Marking the start of its 187th academic year, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis will hold a worship service at 10:30 a.m. CDT Friday, Aug. 22, in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Seminary President Dr. Thomas J. Egger [1] will preach on the new academic year theme, “Christ the Living Stone … Building Us Together,” based on 1 Peter 2:4–5.
The service will conclude a week of orientation for the Seminary’s new students, which includes residential and distance students in the Ministerial Formation and Advanced Studies departments.
During the service, new students will be welcomed, and distance students enrolled in the Specific Ministry Pastor Program, Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, Center for Hispanic Studies, Cross-cultural Ministry Center and Online Deaconess Studies Program will be recognized for their vicarage and internship assignments.
“What an opportunity the Lord is giving us — a new academic year to study His Word and to grow together in our understanding of Christ and His ways,” said Egger. “The new academic year marks a new cohort of future church workers across all of our programs, preparing to bear public witness to Jesus, to show His love, and to bestow His forgiveness and peace. We pray that God will bless each one of them and build them together with Christ and with one another to become a beautiful household of service in the Gospel.”
The service will include the installation of three new staff members:
- Rev. Mark Barz, Campus Chaplain
- Rev. James Paul Hoemann, Senior Gift Officer
- Rev. Timothy Scharr, Director of Placement
The service also will include the installation of three current faculty and staff members who are assuming new roles:
- Dr. Gerhard Bode [2], Eugene E. and Nell S. Fincke Graduate Professor of Theology
- Rev. Jesse Kueker [3], Director of Enrollment
- Dr. David Lewis [4], Dr. Jack Dean Kingsbury Professor of New Testament Theology
The public is invited to attend and celebrate the beginning of the 2025–26 academic year with new and returning students and their families, as well as faculty and staff. The service also will be livestreamed at csl.edu/live [5].
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) [6]. To learn more, visit csl.edu [7].