The Board of Regents of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis has appointed Dr. Thomas J. Egger to a second five-year term as president. Egger, who has served in the role since 2021, was reappointed following a formal review process mandated by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) Handbook.

The review, organized and led by Board Vice Chair Dr. Michael Staub, included input from both internal and external stakeholders. According to Synod policy, seminary presidents are evaluated regularly. Egger was initially elected president of Concordia Seminary in 2021; this marks his first reappointment to the position.

“The Board of Regents is pleased to reappoint Rev. Dr. Egger as Seminary president for the next five years. President Egger, with God’s help, has proven himself to be an outstanding administrator, scholar and churchman,” said Rev. W. Max Mons, chairman of the Board of Regents. “He is unwavering in his commitment to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. He is dedicated to serving our faculty, staff and students. His zeal for residential seminary education is exemplary. The board looks forward to our continued work with President Egger.”

Under Egger’s leadership, the Seminary has experienced several significant accomplishments, including a successful reaccreditation process in 2024. Both the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) granted the Seminary full 10-year reaffirmations of accreditation.

“In the scheme of global seminaries, we in the LCMS are blessed almost without compare,” said LCMS President Dr. Matthew C. Harrison. “To have a man like Dr. Egger in our Synod, with such scholarship and fidelity, vision for the Gospel and love for Christ, willing and able to serve and lead the church, is a wonderful gift. Thanks be to God.”

Originally from Muscatine, Iowa, Egger began his pastoral ministry at Zion Lutheran Church in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he served from 2000 to 2005. He joined the Concordia Seminary faculty in 2005 and has held several academic and administrative roles, including the Gustav and Sophie Butterbach Professor of Exegetical Theology, chair of the Department of Exegetical Theology and academic adviser for first-year students. In 2021 when Egger was elected president, he became only the 11th man to serve in that role since the Seminary was founded in 1839. 

Egger holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and German from Central College in Pella, Iowa (1993), and a Master of Divinity (1997) and a Doctor of Philosophy (2019) from Concordia Seminary. His dissertation explored the theological implications of the biblical phrase “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons,” from the Book of Exodus.

“I am honored and grateful to our board for renewing me for another term as president. Serving Concordia Seminary is a joy and a privilege. We are blessed with an outstanding faculty, dedicated students, an experienced leadership team and a supportive church body,” said Egger. “And above all, we are blessed with the Word of God. This Word is true and will stand forever. It must be preached boldly, in season and out of season.

“Our world needs a rich, clear proclamation of the saving work of Jesus Christ, from men prepared to declare the whole counsel of God and to teach all that Christ has commanded,” he added. We will continue to take this task very seriously, laboring with all the strength God gives to serve the church well and to provide for our congregations pastors imbued with the heart and the wisdom of Christ.”

About Concordia Seminary

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit csl.edu.