Dr. Michael Kumm has accepted the call to serve as director of Placement at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis effective Oct. 1, 2026. He will be formally installed during a chapel service on campus later this fall.

Kumm follows Rev. Timothy Scharr, who served as the director since August 2025 and has since retired. 

A seasoned pastor and leader in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), Kumm brings nearly 30 years of pastoral leadership, strategic administration, governance expertise and communications acumen to his new role. His deep familiarity with congregations and districts across the church and with the LCMS’ global partnerships uniquely positions him to guide seminarians as they prepare to enter the ministry.

“I am grateful to have Dr. Kumm joining us as director of Placement,” says Concordia Seminary President Dr. Thomas J. Egger. “His pastoral background, broad record of service and genuine love for the church position him to serve our congregations and our students well.”

Kumm is currently serving as assistant pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Dakota Dunes, S.D., a role he has held since January 2022. This is a post-retirement role, as Kumm had previously served at Holy Cross as the sole pastor from 2014-18, until his formal retirement.

After graduation from Concordia Seminary in 2000, Kumm’s first call was to Blessed Redeemer Lutheran Church, Brandon, S.D. Between his service in Brandon and Dakota Dunes, he also served congregations in Illinois. He served at Concordia Seminary as director of Alumni and Church Relations (2004-06), as interim general manager of KFUO Radio in St. Louis (2010-12), and as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors for the International Lutheran Society of Wittenberg, a joint partnership of the LCMS and the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (SELK) (2011-19). Kumm also served for 13 years – from 2010-23 – on the LCMS Board of Directors, including serving 10 of those years as chairman of the board.

Kumm earned his Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees at Concordia Seminary (2000, 2006) and a Ph.D. in pastoral care and theology from Trinity Theological Seminary, Newburgh, Ind. (2015). He served in the U.S. Air Force (Active and Reserve) (1970-99), as a police officer (1977-82) and as a division director with the State of South Dakota’s Department of Commerce and Regulation (1982-90). In the years immediately before attending the Seminary, he served in the funeral industry. 

Kumm and his wife, Janet, will be relocating to St. Louis. Together, the couple have four grown children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“Janet and I are excited to return to Concordia Seminary and St. Louis,” says Kumm. “I am honored to have received and accepted the call to serve as director of Placement and am very much looking forward to working with the students, faculty and staff, and my counterpart at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. Exciting times ahead!”

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.