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-6
T
hese words, from the letter to the Philippians, seem to
capture the essence of these days and the celebration of one-
hundred and fifty years of ministry carried out, across the
generations, by faithful teachers and others who have been involved
in raising up leaders in the church of Christ.
Over the years of my ministry I have known many who were part
of the formation process at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP), and I have been shaped by them and their
gifts along the way which has been a blessing to me and my ministry.
As you celebrate what has been and look forward to what might
be, may you continue to give thanks and rejoice for all the past has
shared with the church and wonder and dream about the future and
what, by the power of the Spirit, might continue to be shared among
us via leaders learning and growing at LTSP.
Thanks be to God!
In Christ,
The Rev. John S. Macholz
Bishop, Upstate New York Synod, ELCA
G
reetings to all in the name of Jesus Christ.
While I am not able to be with you, I trust
you know that I am there in spirit,
celebrating one-hundred and fifty years of forming
leaders for the church.
The witness of the Mount Airy seminary has
been a great gift to Lutherans and a source of
inspiration to me. I count among the people who
have given direction to my ministry many of the
faculty, staff, and students in this community of faith. The
persistent and strong witness over these years is a great gift for
which I give thanks to God with you today.
Now together we move to many more years of bearing that
witness. As our Metropolitan New York Synod continually declares,
we are claimed, gathered, and sent for such a time as this. I rejoice
that we will journey together.
Sincerely in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Robert Alan Rimbo
Bishop, Metropolitan New York Synod, ELCA
W
e at Gettysburg Seminary are privileged
to be partners with our sisters and
brothers of LTSP as together we engage
in the mission of theological education and
formation, and service to the church. At this
milestone in your history, we celebrate with you a
century-and-a-half of faithfully and boldly
carrying out this mission. With our other partners
in the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries and
broader ELCA seminary network, we salute all
that has happened in and from Philadelphia, and
pledge our continuing commitment to serve Christs
Church together with you in the years to come!
The Rev. Michael L. Cooper-White, DD
President, Gettysburg Seminary
Many Blessings
D
ynamic forces in nineteenth-century North American Lutheranism prompted the founding of The
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). Mt. Airy consequently became a dynamic
force in North American Lutheranism throughout the twentieth-century. As we live by faith into the
twenty first-century, I am confident that LTSP is poised to become a dynamic force in global Lutheranism.
There is so much for us to celebrate at this 150-year milestone in the seminarys history. Thanks be to God!
The Rev. Dr. Samuel R. Zeiser
Bishop, Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA
C
ongratulations, rejoicings, and celebration
on this grand occasion of the 150th
Anniversary of this great seminary.
Through the years, you have faithfully witnessed
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, raised up pastors to
serve Gods people, and inspired prophets to call
us to serve Gods mission in the world. Your
friends and partners in mission in The Episcopal
Church send you greetings and prayers for
Godspeed in the coming century. We give thanks
that God has called us to a common mission to
better serve the needs and inspire the hopes of the
world. In the midst of this joyful celebration, let us
pray for a stronger resolve to serve, to heal, to
reconcile, and to liberate in Jesus name.
The Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel
Bishop, The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
O
n behalf of the leadership and congregations of The First
Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church (AMEC), we extend warm congratulations to The
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) on its
150th Anniversary. The Reverend Henry Melchior Muhlenberg,
the Founder of North American Lutheranism, came to Philadelphia
in 1742 and established The Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the first
permanent Lutheran Synod in North America, in 1748. Less than
40 years later, in 1787, The AMEC grew out of the Free African
Society (FAS), established in Philadelphia by visionary African
American leaders Bishop Richard Allen and The Reverend
Absalom Jones. Mother Bethel AME Church, the AMECs charter
congregation, was established in 1794 with Bishop Richard Allen as
the first pastor. Seventy years later, in 1864, LTSP opened its doors
in center city Philadelphia and, during its early days, was housed at
212 Franklin Street, less than two miles away from Mother Bethel.
Today, Mother Bethels proud 220-year legacy continues under the
capable leadership of The Reverend Dr. Mark Tyler, a member of
The Urban Theological Institute Council of Advisors (UTICA) of
LTSPs Urban Theological Institute (UTI). And the AMECs First
Episcopal District has been a longtime partner with UTIs annual
Preaching With Power event and a leading contributor to the J.Q.
Jackson Scholarship Fund for UTI students. How wonderful that
LTSP and the AMEC have such deep and lasting faith roots in
Philadelphia! What a precious gift to have partnered together for
the past 35 years of UTIs history at LTSP! And what a glorious
future God has in store for us as we Move Forward in Faith!
Bishop Gregory G.M. Ingram, Presiding Prelate
The Reverend Dr. Jessica Kendall Ingram, Episcopal Supervisor
First Episcopal District of The African Methodist Episcopal Church
O
n behalf of the Eastern Pennsylvania
Conference of The United Methodist
Church, sincerest congratulations on 150
years of faithful service. The rich legacy beautifully
portrayed on the 150th anniversary timeline
testifies to a strong faith foundation. May God
continue to bless the countless lives impacted by
this seminary as you move forward with the faith
of your founding saints.
Bishop Peggy A. Johnson
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of The United
Methodist Church
T
he Mount Airy Church of God in Christ (COGIC) conveys heartfelt
congratulations and blessings to The Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP) on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary! Over the past fifty
years, Mount Airy COGIC has grown from a tiny storefront mission with a congregation
of 16 Sunday School children to a premier mega-church congregation and social service
organization, caring holistically for the needs of the congregation and surrounding
community in West Oak Lane and the greater Philadelphia area. We have been privileged
to serve as a leading partner with The Urban Theological Institute (UTI) of LTSP since
its founding in 1980. Our Founding Pastor, Bishop Ernest Morris, has been a best friend
of UTI and served as the third Chair of UTIs Council of Advisors (UTICA), helping to establish UTI as
an innovative, top-quality program cultivating African Americans for effective urban ministry. As one of
the leading annual hosts of UTIs Preaching With Power (PWP) event, Mount Airy COGIC has been
instrumental in raising tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship aid for UTI students. On Wednesday,
March 21, 2012, during PWP, LTSP and Mount Airy COGIC established The Bishop Ernest C. Morris,
Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund to benefit COGIC degree students, who are well represented at all levels of
study at LTSP, from Certificate Studies, to Master of Divinity and Doctoral level studies. With continued
growth and development under the visionary pastoral leadership of Servant Leader Dr. J. Louis Felton, a
member of UTI Council of Advisors (UTICA), Mount Airy COGIC looks forward to a promising future
of partnership and extended ministry capacity with LTSP as we Move Forward in Faith!
Bishop Ernest C. Morris, Sr. Founder and Jurisdictional Prelate
Dr. J. Louis Felton Servant Leader
The Mount Airy Church of God in Christ
6
PSCOMMEMORATIVE ISSUE Ltsp.edu
Expanded Story!
Visit the 150th
expanded timeline
online at Ltsp150.org
where you can offer
your comments and
congratulations.
E
ast Mt. Airy Neighbors
(EMAN) congratulates The
Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) for
150 years of devoted service to the
community!
As one of LTSPs secular partners,
EMAN has experienced the
seminarys commitment to our very
diverse urban neighborhood.
As LTSP has opened itself to the community
physically, academically, socially, and spiritually our
neighborhood and our organization have benefitted
from LTSPs generosity and genuine concern about its
surroundings. Whether its a community meeting, a
Town Hall meeting hosted by an elected official, or a
fundraiser, the seminary has opened its doors (quite
literally!) to many local organizations.
LTSP is not just in the community its of the
community, and we appreciate having it here in East
Mt. Airy!
Our best wishes on LTSPs 150th, and we hope to
celebrate many more anniversaries with you!
Elayne Bender
Executive Director, East Mt. Airy Neighbors
T
he Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church salutes The
Lutheran Theological Serminary at Philadelphia
(LTSP) on its 150th Anniversary! As one of your
Germantown-Mount Airy Baptist neighbors, Enon is proud of
its 133 years of history serving the faith needs of our
community. Established as the first African American Baptist
congregation in Germantown in 1875, Enon, like LTSP, has
grown and developed over the past century in response to the
changing times and emerging ministry opportunities in
Philadelphia. Today, Enon is a faith community of over 15,000 members whose
ministry impact is felt beyond the walls of its physical structures, spilling into
the local community, throughout the city of Philadelphia, and reaching across
the globe to Africa. With a strong commitment to theological education for the
formation of strong ministry leaders,
Enon is proud to partner with The Urban Theological Institute (UTI) of
LTSP sending students for training, contributing funds for scholarships,
serving as a leading donor to The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr. Chair
for African American Studies, and hosting the evening session of UTIs Annual
Lecture and Evening Worship Celebration. We look forward to continued
growth and increased partnership with LTSP in the coming years as we Move
Forward in Faith!
The Reverend Dr. Alyn E. Waller, Senior Pastor
The Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church
Celebrating
a goodly heritage as
The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia
Moves forward in faith
A
NNIVERSARIES provide a welcome and
salutary opportunity to look back at ones history
and heritage in gratitude, explained the Rev.
Dr. David J. Lose, MDiv 93, STM 97, the
seminarys new president. At such an historic
time, we can review significant events and accomplishments,
remember saints of old, and recall and share favorite stories. And,
indeed, there is much for which to give thanks across the 150 years
of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP).
There is, for instance, the proud confessional heritage that
started with a dispute between competing visions for the Lutheran
witness in a new land, Lose continued, and that resulted in the
creation of this seminary, a seminary whose professors have edited
each English-language translation of the Book of Concord on
North American soil.
And there is the proud heritage of the outstanding leaders who
have studied at LTSP and led communities of faith and church-related
institutions throughout the world, Lose reminds. Literally thousands
of leaders have been formed and nurtured on this campus, and those
graduates have touched the lives of millions of Gods people.
These students have been taught by generations of excellent
teachers, Lose recalled. Names like Krauth, Jacobs, Tappert, and
Heinecken have been joined in more recent years by Reumann, Lull,
Krych, Wengert, Lathrop, Robinson, Day, Heen, Hoffmeyer, Rajashekar,
Leonard, Rivera, Kreuger, Pahl, Sebastian, Grafton, Swain, Wiseman,
Croft, and Krentz. From its inception, LTSP has attracted teachers
composed of significant creativity and commitment who have shaped
not only their students but also the whole church.
There is also, of course, the significant history of our ecumenical
commitment, Lose noted. We have welcomed faculty and staff
from numerous Christian traditions because we recognize that
Martin Luther did not seek to start a new Christian tradition but to
reform an existing one. Lutherans are always at their best when
striving to be a voice for renewal within the whole Christian church
and to support as well as learn from our ecumenical partners and
sisters and brothers in Christ.
The Reformation
Sowing the Seeds
Reformer Martin Luther and colleagues from the Reformation era
sowed the seeds which gave substance for the founding of LTSP
over 300 years later.
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President
David J. Lose
LTSP also has a rich history of commitment to our varied
contexts, the new president continued. Located in a vibrant urban
community, the Mt. Airy seminary not only takes advantage of the
numerous partnerships and cultural opportunities afforded by being
located in the city of Philadelphia, but also seeks the welfare of the
city in which the Lord has placed us. The significant and salutary
work of the Urban Theological Institute is just one of many
examples where we have been blessed and shaped by our urban
locale. We also are both mindful and grateful that our context
includes the towns and communities throughout the Northeast that
have supported us and look for leadership from us. Our graduates
have served rural, town-and-country, suburban, and urban parishes
with distinction, and provided excellent leadership to church-
related agencies throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England
regions, and, indeed, across the country.
We are also proud of our commitment to diversity, Lose said.
One of the first things I noticed when I was a new student at LTSP
is that the seminary and its community looked a lot more like the
world in which I would serve than many schools I had visited. We
take seriously the confession that God desires abundant life for all of
Gods children and that diversity of all kinds provides us the
strength and vitality to proclaim that confession and invitation to
the world. All are welcome here because God desires that all should
know life and fullness through Jesus.
And we have a rich heritage of global involvement, Lose added.
From the pastors who have gone abroad as missionaries to the
international community and global leaders who have come to
LTSP to further their training and share with us their gifts of faith
and culture, we have been blessed to be in relationship with the
worldwide church from the beginning of our history. These
relationships have borne fruit in the current student body and
faculty, and continue to be a cause of thanksgiving and strength.
In all these ways and more, we can agree with the Psalmist, The
boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places. Yea, we have a
goodly heritage.
As important as it is to recognize and give thanks for our
history, however, we would betray the treasure of our heritage if our
glance remained fixed on the past, Lose reminded. We need to
move forward in faith. God, we believe, is ever out in front of us,
calling us to new ventures of faith and courage in order to share the
Gospel with an emerging generation and respond to the needs of
the world God loves so much.
And so we look with both gratitude and excitement to what God
is doing in our midst even now to prepare us for faithful service in
the future, Lose concluded. We give thanks, for instance, for the
largest incoming class of students in recent years. We give thanks for
innovative programs like the Co-op Master of Divinity program that
combines immersion in congregational life and leadership with
rigorous academic training. We give thanks for the creative and
responsive Master of Arts in Public Leadership (MAPL) program
that shapes Christian leaders for dynamic service in a variety of
public venues. We give thanks for longstanding relationships in the
city and region that continue to make LTSP a remarkably vital place
to study. We give thanks for the increased partnership between our
school and our sister seminary in Gettysburg. We give thanks for the
commitment to expand the reach of our remarkable faculty via
online courses and distributed learning. We give thanks for the
renewed commitment of supporting congregations, synods, and
individuals as evidenced in a significant increase in gifts received in
the previous year. We give thanks for a visionary board and growing
cadre of supporters.
For all these things and more we give thanks, knowing that
while the challenges that confront us along with the larger church
are great, the gifts with which God has blessed this community are
even greater. And so, after pausing to give thanks, we turn our face
eagerly to the future God is nurturing, confident of Gods grace and
rooted in Gods love. For as grand as the past has been, we believe
the best is yet to come. Join us as we make the next 150 years even
more remarkable than the first so that together we may sing with the
Psalmist, Yea, we have a goodly heritage and a blessed and
exciting future. Thanks be to God.
Coming to
the Colonies
The Swedes in
Philadelphia
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The American colonies grew,
and along with the immigrants
came their religions. Lutheran
Swedes had an early, significant
impact on the faith community
in colonial Philadelphia.
The Rev. Louise N. Johnson, the seminarys Vice President for
Mission Advancement, taking note of Loses historical view of
LTSP, offered a look ahead as the school embraces the opportunity
for Moving Forward in Faith.
If you know anything about theological education these days,
you know that nearly every seminary in North America is
scrambling to find the best way forward, Johnson explained.
The double jeopardy of the state of the economy and
enrollment challenges has left theological schools weakened and
wondering, Johnson said. LTSP is no different. We are working
diligently to educate and form public leaders while dealing with
fewer resources, rising expenses, and the need to reduce costs and
debt for our students. It would be easy to be disheartened by this set
of circumstances, to throw our hands up in the air and settle for
fewer students, fewer schools, or some other version of right-sizing.
It might even be prudent to do so.
And yet, I cannot recall the last time the Holy Spirit called us
(anyone really) to prudence, Johnson continued. We have been
given an important mission to educate and form public leaders who
are committed to developing and nurturing individual believers and
communities of faith for engagement in the world. And we do so
with the expansiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, we are
called to forge a new path into the future that casts the nets more
widely still, even while we have fewer resources with which to do it.
Or do we have fewer resources? Johnson asked. The financial
books tell one story. Our communities students, faculty, staff,
alumni, donors, and friends tell another. By your support of LTSP
with your prayers and gifts, you tell another story. And more
importantly, in your witness to the Gospel, you tell the old, old story of
the God who makes impossible things possible. The same God who
blessed loaves and fishes, stilled the storm, healed the sick, and raised
the dead is the One who calls us to this time, place, and mission.
So as I assess our strengths, Johnson continued, I see that we
have a whole host of counter-cultural, not so obvious, extraordinary
resources that dont show up on the books: the God of impossible
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Pastorius & the Establishment
of Germantown
Lutheran by birth and a lawyer by vocation, Francis
Daniel Pastorius established Germantown and became
the most prominent public theologian in the period before
Benjamin Franklin.
The Rev. Louise
N. Johnson
things who called us to our mission; the gift of one another; our
collective, holy imagination; and the invitation to live into a new
day. And of course, there are some gifts on the books as well. All of
which might just be enough for us to thrive.
As we begin with a new class in our 150th year, we welcome the
brilliant and faithful Rev. Dr. David Lose as our president (another
extraordinary resource we can count!), Johnson said. We will also
launch a new strategic planning process a process in which we will
be inviting the inclusion of your holy imagination, since you are one
of our greatest resources. We hope you will join us in prayer, in work,
and in giving as God leads us into this new chapter of our future.
I have been rereading a favorite book of mine, On Religion. In it,
Roman Catholic philosopher and teacher John Caputo says: I am
asking that we open ourselves toward a future we cannot see
coming, whose coming we can see only darkly and in a mirror, for
which nonetheless we passionately hope and long.
One of the great challenges for the future of LTSP is figuring out
how best to embrace the ever-expanding frontier of technology with
all of its challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning.
When I was asked to contribute my thoughts on what the future
of technology looks like at LTSP, I hardly knew what to say,
explained Kyle Barger, director of Information Systems for the
seminary. It is barely possible to predict what will happen with
computers next year, much less in future decades.
So, how does an institution like LTSP navigate this changing
landscape? Barger asked. For me, the most important thing is to
remain flexible and nimble. You can spend a lot of money, time and
effort chasing after the latest hot trend. We have to be very critical
and discerning: What choices will best serve our mission? While we
may look first to what our colleagues at other seminaries are doing, I
believe we also have to understand the broader context of technology
in higher education, from the smallest colleges to the biggest research
universities not so we can duplicate them at LTSP, but so we can
make wise choices about which developments give us the most
benefit given the resources we have to invest in them.
Heritage. Commitment.
Called by the Holy Spirit
to carry out our mission.
The faculty, the students,
the staff, the community
who have developed,
nurtured, built, and
changed this institution,
have known the school
over its 150 years as The
Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia,
Philadelphia Seminary, Mt. Airy,
or simply Lutheran. They have
seen, lived through, predicted,
nurtured many changes as the
church, the community, and the
world, have changed.
What was once a campus far
from the city, behind a stone
wall, served by horse-drawn
trolleys, is now a center of a
vibrant, diverse community. Since its founding, LTSP, its graduates,
and its faculty, have been serving as Dean J. Jayakiran Sebastian
called it The Always-Generous and Ever-Ready Church. A
campus of men, Lutheran men, is now a vibrant place of learning for
men and women from many faith traditions and ethnic and cultural
backgrounds. Who could have imagined the school as it is today?
How will we be moving forward in faith as the future and
our future unfolds? Doubtless there will be surprises, featuring
both challenges and opportunities, calling for much prayer and
discernment. What will the future be? Time will tell, but we have
the comfort of knowing that God will be with us throughout our
journey.
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg
& the American Revolution
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg firmly established the Lutheran church
on American soil, and dreamed of a seminary in the city. In 1777, what
is now the seminary campus was a part of the Battle of Germantown.
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Kyle Barger
ALUMNI OF THE LUTHERAN
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT
PHILADELPHIA (LTSP) have included
denominational presiders (H. George
Anderson and Franklin Clark Fry), a chief
ecumenical officer (William Rusch), a
pioneering synodical bishop (Margarita
Martinez of the Caribbean Synod), and a
talented musician/pastor who once turned
his sanctuary into a courtroom setting
where wanted felons could give
themselves up, receiving reduced sentences
or probation (Ernest McNear).
As more than one faculty member has
noted, however, many hundreds of LTSPs
more than 5,000 alumni have brought
greatest honor to their alma mater simply
by being effective pastors or other leaders,
dutifully serving our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ in the congregational vineyard and
elsewhere often out of the limelight.
Heres a synopsis of some of the stories
we have told about the seminarys
graduates just since 2010. They and so
many others give special meaning to the
schools celebration.
At the heart of the celebration:
HOW LTSPS PRECIOUS ALUMNI HONOR THEIR SCHOOL
ALUMNI
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The Civil War A Seminary is Formed
In the midst of the Civil War, Muhlenbergs dream of a seminary in
Philadelphia came to reality with the founding of The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia.
Clockwise from top:
The Rev. Maritza
Torres-Dolich, the Rev.
Sue Ruggles, and the
Rev. Keith Rohrbach.
One-time Verizon executive the Rev.
Richard Yost, 05, in 2010 told of a
ministry with older persons in Clay, New
York, at Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Located in a Syracuse suburb, the
congregation is about 20 minutes away
from Camilllus, where Yost grew up. What
once was a ministry involving 15 folks
gathering at a local luncheon at the church
grew to 70 to 80 visitors, involving a
featured speaker. Under Yosts leadership
the congregation also became part of an
ecumenical initiative, reaching out to
military personnel departing from and
arriving home to Syracuse Airport.
Immanuel members were distributing food
The Rev. Maritza Torres-Dolich, 02, in
2010, set up a playground and community
garden outside St. Stephens Lutheran
Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as a
way of reaching out to and meeting
neighbors, many of them Hispanic adults
and children. Neighbors planted the
garden. I feel we need to be engaged in
ministry out there beyond these walls of
the church, Torres-Dolich said at the time.
In 2009, the Rev. Keith Rohrbach, 84,
pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church,
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, began The
Potato Project on an acre of land in the
community owned by a couple belonging
to the church. Kutztown had many people
without jobs who were hurting
economically, and many were hungry. The
congregation planted 7,000 potatoes
during the 2009 growing season and
harvested 70,000, giving the harvest to
pantries and shelters in the area. Someone
else donated another five acres to the
project, leading to an estimated yield of
430,000 potatoes during the 2010 harvest.
The project turned ecumenical. I cant
believe all this has happened, Rohrbach
said at the time.
When the Rev. Sue Ruggles, 02, began
her ministry at St. John Lutheran Church,
Easton, Pennsylvania, she found herself
frequently greeting ex-offenders from the
Northampton County prison just up the
street. They wanted some food or clothing
or perhaps a bus ticket home to Berks
County, Ruggles said. She began a Thursday
afternoon visitation initiative to inmates at
the prison, offering bible classes and the
chance to converse. I talk to them about
what is missing in their lives, she said. They
have been hearing words of judgment, and I
tell them God forgives them. Can you
forgive yourself ? What is it that God wants
you to do now and in the future?
The Move to Mount Airy
Continuous growth saw the seminary move from
center citys Lutheran Bookstore, to the first seminary
building on Franklin Square, to the seminarys
permanent home in Mt. Airy.
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From left to right: The Rev.
Richard Yost, the Rev. Dr.
Charles Chaz Howard, and
the Very Rev. Judith Sullivan.
and snacks and conversing with soldiers, many of whom were facing uncertainty in places
like Afghanistan and Iraq. Both my seminary training and background in corporate
management have assisted me greatly in working with people of the church, he said.
The Rev. Dr. Charles Chaz Howard, who earned an STM in 08 and PhD in 10 at
LTSP, was interviewed in 2010 about his work as a chaplain at the University of
Pennsylvania, where he was overseeing a variety of campus ministries involving the three
Abrahamic traditions plus Hindu, Buddhist, and other traditions. We strive to be a safe
place for all expressions, he said. Whenever there is a campus crisis involving, say, the
death of a student, I get involved. He counsels students on such topics as interfaith dating,
grief and loss, and academic challenges. His LTSP thesis, Incomplete Prophecies, explored
the intersection of Black Theology with capitalism, poverty, and the theology of the 1960s,
helping him to appreciate economic systems and both the local and global contexts for
ministry. At the time, Howard cited the mentoring influences at LTSP of Professors Katie
Day, John Hoffmeyer, and Philip Krey.
The Very Rev. Judith Sullivan, Dean of the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral in
Philadelphias University City, holds her MDiv from General Seminary in New York City,
but took much of her training at LTSP, with its campus being within walking distance from
her Chestnut Hill residence. Recalling fondly her studies at LTSP, Sullivan called the
seminary a powerful institutional presence in the ecumenical partnership between
Episcopalians and Lutherans. Under her leadership, the Cathedral was involved in
ecumenical work to feed the hungry and a food pantry consortium. We see ourselves as an
open door, a connector between the Episcopal Church and the complex urban, suburban,
and rural communities in the five-county region surrounding us, she said at the time.
The Rev. Dr. William B. Moore, 85, an LTSP alumnus who is the senior pastor of
Tenth Memorial Baptist Church in North Philadelphia, has led his congregation through a
variety of ministries including the development of housing initiatives for the disadvantaged
and for seniors. Moore has expressed his deep appreciation for his legacy of learning at
LTSP by chairing the Advisory Committee of the Urban Theological Institute.
Rozella H. White, 10, earned her Master of Arts in Religion (MAR) from LTSP and
today is part of a pioneer venture with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
serving as the Program Director for Young Adult Ministry. She is striving to reconnect the
young adult population that often is not found in our churches, she said in the spring of
2013. It is less about getting them into church than it is about connecting with them
where they are. Many young adults are telling us they are not against God and faith, but
they are not connected. A third-generation Lutheran, White is working to discover by
what barometer todays young adults might begin to see the church as authentic again.
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Campus Transformation
Growth on campus included the construction of
the Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel in 1903 and the
Krauth Memorial Library in 1908, both thanks to
generous donations.
Visit the 150th
expanded timeline
online at Ltsp150.org
where you can offer
your comments and
congratulations.
Read More!
Frustration & Expansion
Growth continued, the campus expanded to surrounding
properties, and meals began to be served in the Refectory.
The school struggled to develop a campus strategy, only to
be stopped by the Great Depression.
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She acknowledges the ministry entails risk, both for the denomination and her personally. It means
finding another way to be the body of Christ, using networks that connect with young adults in non-
traditional settings in order to develop new and authentic relationships.
LTSP graduate the Rev. Mark Parker, 07, is reinventing Breath of God (formerly St. Pauls)
Lutheran Church in the Highlandtown section of southeast Baltimore, Maryland. I cant be in my
office, he said. I have to be out and about in the neighborhood, meeting people, building relationships.
They see me now as more than a person wearing a collar. When I attend special events, meetings, or
festivals it is easy to have a conversation. Parker talked about showing up at a
neighborhood pub on Thursday nights at 8:00 wearing his collar. A bar is
actually a great place to meet people and get into conversations, he said in a
2013 interview, Even Christian conversations. People in that climate will
open up to you and ask you questions.
The Rev. Tiffany Chaney, 12, is a mission developer initiating a new
ministry focus in the diverse neighborhoods of Dorchester, Massachusetts,
with its 120,000 residents. The neighborhood is my parish, she said last
year. I spend a lot of time out in the community talking to people and
hearing their stories. The Mobile, Alabama, native visits coffee shops, restaurants, and
stores. I hear a variety of faith stories, or I talk to people who say they have no faith at
all. Her church, called simply The Intersection, is a place where she hopes
Dorchesters African American, white, Asian, and Hispanic neighbors will feel
comfortable about connecting and sharing stories about the lives they lead.
Dorchester reminds me of the richly diverse seminary community of students, staff,
and faculty, and of the seminarys Mt. Airy community.
Finally, if you are on a journey through New York Citys JFK International Airport,
stop by the chapel located on the east end of Terminal 4 and greet the Rev. Romeo
Dabee, 05, STM 12. Dabee represents the Council of Churches of New York City as
the Protestant chaplain in an interfaith complex that also involves Jewish, Roman
Catholic, and Muslim chaplains. The ministry is like serving a community more than
a congregation, Dabee said. You meet strangers, some of whom you may never see again, perhaps
going home because a relative has died. The airport staff is also part of the community. JFK serves more
than 42 million passengers annually across eight terminals. Dabee earned his MDiv and STM at the
seminary and credits the school for preparing him to deal with the many complexities of his ministry.
A highlight was presiding at a wedding for an employee of the New York Port Authoritys Lincoln
Tunnel and his Anglican fiance. He was from the Carolinas and she was from the Barbados. Neither
was part of a congregation, and they thought the airport was the perfect place for their wedding. It was
quite a celebration.
Page 14: The Rev. Dr. William B. Moore
(top) and the Rev. Romeo Dabee. This
page: Rozella H. White, the Rev. Tiffany
Chaney, and the Rev. Mark Parker.
INSEVERAL WAYS, Nicolette Faison has
followed a pipeline route to the seminary
education she begins this fall. She is a
Lutheran confirmand and attended a
Lutheran college, Wagner, on Staten Island,
near her Elmont, New York, home. In her
teen years, she was an active leader regionally
in the Lutheran Youth Organization.
But in other ways, she is not exactly
typical. For example, she graduated from
Wagner a year early, thanks to having
combined two years of study in high
school. At the tender age of 22, she has
already earned an MBA from Wagner. I
wanted to study for that degree to be able
to develop further my leadership skills, she
said. I wanted to be able to think creatively
and out of the box. In working for that
degree I learned a lot about myself. I also
believe that now and in the future we have
to look at church differently, and I believed
it would help me to be able to think like an
entrepreneur and have the business
background an MBA would afford me. At
the time, she was in a holding pattern too,
awaiting entrance to the Metropolitan New
York Synod candidacy process.
Baptized a Roman Catholic, Nicolette
and her family began attending New Hope
Lutheran Church in Valley Stream, Long
Island, New York, in the late 1990s. She
recalled the worship and liturgy was like
what she had experienced before. As a
confirmand I asked all the questions,
Nicolette said. And her pastor, the Rev.
Jonathan Hopkins, 03, an alumnus of
Philadelphia Seminary (LTSP), really
helped me explore my faith. At the time,
while attending a Lutheran congregation,
she was exploring alternatives. I thought
of converting to Islam. I thought about the
Jewish faith, Nicolette said.
In February of 2006, her family
experienced the horror of the suicide death
of her 20-year-old brother, who had recently
left military service as a Marine. He had
experienced depression while in the service,
but the family did not know the details. He
was experiencing depression when he died,
Nicolette said. It was terrible.
When he died I found myself
preoccupied with the question of what
really happens when you die? Nicolette
said. I knew about salvation and hell, but
I wondered what if neither happens? What
if you are laid to rest six feet under and you
are just there?
Pastor Hopkins did an excellent job of
pastoral care with our family after this
tragedy, Nicolette said. Then, she went to
a Koinonia event with 19 other teenagers.
During a Taize service I suddenly felt the
real presence of God and came to terms
with what it means to be a Lutheran.
Becoming increasingly active in the
Lutheran Youth Organization, she
attended Pinecrest Camp in order to hone
her leadership skills. Pastors Mack Smith,
Katrina Foster and Paul Millholland were
strong mentors for me, Nicolette recalled.
New seminarian Nicolette Faison:
FIGURING OUT HER PLACE IN THE FUTURE CHURCH
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The Civil Rights Movement
Significant winds of change came to the seminary
campus, as some campus expansion was accomplished,
and students returning from World War II were succeeded
by students in the Civil Rights era.
SEMINARIANS
Vietnam Through a
Generation of Change
The transition from the Civil rights era to the Vietnam War era brought
more change, including a plan to merge with Gettysburg seminary and
the first woman Martha Kriebel to receive a degree from the school.
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That gift of youth ministry experience
helped to form me and my faith. I decided I
needed to pay forward what had been given
me. She became immersed in the
leadership and additional faith training of
Project Connect, an initiative that has
aimed to enable talented youth to
contemplate their options for serving God
and others. During her LTSP campus visits
with that initiative, I knew where I wanted
to be, she said. Seminary was on the radar
as early as seven years ago. Now, as an
Upsala at Wagner scholar, Nicolette is
gaining financial support to attend LTSP.
As Nicolette anticipated entering
seminary this year, she wanted to immerse
herself in a ministry opportunity. She
answered a call on Craigs List to direct
Family and Youth Ministry at St. Peters
Lutheran Church in North Wales,
Pennsylvania, a suburb about 30 minutes
from the seminary campus. She is working
there this summer. The congregation is a
lovely old congregation, founded in 1776,
Nicolette said. It is an old yet new
congregation with good lay leadership and
many young people and younger families.
During our interview, a young artists camp
was being held in the church with many
youth attendees not members of the
congregation. She appreciates an inventive
approach to Vacation Bible School at St.
Peters. The program is held in the evening
and begins with a family-oriented dinner.
At the time of the interview, Nicolette
had just returned from Kentucky, where she
was part of a St. Peters group of 20 adults
and youth working with the Appalachian
Service Project to repair a home. The family
included an unemployed mom and a
husband who is blind in a household with
two children. The mom had held a job, but
the travel distance was too far for her. The
job just didnt work out, and she is seeking
new work, Nicolette explained. As the
group worked on the shanty home, she said
she was surprised to find it located near an
elaborate home across the street. The
disparity struck me, she said. It didnt
make sense to me. I learned a lot about the
community and its people in Kentucky, one
of the poorest states in the nation. She
noted that a nearby Baptist congregation
had collected only $1.72 in its offering on a
recent Sunday, and found no Lutheran
congregations nearby. I wondered where
our church is, she said.
Nicolette is excited about seminary. I
feel called to work my way up in the world,
she said, to make good use of the tools and
gifts I have been given for ministry, to
figure out where I can best serve. For me
there is no work like church work. I need to
be out with people, praying, working on
myself and with others.
Asked why she would not consider
using her knowledge and leadership skills
to serve in the more lucrative world of
business, Nicolette acknowledges she could
find such work if she looked for it, and
maybe use that opportunity to pay off her
educational debt more quickly.
But she equates such a move to the
Parable of the Three Servants found in
Matthew 25, where a master is critical of
the servant who buried his talents in the
ground rather than investing wisely. If I
were anywhere else than the church, I
would not be investing wisely, Nicolette
said. Why would I bury my talents in the
ground? I would not be sharing my gifts
the way I feel called to do if I was any place
other than the church.
Nicolette believes the modern church
needs to change. It does a good job with
pastoral care and global ministry, she said.
But it needs to change to make the best
difference in this time and place and in the
future. She is trying to figure out what
that means, beginning with her seminary
education. I need to see where the church
is going, and what my place in it is.
ALEXZUBER, a new Philadelphia Seminary (LTSP) Master of Divinity Co-operative Model (Co-op) student,
once thought he wanted to become a physician. A resident of Roanoke, Virginia, Zuber was majoring in public health
education at James Madison University, intent on specializing in pediatric cardiology.
It didnt take long for me to figure out I wasnt cut out to be a doctor, Zuber explained. I began to
discover that relating to patients would be the best part, rather than the actual practice of medicine.
Zuber said he began to seriously discern a call to parish ministry four years ago during
his freshman and sophomore years in college. I talked about it with my mom over tortilla
chips in a Mexican restaurant, he said with a smile. And I opened my heart to the voices
in my life who were saying I had the gifts for ministry. One of the first voices to raise the
notion of such gifts had been the Rev. Scott Mims, now a pastor in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, during a confirmation interview with Alex. The interview took place at Christ
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Roanoke. Also influential was the Rev. Dave Delaney,
a Virginia Synod assistant to the bishop who directs youth and young adult ministries.
Zuber took several years to search for a seminary while finishing up college. The
idea of studying in a major urban center like Philadelphia really appealed to me, Zuber
said. I was also excited to be a part of LTSPs new Co-op program, and to be part of
how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is re-evaluating approaches to
seminary education. It just seems that the Co-op program is a new and innovative
approach to learning lessons both in the classroom and a congregation.
The Co-op model enables seminarians to complete their studies in three years, rather
than four. Zuber and eight other colleagues who are part of the initiatives first year in
201415 will engage in classroom study Tuesday through Thursday, and serve a
congregation Friday through Monday. Zuber anticipates serving Stoney Man Parish in
Luray, Virginia, a collaborative of two congregations, Grace and Beth Eden Lutheran
Churches, now served by one congregation council. Zubers supervising pastor will be
the Rev. Nick Eichelberger.
In his initial orientation, Zubers excitement is growing. My Co-op colleagues are all from different
situations, and I anticipate learning a lot from them, he said. I also look forward to the bigger experience of
taking classes in the city and working in a rural congregational setting. It sounds like a fun dichotomy. The
drive to Luray takes four hours one way, but Zuber looks at the trip as a strong personal time for reflecting
about things. Im a hands-on type of person, and I think I will learn best using the Co-op approach.
He thinks his background majoring in health education will be an advantage when he takes up Clinical
Pastoral Education in a clinical setting. Most of all, Zuber is excited about serving as a parish pastor. I like the
ELCAs approach to Word and Sacrament ministry, he said. A ministry celebrating the body and blood of
Jesus Christ has a way of bringing people together. Through such a ministry amazing things can happen.
New MDiv Co-op student Alex Zuber:
LOOKING FORWARD TO URBAN/RURAL SETTING FOR LEARNING
Growing Diversity & Discovery
In 1980, Lutheran said YES! to the Rev. Dr. Andrew H. Willis
and the late Rev. Dr. Randolph L. Jones and the Urban
Theological Institute started. The school continued to expand
its offerings, with more women and more students and faculty
from other faith traditions.
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I had the gifts
for ministry.
I opened
my heart to
the voices in
my life who
were saying
Two MDiv Co-operative Model sponsoring
churches share their ministry stories
In picturesque and economically
depressed Luray, Virginia, congregations
usually cant afford a full-time pastor, and
many are searching for new models of
ministry. For two congregations in the county,
Grace and Beth Eden Lutheran churches,
the new Master of Divinity Co-operative
Model (Co-op) for seminary education at
The Philadelphia Seminary (LTSP) has
become a godsend that is appreciated
both by the seminary and the financially
strapped churches.
Luray is a small town with about 5,000
residents and no major highways going
through it, explained the Rev. Nicholas
Eichelberger, dean of the Page (County)
Lutheran Conference. There are about 140
congregations in a county of 18,000
residents, explained Eichelberger, who has
served St. Mark Lutheran Church in Luray for
26 years. About 85 percent of them cant
afford a full-time pastor and survive through
some form of part-time ministry.
Unless you are a teacher, attorney, or
physician in Page County, your best option is
to look for a job about 90 miles away in the
Washington, DC, corridor, Eichelberger
explained. Long distance commuting is an
obvious challenge.
Grace and Beth Eden cant afford a
pastor. They have begun working closely
together and have a single collaborative
congregation council. Just a few weeks ago,
Virginia Synod Bishop James Mauney heard
of the new Co-op initiative for seminary
education at LTSP. The program enables
seminarians to complete their studies in
three years rather than four, and also offers
partner congregations the continuity of three
internship years. Through their participation,
congregations help seminarians pay for their
seminary training and become training
points. Mauney spoke with Eichelberger, and
the pair concluded that it could make sense
for Grace and Beth Eden to be part of the
initiative. Through the Co-op Model they
could afford, with synod support, a
continuity of leadership in training for three
years while options for the future are
contemplated. Eichelberger will offer
supervisory support to the seminarian, Alex
Zuber, who is from Roanoke, Virginia.
Alex has impressed us with his
personality, enthusiasm, and energy,
Eichelberger explained. It is something new
for us as well of the seminary, and we are
excited about it. Zuber will commute the
four hours to Luray Friday through Monday,
taking classes the other three days of the
week in Philadelphia.
The Co-op Model deals directly with a
concern that troubles congregations in Luray
and elsewhere. When I went to seminary
the cost was about $2,500, and my parents
paid all the costs, Eichelberger said. So I
had no student debt. Today young pastors
are coming to places like Luray with
considerable debt. Congregations cant
afford to pay them well. And so we find it is
hard to retain a minister for any length of
time. This Co-op that enables training to be
completed sooner helps greatly with the debt
problem in our view. Everybody benefits.
Another Co-op partner with LTSP is Trinity
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fairview
Village, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
located between Lansdale and Collegeville.
Trinity, founded in 1848 as a German-speaking
church, was once a thriving congregation in a
cathedral setting in downtown Norristown,
the county seat for Montgomery County. But
after its heyday in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s,
the congregation fell on hard times and was
near closure in the early 1980s. We decided
to make the congregation part of a new
mission venture, purchasing an old farm in
Fairview Village in 1993, explained the Rev.
Kim Guiser, the congregations senior pastor.
The venture had the support of the
Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod. We knew
we had the advantage of putting the church in
an area of rapid demographic growth. The
congregation has many young suburban
families now, and a mix of senior citizens and
empty nesters. It also operates a school, and
is in the midst of its fourth building expansion
since the decision to move 21 years ago.
Guiser explained the church worked
successfully with a co-op venture involving
another seminary, and so they looked
favorably upon working with LTSP on its new
venture. The intern from the earlier situation
told us the experiential learning focus was
very valuable. The benefits to the
congregation are the continuity we expect to
enjoy over three years. Its a chance for the
congregation to form deep relationships over
three cycles of the church year, Guiser said.
The participating seminarian will be
Micah Krey, a recent college graduate in his
early 20s with a background in history and
music. Micah is the son of the Rev. Dr. Philip
Krey and Ren Diemer. The senior Krey left
his post as LTSP president in August. Diemer
is the seminarys registrar.
We are risk-takers and social
entrepreneurs at Trinity, Guiser said. So it
is a good place for a seminarian to develop a
sense of vision. We roll the dice, experiment,
try things. Many things have worked, and
sometimes we have failed.
Trinity has 18 outreach ministries, one of
which is a project with eight to 10 partner
congregations in the area, working with
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
to resettle immigrants, many of whom are in
the U.S. on asylum. Among those recently
resettled are Congolese immigrants, about
50 families in all. Partner congregations
include half a dozen Lutheran churches,
along with Seventh Day Adventist,
Mennonite, and United Methodist churches.
The culture is changing, Guiser
explained. Overall at Trinity weve done well
as a church by doing good. We need to think
of ways to set up our shop differently as a
church, focusing on changing the world for
good for God.
The Rev. Kim Guiser
The Rev. Nicholas
Eichelberger
HOWDOThe Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphias
(LTSP) faculty members view their calling to teach? And how do
they prepare themselves to remain relevant in rapidly changing and
challenging times in the life of the seminary and the church?
Several faculty members, including a pioneer who still teaches, took
some time to assess their vocation, what it means to them, and their
ideas about what lies ahead as they Move Forward in Faith.
The teaching ministry involves both an internal and external
call, explained the Rev. Dr. David Grafton, LTSPs Associate
Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations.
Grafton also directs graduate studies at LTSP and is coordinator of
international students. Grafton oversaw the most recent
reaccreditation process undertaken by the school. Serving two
parishes early in his career, Grafton recalled parishioners telling
him he was a good teacher, good at explaining things. That
external reinforcement jived with his assessment of his God-given
gifts. Teaching confirmands, I recall the excitement I felt teaching
and learning from them, he said. Grafton
went on to learn how to teach by
studying for his PhD at the University
of Birmingham (England), where he
also served as chaplain to the university,
engaged in preaching and
visiting.
Grafton then moved on to serve as director of graduate studies
for seven years at the Evangelical (Protestant) Theological Seminary
in Cairo, Egypt. Then LTSP dean J. Paul Rajashekar heard about
Grafton though a mutual acquaintance from India, and Grafton
and his family made the decision to return to the U.S., leading to a
certain culture shock.
It is different teaching here, Grafton explained. Africans and
Arabs in Egypt express a public politeness. Students in America are
paying their way and have a sense of entitlement. They are more
proactive and sometimes not so polite.
I think because of my experience in the Middle East that I bring
a certain passion to my teaching, given where we are as a country,
he explained. Given the demographic change in our citizenry and
our pluralistic makeup, I hope I can give our students some filters to
help them with the challenge of thinking about issues as they go out
into ministry.
With the current tensions in the Middle East and his personal
grieving for the region he once served, Grafton has been sending
messages to listserv recipients (students, faculty, and staff ) containing
links to two organizations working for peace. One pastor wrote to
me expressing gratitude for my taking the time to do that, he said.
The pastor used the background for congregational instruction.
On the challenge to remain relevant in his teaching, Grafton has
special concern for dealing with pluralism in the population.
Studies have been done that show if a congregation is not in the
proximity of a synagogue or mosque the issues regarding other
religions and faith may never be raised, he said. And yet we live in
a culture that is increasingly interfaith. We are set up for failure if
our leadership is not intentional about cross-economic and cross-
cultural concerns, more sensitive and aware.
Grafton explained the model for theological training that
applied to his learning decades ago is simply not up to recent
pluralistic challenges. That focus on training competent pastors
FACULTY
Moving Forward in Faith:
FACULTY MEMBERS REFLECT
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Transitioning to the
Twentieth Century
The close of the Twentieth Century saw the opening of the Wiedemann
Center, designed for the growing number of families coming to campus.
More concentrations were added to reflect the times.
did not have the emphasis on lifelong learning
emphasized today, he said. That emphasis
may involve the earning of an advanced
degree, Grafton said, but I think we are also
concerned at the seminary about offering
space for all people committed to think about
the struggles the church is facing to come
together as a cohort to think about the
challenges facing the people of God.
I was drafted to come to LTSP, explained
the Rev. Dr. Katie Day, Charles A. Schieren
Professor of Church and Society and Director
of the Metropolitan/Urban Concentration. I
was a graduate student at Union Theological
Seminary (New York City) and working for
the Presbytery of Philadelphia back in 1984,
and Dean [Faith Rohrbough] Burgess asked
Pastor Gordon Simmons [an alumnus of
LTSP] if he knew anyone who could teach
Church and Society at the seminary, and he
suggested me. Dean Burgess called me out of
the blue, and until then I had never even
considered an academic career.
Day explained there had been three
searches for faculty positions the previous
two years. The faculty had told students then
that at least one position would be filled by a
woman. The first two were filled by men.
The third, Church and Society, had resulted
in the recommendation of another man, Day
recalled. The women students were at a
women-in-seminary conference with Professor
Margaret Krych [the first woman to have been
appointed to the faculty]. She told the
women that on Monday the faculty would
vote on the mans recommendation. The
women students apparently drove back
immediately, wrote a petition of protest,
circulated it among the student body, and
presented it to the faculty at their meeting
that afternoon. The faculty voted to
recommend to the board that they start the
search all over again, this time seriously
looking for women candidates. The whole
process took another year, during which
time I prayerfully considered my vocation. I
started in July 1985. I owe my career at
LTSP to affirmative action, feminism, and
student activism all principles I continue
to believe in strongly.
Day thinks having one foot in activism
has been an experiential gift she brings to
the classroom. I am fascinated by how
change happens and where God is in the
midst of it, Day said. I am inspired by
public theologians who have lived out their
Christian commitment both in the academy
and in the public forum. There is an
integrity and balance that I seek in my own
vocation and to share with my students.
Our students bring a wealth of
experience and skills with them by the time
their path leads them to LTSP, Day noted.
I encourage students to draw on what they
have learned and done thus far, and allow
their background to be one of their teachers.
A New Era & Renewed Campus
The nature of the campus changed as The Brossman Learning
Center was planned and built. The Center for Interreligious Dialog
got its start, and the PhD Program graduated its first students.
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Page 20: The Rev. Dr. David Grafton.
Page 21: The Rev. Dr. Katie Day; group photo
standing from left to right: Dr. Jacobs and
Dr. Sparth; sitting left to right: Dr. Mann and
Dr. Schaeffer.
Speaking of teaching and remaining relevant, Day cited the
writing of H. Richard Niebuhr, who wrote that relevance is related
to relativity. Traditionally the church has been afraid of relativity,
which it has interpreted as compromising of our commitments to
Jesus Christ, Day said. And so we have sought to be immutable
but then wondered why those outside the church did not consider us
relevant! The world, of which were a part, is changing in ways both
subtle and seismic. We need to expand our capacity for relating to
new cultures and finding new conversation partners. My hope is that
at LTSP our students find the confidence and the courage to engage
an ever-widening spectrum of human experience. It is Christ who is
the still point in a turning world and will not let us go.
Day said she is especially excited by the new MDiv Co-op
program and has been honored to be part of its development. It
will push us all, especially the faculty, to make sure our courses
resonate with the current needs of ministry. Of course we will
continue to cultivate critical thinking in our students. But there is
going to be a closer connection to congregational ministry so we
will also be further challenged, Yes, but does this preach?
Teaching was always an honored profession in my family,
explained Dr. Erik Heen, who holds the Rev. Dr. John H.P.
Reumann Endowed Chair in Biblical Studies at LTSP. My
maternal grandmother was a teacher in North Dakota who had
gone on to get a masters degree. My paternal grandfather was
superintendent of rural schools in the Minot, North Dakota, area.
Teaching was one of the vocations that came naturally to me as a
possible life choice.
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Renewed Challenges &
Opportunities
The decade leading up to the 150th Anniversary saw continuing
changes, with a trend toward more commuter and part-time
seminarians. The Master of Arts in Public Leadership saw its
first graduates.
How did Heen get to a Lutheran seminary? My family, on both
sides, has been involved in the Norwegian branch of Lutheranism in
the USA since the 1860s, Heen said. Most recently, a grandfather,
father, and two uncles were pastors in the Norwegian Lutheran
Church in America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the
American Lutheran Church, predecessor bodies of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. When I was finishing up my PhD in
Early Christianity at Columbia University, a position in New
Testament at LTSP became available. Coming to know the school
through the interview process, I was very impressed by its faculty,
then in the process of rebuilding, and the seminary staff. I was one
of four new instructors hired in 1986. The others were Adele
Resmer, Nan Aalborg, and Elizabeth Huwiler.
Discussing the gifts he feels he brings to the classroom, Heen said,
I am interested in Lutheran theology and the richness it brings to
biblical theology. I am also interested in the fascination with
Buddhist, Native American, and Nature spirituality in the wider
culture and am working with finding areas of overlap with these
spiritual traditions and my own Lutheran heritage as a way of entering
into a dialogue with those who tend to think pejoratively about
Christianity, a segment of the population that seems to be growing.
From left to right:
Dr. Erik Heen and the
Rev. Dr. Nelson Rivera.
Heen described his efforts to keep leaders he is training relevant to
the challenges of ministry today. The leaders of the church need to
keep one foot firmly grounded in the vast and deep and true resources
of Christianity, and one foot grounded in the world outside of the
church, he said. This makes for a difficult balancing act, but one
which is necessary. I would like to see the church become a resource for
folks who are uncomfortable with the values of late capitalist consumerist
culture. The early church provided a clear alternative to the values of
the Roman Empire. If Jesus was Lord, then the emperor was not. Some
of the excitement of the early church was tied up in the way it resisted,
as a corporate body, the values of the empire. No individual had (or
has) the strength to do this alone. I hope the leaders of the church are
able to articulate a way through the thicket of post-modern life that is
based in the truth of Christ and the life-bringing spirit of God.
The new curriculum, Heen said, seeks to integrate theological
education with the real-life demands of the contemporary church and
wider world. To the degree that we do that well, we are living into the
intent of the curricular revision. Actually, I think we did a pretty good
job of it in the old curriculum. That is because my colleagues take their
vocation as teaching theologians seriously.
The Rev. Dr. Nelson Rivera embarks with the Rev. Dr. Karl Krueger
in the teaching of the Lutheran Confessions this academic year. Rivera,
Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Hispanic Ministry,
also directs the seminarys Latino Concentration. In addition to
teaching Hispanic students (and other students too) in Hispanic
studies, Rivera has a strong interest in the relationship between science
and theology.
I was called to LTSP to become a teacher and scholar, recalled
Rivera, a native of Puerto Rico. The invitation to do graduate studies
was through the expansion of the Black Scholar Program, renamed as
the LTSP Scholar Program at the time. Some of my former teachers at
the MDiv level knew of my desire to serve the church as a teacher, he
said. Im grateful to Jim Echols, Helmut Lehmann, Clarence Lee, and
Faith Rohrbough, who encouraged me. There are certainly others.
Without them I could never have fulfilled my dream to become a
seminary professor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
My call to serve as a professor is an extension of my original call to
ministry, Rivera said. I have worked to bring a pastoral ethos to my
work and the relationship I have with students. I keep my original
letter of call that I received as an instructor of theology in my office. It
is a good reminder of why I am here. Over the last 14 years I believe I
have grown as a teacher, pastor, writer, and advisor in many ways.
As someone strongly committed to mission and ministry, as well
as to the best theological education and discourse, I like to
emphasize the connections between conceptual analysis and
practice-oriented approaches. Rivera cites two major influences on
his theological training. Lutheran commitments have provided me
with a faith and freedom that I dont see how I could have enjoyed
otherwise. Also, perspectives from theologies of liberation have
opened the doors to communal engagements while keeping the
plight of the poor and needy in my mind and heart.
Rivera said one of the graces afforded him by the seminary has
been to be able to listen to different voices that have helped me
ponder varied contributions to Christian experience and thought
One area that most interests me, but also worries me at times, is
preaching. I believe in the need for a strong Gospel-oriented
proclamation, the kind that loudly and stubbornly announces grace,
forgiveness, and new life without relying on any one preachers
personal piety or ideological assumptions. Thank goodness, life-
giving proclamation has been heard soundly from these halls many
times, and I am not ready to see it diminished by anyone.
Our new FAR curriculum (Flexible, Affordable, Relevant) is a
welcome addition, Rivera added. It provides the kind of flexibility
that current students need as they plan their programs of study. In
addition, the curriculum reflects much needed emphases, such as
the Ecumenical, Interfaith, Global/Cross-cultural, and Missional
initiatives of the ELCA. Focusing on learning outcomes certainly
helps, even though it is not the whole of the story. As we know,
there is more to a good education and training than outcomes. On
any given learning process, in any classroom for that matter, there
are variables that can ultimately transform the learning experience
beyond our expectations.
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Leading LTSP into the next 150
years: The Rev. Dr. David Lose
...Christian leaders in congregations and public and private
institutions are called not to the heros quest of individual
accomplishment, but rather to the disciples quest of nurturing a
community, of equipping the saints for witness and service, and of
following our Lord in caring for all people as fellow children of God.
The Rev. Dr. Storm Swain, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care
and Theology and Director of Anglican Studies, explained she
backed into teaching by being an eternal student in a variety of
settings. Some insights came during training she received in early
ministry in her native New Zealand as a hospital chaplain and then a
psychiatric chaplain. I found I was working on the edge of my
knowledge and experience, so I would seek to extend that edge, she
said. Her earliest teaching was as a Clinical Pastoral Education
supervisor with small groups from a wide variety of cultural
backgrounds. Feeling burned out, she came to the U.S., studying
with Professor Ann Ulanov at Union Theological Seminary, where
Swain admired Ulanovs combination of spiritual joy and academic
rigor. She returned to New Zealand with a passion for training clergy
both in the parish setting and in specialized ministries, such as
chaplaincy. She ended up returning to the U.S. to take up pastoral
psychotherapy training and a residency program at the Blanton Peale
Institute in New York before entering a doctoral program at Union
in Psychiatry and Religion. Along the way, Swain said she learned
not to say, Youve got to be kidding to either God or a U.S.
Immigration official. She says she also learned not to plan for any
particular position in life as God may mess with you in delightfully
unanticipated ways. Swain is an Anglican who was profoundly
shaped by experiences ministering in the aftermath of the 9/11
disaster in New York City.
While working on her dissertation at Union, Ulanov handed
Swain a job announcement for a professor of pastoral care and
theology at LTSP. The position began to work on me, she recalled.
She wrote about the position to then dean J. Paul Rajashekar and
began hearing from others about the academic rigor and quality of
the faculty, along with the inclusive nature of the community and its
racial diversity. She interviewed at the school, becoming excited
about its focus on public theology. It said that LTSP was focused on
the church and the world, not simply on producing pastors for a
particular denomination, Swain said. Five years later, now a tenured
professor, she has turned down teaching opportunities elsewhere,
feeling this is a good place to have an academic vocation. I have
grown to love standing in the classroom and sitting at Earth Bread +
Brewery, walking the halls of The Brossman Center and the paths of
the Wissahickon. I have grown to love my colleagues and the
students I am privileged to teach. Here I can step out of the boat and
risk sinking into new methods of teaching and learning so that we
may all fulfill the vocations to which God has called us.
Swain explained she comes to her teaching at LTSP with a wide
range of ministry experience congregational ministry, pastoral
psychotherapy, and hospital chaplaincy and shaped by diverse
contexts and persons. I come as someone who is both an
immigrant and shaped by living in a bi-cultural context with an
understanding of both privilege and marginality that informs my
vocation as a priest and professor, she explained. She said she
encourages her students to have models they will be able to use as
adaptive leaders and pastoral caregivers in real life situations.
On keeping students relevant as they prepare for ministry, Swain said
the thing that most keeps the leaders we are training relevant is that we
use their own ministry to inform their study. She explained that
students want to be prepared for the church that is and that will be, not
the church of 20 years ago, when I went to seminary. A course on
Thriving, Dying, Merging, and Emerging Congregations, for example,
will look at best practices of current congregations facing what it is to be
part of a church where no one model of congregation is normative. She
explained the new FAR curriculum makes all opportunities possible for
those training for congregational ministry or some other public ministry.
A good theological education enables us to be resourced enough to
prepare for the unpreparable of a ministry that may take us to places and
encounter people of which we may not even currently conceive. Thats
what happened to me, thanks be to God.
I came to teach at LTSP because the opportunity for me to
shape and prepare future leaders intrigued me, explained the Rev.
Wayne E. Croft, Sr., DMin, PhD. Croft is the Jeremiah A. Wright,
Sr. Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics at the seminary.
There have been mentors, both local and distant, some I never met
but read their published work, who left an indelible impression on
my life. I desired to do the same for others. The profession of
teaching provides me the opportunity to give back to others what
was given to me: a brighter future.
I chose to teach at LTSP because of its commitment to train
seminarians who are not only Lutheran but also those who may be
non-Lutheran and of African descent through the Urban Theological
Institute (UTI), Croft said. I admire its commitment to diversity.
The Rev. Dr. Storm Swain
To the seminary I bring a passion for social justice and an appreciation for African
American homiletics and liturgics, Croft said, explaining how his background helps
to make a difference in his teaching approach. It is important to me that as we move
into an age where it appears we are losing an appreciation for social justice and tradition
that I challenge students to know their history, especially those of African descent.
As an active, full-time senior pastor and seminary professor, I am in a position to
help students stay on the cutting edge, Croft explained. I not only teach students
how to be relevant in todays church, but I also practice it. I bring both theory and
practice to the classroom. I am not removed from what is relevant. Im in the trenches
trying to keep the church alive and active. I encourage students to not only read the
Bible but also the newspaper, broaden their horizons, listen to the stories of those they
serve and their community. This approach is the best way to remain relevant.
Our new curriculum stretches me as it requires me to dig deeper into my
profession, Croft said. The curriculum helps me not to forget the basics. I am made
to know at least the basics of other teaching disciplines than my own at the seminary
through our new curriculum.
The Rev. Dr. Margaret Krych, who in retirement still teaches at the seminary from
time to time, is a true LTSP pioneer, having become the first woman to join the faculty
May 1, 1977. (Faith Rohrbough Burgess came to the seminary as dean a year after
Krych joined the faculty.)
I got to the school because someone at LTSP called me and asked if I would be
interested in the Christian Education teaching position that Rich Olson had vacated,
she said. I didnt even know the whereabouts of the seminary at the time! At that
point I was enjoying working as an editor of Christian education materials at the then
Lutheran Church in Americas Division for Parish Services at 2900 Queen Lane in
Philadelphia. But I did want to teach in systematics, my PhD field, so I said I would
interview if I could teach both Christian education and systematics.
I was actually surprised when they offered me the position! Krych said. Now
years later, I have been able to see many pastors and directors of Christian education
whom I have taught as students, and it is a delight when they share what they have
accomplished in teaching and learning in the parish.
For me the fruits of seminary teaching can only be seen in terms of parish practice,
Krych explained. Working with and supporting female students has been very
important to me, especially in my early years at LTSP when there were so few women
at seminary and not all congregations were welcoming of their ministry. Probably the
major accomplishment of my ministry at LTSP was the growth in the Graduate School
and the establishment of the PhD program during my tenure as Associate Dean of
Graduate Education.
From left to right: The Rev.
Dr. Wayne E. Croft, Sr., and
the Rev. Dr. Margaret Krych.
objectives which must be met. Faculty
members acting through their areas can
designate their courses around fulfilling
these requirements, Sebastian said.
Several faculty members commented on
what it is like to work with the new
curriculum and how it is impacting their
own sense of call to their teaching vocation.
The model of theological education
that I trained under was that you go to
seminary, take classes, and get an education
and training to become a competent
minister, explained the Rev. Dr. David
Grafton, the faculty member who led
LTSP through its most recent
accreditation process (2010-2012) and co-
chaired with the Rev. Dr. John
Hoffmeyer the Curriculum Review
Committee that developed the FAR
curriculum. Grafton directs the Graduate
School and is associate professor of Islamic
Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations.
He also oversees international students
studying at the school.
Under the old model of theological
education you might take a minor in some
area of special interest if you were so
inclined, and you could study for advanced
degrees, he said.
We can no longer today live under that
old model, Grafton said. We used to have
concentrations where our students could
focus on particular emphases in which they
have gifts. For example taking an interfaith
focus was an elective, or a student might
take a course elective on another religion.
Today we are recognizing that if you are
going to do ministry in North America you
have to be aware of interfaith, cross-cultural,
global, and ecumenical perspectives and
how we do mission and evangelism in such
a climate. For example, doing worship today
in a congregation without a cross-cultural
perspective or a view that is ecumenically
sensitive doesnt work the way it once did.
INTRYINGTOIMAGINE the scope of
the present and future church, it is easy to
become uncertain about the academic path
to take, said the Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran
Sebastian, The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphias (LTSP) dean.
But now more than ever we have the
opportunity to be courageously creative in
how we prepare tomorrows leaders by
transforming possible limitations into the
limitless possibilities that unfold on our
faith journey.
In developing our current FAR
(Flexible, Affordable, Relevant)
curriculum, we have been working hard to
challenge our students to be best prepared
to meet our rapidly changing context
one that, regardless of the degree a student
pursues, truly embraces the reality that we
are increasingly global and cross-cultural,
ecumenical, interfaith in our outlook,
while embracing a mission/evangelism
perspective with regard to our Christian
faith, Sebastian said. You can see the
worlds focus in all of these requirements
sometimes at a glance by watching the
evening news and the turmoil in places like
Ukraine and Middle East, where our faith
has its roots. But our training is also meant
to lend important perspective to any
community and neighborhood where a
future leader may find himself or herself.
This new curriculum enables us to
rededicate ourselves to the ongoing task of
serving the living and loving Lord in the ever
generous and always ready church,
Sebastian said. With this curriculum
implemented at the beginning of the last
academic year, Goal 4 of our Strategic Plan is
close to being achieved. That Goal namely is
to Prepare leaders for the church of the
future by implementing a new curriculum
that is flexible, affordable, and relevant.
What is gratifying is that this huge
exercise impacted all our academic
programs, including the Graduate School,
and many documents were rewritten in
keeping with the goals and objectives of the
new curriculum, Sebastian said in thanking
the many committees and subcommittees,
the registrar, and others across the student
body, faculty and staff, alumni and friends
from the Philanthropy office, who
contributed to the enterprise. Without
everyone working together on this we could
not have accomplished what we did.
Unlike the past, all of the courses we
teach now are connected by these global
and cross-cultural, ecumenical and
interfaith, and mission/evangelism
emphases, Sebastian said. And we are
concerned in designing such a curriculum
to be as efficient as we can be. We are
greatly concerned about all the challenges
and sacrifices students face in preparing
themselves, including a concern for
mounting student debt, which often
begins at the college level.
Overall the seminarys courses cover a
cross-cultural and global focus by
including study of cross-cultural, inter-
ethnic, and/or international experiences.
We want our students to understand
the components of inter-denominational
engagement and be able to recognize
theological convergences and divergences
on such matters as baptism, Eucharist,
ministry, liturgy, history, and polity,
Sebastian continued.
An interfaith requirement and
understanding so essential for today will
include components of beliefs, discourses,
and practices across divergent traditions.
A mission/evangelism requirement for
all courses includes components of shared
justice, peace, and the integrity of creation,
mutual accompaniment, and shared
leadership experiences, Sebastian explained.
To satisfy accreditation requirements,
each degree and each course has learning
ACADEMICS
ACADEMICS AT LTSP FOR THE FUTURE CHURCH
Not everyone in a Lutheran congregation is
a cradle Lutheran, for example. And we
daily in our neighborhoods and workplaces
rub elbows with people from other
backgrounds and traditions.
We need an approach to teaching and
learning at a school like this that takes into
account the realities of today, Grafton said.
For another thing, our leaders
constantly need to retool themselves,
Grafton added. This doesnt only mean
coming back for an advanced level degree.
It may simply mean taking continuing
education classes to encourage deep
thinking about difficult issues leaders and
believers face. We offer space here for
everyone, including lay leaders who are all
committed to various struggles in ministry,
to come together as a cohort to learn from
us and from each other.
Grafton taught in the Middle East for
seven years prior to returning to the U.S. as
an LTSP faculty member. One thing I
appreciate about being part of this new
curriculum approach is how I can make use
of my unique experience to engage
students from various denominations,
traditions, and faiths. We have much to
teach each other.
When we instituted the prior
curriculum over a decade ago, one of the
defining features was the requirement for
courses in the areas of global, ecumenical,
and interfaith education, explained Dr.
Hoffmeyer, who is Associate Professor of
Systematic Theology. Hoffmeyer co-
chaired the Curriculum and Assessment
Committee that oversaw implementation
of the FAR curriculum. The new
curriculum retains the requirement for
course work in those areas, but while the
prior curriculum featured relatively few
courses with a focus in those areas, the
FAR curriculum allows students to choose
from a broad range of courses, each of
which has a significant global, ecumenical,
and/or interfaith element. That is, those
emphases have spread themselves more
broadly through the course offerings
available to students.
Hoffmeyer is particularly concerned to
clarify the relation between being
Lutheran and being ecumenical.
We are a Lutheran seminary that
through the years has embraced the
opportunity to become increasingly
ecumenical. Hoffmeyer said. LTSP is
sometimes described as Lutheran, but also
ecumenical. I want to do away with the
but in that description. As a seminary of
the ELCA we are committed to a Lutheran
identity that is inherently ecumenical. This
is the ELCAs understanding of Lutheran
identity. The ELCAs accomplishments in
living out this ecumenical Lutheranism
have been stunning: formal full
communion or other strong ecumenical
agreements with more church
denominations, I think, than any other
church in North America.
In all those formal ecumenical
agreements achieved by the ELCA,
far and away my favorite phrase is found
in the Formula of Agreement with the
Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed
Clockwise from top left: The Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian, the Rev. Dr. David Grafton,
the Rev. Dr. Karyn L. Wiseman, and the Rev. Dr. John Hoffmeyer.
Church of America, and
the United Church of
Christ. The phrase
expresses our joint
commitment to live in a
relationship of mutual
affirmation and admonition with each other.
At LTSP I am deeply grateful for colleagues and students who
belong to traditions other than my Lutheran one, Hoffmeyer said.
Through them I experience affirmation of Lutheran theology that
helps me better understand and appreciate the great treasures of my
own tradition. I also experience admonition of Lutheran theology,
which helps me to be self-critical about the limitations of Lutheran
theology and its need for ongoing growth and renewal.
This admonition, while a gift from others who are not
Lutheran, should sound like home to Lutherans, because Lutheran
theology is inherently self-critical, Hoffmeyer continued.
Lutheran theology has a strong sense of how widespread and
devious sin is, which means that those of us who are Lutheran
should never cease being on the lookout for sinful deformations in
our own theology. The great Lutheran emphasis on justification by
grace for Christs sake, through faith as classically expressed in
Article IV of the Augsburg Confession, means that we are not
justified by the rightness of our theology. Lutheran theology is so
precious because of the powerful and nuanced ways in which it
keeps bringing us back to the God who in Christ turned our enmity
towards God into reconciliation (2 Corinthians: 5:18).
When Lutheran theology is most properly Lutheran, it
welcomes all ecumenical contributions to grounding us anew in the
God who in Christ accomplishes our reconciliation, Hoffmeyer
concluded. When Lutheran theology is most properly Lutheran, it
is quick to repent of ways in which Lutheran theology has failed to
live that God-given reconciliation.
Personally, I like the new curriculum and the options it gives to
our students, explained the Rev. Dr. Karyn L. Wiseman, Associate
Professor of Homiletics and Director of United Methodist Studies.
The flexibility and affordability in this difficult climate for
theological education is important for both current and potential
students. Students have options, and they have full plates with family,
jobs, studies, churches, and personal lives. Providing the chance for as
much flexibility as possible in their course scheduling will be
beneficial both for students and the seminary. Crafting course work
and creating classes that address the need for relevancy in the real
world and in the church is an important part of the new curriculum.
The demands on the church are changing quickly, and we need to be
as nimble as we possibly can be in our curriculum. Wiseman was
secretary of the seminarys Curriculum Revision Committee and is
secretary of the Curriculum and Assessment Committee which
makes the new curriculum happen and assesses its outcomes.
All our courses have the opportunity for dialogue with
interfaith, global, and ecumenical issues, Wiseman noted. Some
courses will more specifically address these issues, but all courses are
provided the chance to engage them. Since the curriculum is
interlaced and connected, this allows for cross-fertilizations on
these and other issues.
The new curriculum is very outcomes oriented, Wiseman
indicated. That allows for students learning to be assessed as the
course is going on and for the seminary to assess the learnings of all
of its students as we end each class. The other part of outcomes
assessment is that the assessment closes the loop of learning. Before,
we would receive feedback from students at the end of courses but
would not be able to clearly assess how the learning occurred and
how it did not. This new approach better helps the professor
change teaching techniques and strategies so that we better serve
our students needs. The direct and indirect assessment is better for
all parties involved.
Even courses that I have taught for a number of years have changed
under this new curriculum, Wiseman added. I have a better
understanding of how my teaching is being engaged and processed so
that I can facilitate better instruction in the classroom. It does take
more work on the part of the professor, but it means deeper
engagement with the instruction and more possible learning outcomes
in the classroom. I find that the new curriculum has made me more
aware of how my students learn so that I can be a better instructor.
Speaking of the new curriculums impact on her sense of call and
vocation, Wiseman explained that she has always tried to be as relevant
in the classroom as possible. I even get faulted at times for not
honoring the traditions of the church enough, she indicated.
(Wiseman is a United Methodist.) But I would rather be accused of
being too relevant than too stuck in the past. I want to honor that not
all churches or communities of faith are ready to engage new methods
but all need to be more aware of them. And they need to understand
their contexts well enough to see the possibilities for new methods of
engaging faith formation, preaching, worship and ministry.
Being part of the creation of the new curriculum was exciting
and exhausting, she recalled. We had a lot of meetings, dreaming
sessions, and options for conversations with interested parties. All
of that was important. Getting input from all of our stakeholders as
we crafted the new curriculum was likewise important.
THE CHANGING FACE OF PHILANTHROPY AT LTSP
THERE HAS BEENA DRAMATICSHIFT
in the way in which students pay for
theological education. Some alumni of The
Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP) may recall a time
when little or no tuition was required, but
that time is long past. Today it is not
uncommon for students to leave seminary
with over $50,000 in student loans
acquired over their four years of theological
training. The root cause is a combination of
factors, including recent economic realities
and the stress of budgets on congregations,
synods, and the broader church. The end
result is a heavy burden placed upon new
graduates who struggle with debt while
often serving in positions also struggling to
meet the financial needs of their ministries,
including their pastors.
That shift has called for a similar
realignment of the highest priorities for
the fundraising efforts of the seminary.
PHILANTHROPY
Creating physical campus resources held
our attention for two decades, and donors
responded with generous gifts to build
classrooms, offices, dormitories, and
meeting spaces.
One of the outstanding achievements
of that earlier bricks and mortar era was
the construction of The Brossman
Learning Center (2005), which has not
only upgraded and expanded LTSPs
learning and working spaces, but has also
enabled LTSP to serve as a premiere setting
for neighborhood and community events,
explained the Rev. John Puotinen, LTSPs
Vice President for Philanthropy. The
Brossman Center has served as a hub for
activities as widely ranging as town
meetings and weddings, and just recently
became the temporary home for the
Pennsylvania Diocese of the Episcopal
Church, which joins the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Americas
Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod as a
presence on campus.
We owe a debt of gratitude to those
leaders and donors whose vision and giving
made that step of faith possible, Puotinen
said. Leaders who helped inspire The
Brossman Center bricks and mortar dream
have included retired LTSP president the
Rev. Dr. Philip Krey; the late Larry House,
one of LTSPs most experienced, effective,
and well-known fundraising professionals;
the Rev. Glenn Miller, past Executive
Director of the LTSP Foundation; and key
trustees and Foundation Board members
such as the Rev. Dr. John Richter, Dr.
Addie Butler, and the late Dr. Robert
Blanck, Esq., who died in January. Their
efforts linked together with leading donors
such as DeLight and Helen Breidegam and
the Brossman, Henry, Frye, Lull, Butz, and
Benbow families. Also crucial was the
partnership of public officials like
Pennsylvania State Representative the
Honorable Cherelle Parker, who secured
Clockwise from top: Thomas Henderson, Merri
Bender Brown, the Rev. Louise N. Johnson,
Yvonne Jones Lembo, the Rev. John V. Puotinen,
and Kathie Afflerbach, AIM.
public funding for The Brossman Center
as well as the ongoing Connector Project
to link Krauth Memorial Library with
Brossman, which will make our treasured
theological library collection far more
accessible to persons with disabilities.
Scholarship assistance never
disappeared from the priority list of the
seminary, but in comparison the dollars
needed for bricks and mortar were much
more dramatic. The history of LTSP is
written with the names of women and men
whose faithful support served the needs of
students. At one time there was a Womens
Auxiliary that boasted 17,000 members!
The realities of our life now call for as
much boldness in financial support of
students as it has in creating the academic
resources of our campus.
At the heart of LTSPs 150th
Anniversary commemoration is a $10
million initiative for student scholarships,
Puotinen said. This initiative represents a
faith-filled focus and concerted
commitment to ensure a sound financial
foundation for future LTSP seminarians
answering Gods call to public leadership
in the twenty-first century.
These gifts come as endowment gifts,
often through planned gifts, and through
LTSPs annual Leadership Fund, which
also helps underwrite the $26,000 per year
cost of educating each LTSP seminarian.
Moving forward in faith to respond to
the new reality, LTSP has listened to its
students and supporters and shifted its
philanthropic focus to flesh and blood.
Project Sponsor, an innovative program
spearheaded by Don Johnson, Vice
President for Student Development, brings
together Admissions and Philanthropy in a
student-centered partnership. Individuals
and congregations are invited to form a
relationship with a seminary student that
includes friendship, mentoring, and
financial support for up to three years
tuition and living expenses. Tom
Henderson, Director of Church Relations
with the Office for Philanthropy, reported
that one donor learned of the financial
challenges todays seminarians face in
funding their education and stepped
forward to provide a $9,000 gift in direct
student aid for 20142015. As a result of
the combined resources of Project Sponsor,
the Leadership Fund, and LTSPs
Endowed Student Scholarship Funds,
25 LTSP seminarians have had the
full cost of their education covered for
the 20142015 academic year.
LTSP faculty, staff, and students have
become far more inclusive over the past
half century. Women now comprise
upwards of 50 percent of the student body.
Anglican, United Methodist, United
Church of Christ, and Presbyterian
seminarians are among the students from
faith traditions other than the ELCA. The
nearly 35-year old Urban Theological
Institute (UTI) has been a pivotal force in
attracting African American seminarians
from black church denominations such as
Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, and
Church of God in Christ (COGIC).
People of color (African American, Asian,
Hispanic) represent more than 35 percent
of those studying at LTSP. As a
Reconciling in Christ campus, LTSP has
welcomed and affirmed its LGBT
seminarians, who play an integral role in
every aspect of campus life.
The history of LTSP is written with the names of women and
men whose faithful support served the needs of students.
This remarkable diversity has been
complemented by diversified philanthropic
support for students. For the past eight
years, the annual Womens Rest,
Refreshment, and Renewal retreat has
helped fund a Renewal Scholarship for
Women in Ministry. The Joseph Q.
Jackson Endowed Scholarship Fund,
supplemented annually through UTIs
renowned Preaching with Power series,
supports LTSPs UTI seminarians who
now come from every ethnic background.
The Ernest Morris Endowed Scholarship
was established in honor of COGIC
Bishop Ernest Morris, former Chair of the
UTI Council of Advisors (UTICA), for
the support of COGIC students at LTSP.
The Dr. Grover C. and Irma S. Wright
Scholarship for African American
Lutheran students supports seminarians
like Linda Manson, who was approved for
rostered ministry with the ELCA this year
(2014). Her final year of seminary is being
funded in significant measure through the
Grover and Irma Wright fund. With
enthusiastic support and advocacy from
concerned alumni, rostered leaders,
faculty, and friends, an LGBT scholarship
fund is in the works.
The flesh and blood focus of LTSP
Philanthropy also embraces the leading role
of our donors, who form the human link
between our past and our future. Dr. Mia
Enquist, who received LTSPs Soli Deo
Gloria award in 2012, along with its
posthumous award to her husband, the late
Rev. Canon Roy Enquist, PhD, has
modeled the spirit of philanthropy with a
transformative legacy gift that
commemorates the long history and fond
memories her family has with LTSP and
celebrates the hope of a bright future. She is
part of the great Cloud of Witnesses
donors whose legacy gifts light the way for
LTSPs next 150 years.
Those who celebrate the 150th
Anniversary of the seminary are creating a
new chapter in the history of this missional
work. The church matters. Leaders matter.
And the seminary matters as it helps to
form those who will serve to bring good
news to a rapidly changing world. It is good
to have friends who care as deeply as do the
friends of LTSP, and we are grateful.
Page 30 left to right: The Rev. John Puotinen, Don
Johnson, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Q. Jackson. This
page from left to right: Bishop Ernest C. Morris,
Linda Manson, and the Rev. Canon Dr. Roy
Enquist and Dr. Mia Enquist.
The church matters. Leaders matter. And the seminary matters as
it helps to form those who will serve to bring good news .
The remarkable diversity has been complemented by diversified
philanthropic support for students.
The Board of Trustees of
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia welcomes
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
is honored and delighted to welcome its new president
The Rev. Dr. David J. Lose
and thanks
The Rev. Dr. Philip D.W. Krey
for 25 years of dedicated service to this institution
The Board also thanks the faculty, staff, alumni, donors, friends, and current students
for their dedication to and support of the seminary the past 150 years,
and looks forward to Moving Forward in Faith the next 150 years!
J. Elise Brown, Chair
Phillip J. Harrington, Vice Chair
Cheryl Meinschein, Secretary
Robert J. Smith, Assistant Secretary
Fred E. Risser, Treasurer
Robert Blanck
Susan Fayle
Sara Lilja
John Richter
Amanda Smoot
David Hinrichs
Charles Miller
Samuel Zeiser
Peter Boehringer
Harry McDowell
Audrey Moody
Carmen Rivera
Patricia Robinson
Andrew Willis
Kathie Bender Schwich
Dianne Brown
Claire Burkat
Claire Nevin Field
Emma Porter
Olivia Retallack

www.mnys.org

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We thank God for
and for the inspired leadership of Phil Krey
Jane and John Sabatelli
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church
of the Reformation
1215 E. Vernon Road
Philadelphia, PA 19150
Joins LTSP in
celebration of their
150
th
Anniversary!
The gifts Christ gave were that some would be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some
pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the
work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Chosen one of God, to maturity,
to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must
no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown
about by every wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery,
by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But
speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every
way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom
the whole body, joined and knitted together by every
ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is
working properly, promotes the bodys growth in
building itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11 - 16)

With thanksgiving to god for
the Lutheran theological seminary at
Philadelphia
150 years of equipping the saints and serving
the community.

The Reverend Bruce H. Davidson, class of 1974
Distinguished Alumnus, 2011

Congratulations
to The Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia for
150 years of educating and
forming public leaders who are
committed to developing and
nurturing individual believers
and communities of faith for
engagement in the world.
Blessings as you continue
this mission into the future,
and thank you for
25 wonderful years!
LTSP will ever be in my
thoughts and prayers
(and giving!).
In Christs love,
Philip Krey

IN MEMORY OF MY DEDICATED PROFESSORS:
CHARLES M. COOPER O. FRED NOLDE
JOHN W. DOBERSTEIN LUTHER D. REED
MARTIN J. HEINECKEN GEORGE R. SELTZER
PAUL J. HOH RUSSELL D. SNYDER
THEODORE G. TAPPERT
A Grateful Student:
Charles E. Fair 1950
LTSP CLASS OF 1950

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Sermons for a Secular World

Robert H. Linders

No Time for Rest
All proceeds go
to World Hunger. No Safe Route

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memorable jokes confront philosophical wisdom in such rapid succession that
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$10.00

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pastor of St. Pauls
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the greater Philadelphia area, the chur
celebrated its 150th anniversar
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seminars on preaching.
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y at Philadelphia.
cgustafson@doylestownlutheran.org
No Safe Route
$15.00

No Safe Route

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod
celebrates our strong partnership with

We look forward to deepening and extending
our historic relationship and
innovating together
for the future of the church
as we move forward in faith.

We extend blessings of
Godspeed to Dr. Philip Krey
after his years of faithful service

and a warm
welcome to Dr. David Lose
as he begins leading the Seminary
into Gods future.

Activated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we equip the saints
and congregations for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4, adapted

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LAW OFFICES
SCHUBERT
!
GALLAGHER

TYLER
!
MULCAHEY

THE ATTORNEYS AND STAFF OF SCHUBERT, GALLAGHER, TYLER & MULCAHEY
EXTEND BEST WISHES AND SUPPORT TO

THE LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PHILADELPHIA

UPON THE OCCASION OF ITS

150TH ANNIVERSARY!

121 SOUTH BROAD STREET, 20
TH
FLOOR
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19107-4533
PHONE: (215) 569-3535 FAX: (215) 557-7426
E-MAIL: LAWYERS@SGTMLAW.COM
WWW.SGTMLAW.COM
October 19, 2014
Te Meaney/Simmons Flute
& Classic Guitar Duo
Flutist Tomas Meany and classical
guitarist Michael Simmons will play a
challenging program with works by
Giuliani, Kleynjans, Desportes,
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Krouse, and Pujol.
November 23, 2014
An English Serenade
Te Orchestra of St. Johns
Lawrence Baker, Director
Works by Elgar, Holst, Britten, Finzi, and
Vaughan Williams with soloists Beth
Dzwil, viola; Jefrey Halili, tenor; Evan
Ocheret, oboe; Stephen Slater, horn; and
Roland Woehr, piano.
February 15, 2015
David Pasnrig,
concert pianist
Works by Respighi,
Schubert, and Bolcom.
St. Johns Festival Choir &
Chamber Orchestra
Easter Oratorio,
Brandenburg Concerto No.5,
Cantata 137Lobe den Herren
With soloists Deborah Swider, soprano;
Denise Esposito, mezzo-soprano; Sara
Hagopian, mezzo-soprano; Jefrey Halili,
tenor; Jonathan Oehler, bass-baritone;
Inna Nedorezov, violin; Christine Hansen,
fute; and Stephen Rapp, harpsichord.
April 26, 2015
Bach 330 Years Young
The Arts at St. Johns
20142015 Concert Season Highlights
St. John Lutheran Church
1802 Skippack Pike
Centre Square, PA 19422
610-277-1086 Concerts begin at 4:00 pm
Partners in Ministry
for 126 Years.
Past, Present and Future.
417 N. 7th Street
Allentown, PA 18102-2835
610-434-3943
www.stlukeslutheranallentown.com
video photo media web
Prospect Productions
Celebrating
LTSPs 150 years
of mission and
ministry
oductions.com 215.253.8621 ospectpr pr
oductions.com ospectpr jdkahler@pr
oductions.com 215.253.8621
oductions.com
McMenamins Tavern
in Mt. Airy
Raises a glass to LTSP
on its 150
th
anniversary.
And is
happy to support
LTSP Students!
#2for1
7170 Germantown Ave. | Philadelphia, PA 19119 | 215.247.9920
drive
E X C E L L E N C E
skill
hard work
Its realizing that being the best doesnt come easily.
You have to work for it.
Thats the spirit that drives us at CRW Graphics
in printing thi s program.
9100 Pennsauken Highway Pennsauken, NJ 08110 / 800.820.3000
www.crwgraphics.com
Pastors Rick Summy, Julie Recher, and Tom Scornavacchi,
and the people of Atonement, Wyomissing
Congratulate
at Philadelphia
on its 150th Anniversary
Thanks, Phil Welcome, David

With thanksgiving to Almighty God
the Congregations and Rostered Leaders of the
Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod
extend

to
on its 150th Anniversary!

the Congr

ti C
ith thanksgiv WWith thanksgiving

d L d d R t
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Almighty God

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egations a Congrregations and Roster

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ed Leaders of the


on its 150th

Anniversary! on its 150th
Seminary at Philadelphia The Lutheran Theological

Seminary at Philadelphia

on its 150th

Anniversary! on its 150th


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Yo u c o u l d i n v e s t i n a n o r d i n a r y I RA.
Or y o u c o u l d i n v e s t i n a n I RA t h a t l e n d s a h e l p i n g h a n d .
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T h e L UT H E R A N T H E OL OGI C A L S E MI NA RY a t P H I L A D E L P H I A

PS Magazine October 4, 2014

2 PSCOMMEMORATIVE ISSUE Ltsp.edu

WELCOME IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

TI MELESS VALUES | CUTTI NG- EDGE SOLUTI ONS

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