Concordia Seminary, St. Louis moved yesterday to implement precautions aimed at helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on campus and beyond. Thankfully, at present, there are no known cases of COVID-19 at Concordia Seminary. “Your Seminary leadership team has examined the anticipated spread of COVID-19, reached out to medical experts, and closely reviewed […]
by Melanie Ave Parts of Joshua Hileman’s life story could be taken right from an action movie or fantastical novel. As a U.S. Marine, he jumped aboard ships in the Mediterranean Sea, chasing pirates involved in human and drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. He never knew whether traps awaited him or what he would face […]
The year is 1914. Model T cars and horse-drawn buggies crowd the crossroads of South Jefferson Avenue and Winnebago Street near Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A young man, William Adolph Herman Becker, prepares for a momentous occasion. He is about to graduate. Fast-forward a century later. Becker’s great-grandson, Lucas, is attending Seminário Concórdia in São […]
“Growing up, I was never alone,” says second-year Seminary student Nokukhanya Shabalala. With 17 brothers and sisters, Nokukhanya never lacked a playmate. Food, however, was sometimes hard to come by. “With so many siblings, you learn to eat fast!” she laughs. Noks (her preferred name) is brimming with tales about growing up in a large […]
By Dr. Glenn Nielson It’s October 2017 and a young couple — a future pastor and his wife — walks into my office for their placement interview. They have already met with Placement Counselor Dr. David Peter for an initial interview and have filled out a number of forms. As Concordia Seminary’s director of Placement, […]
By Mark Rockenbach The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is an accrediting agency for 270 graduate schools of theology in the United States and Canada. According to its website, ATS member schools enroll around 74,500 students. Recently I had the opportunity to attend an ATS conference where it was reported that only 50 percent of […]
By Melanie Ave “I love surrounding myself with people of great faith, which is exactly the people at these seminars. God uses them to strengthen my faith.”
By Mark Seifrid In his Preface to Romans, at the beginning of his discussion of faith, Martin Luther complains that “faith is not the human notion and dream that some people call faith.” As every Christian knows, we can say the same thing today! How often do we hear those who experience struggle, disappointment or […]
By Kim Plummer Krull When friends heard about Rob Bailey’s first call as associate pastor at a Houston, Texas, congregation with more than 2,000 baptized members, many likely pictured him at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, helping with worship and Bible studies. Instead, this new Seminary graduate’s main role is to plant a new church in […]
Rev. Eric Ekong’s parish in Jackson, Mich., is about 480 miles away from the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Despite the miles, he continues to find ways to be connected to his theological alma mater. A 2013 graduate, Ekong has been back on campus as a guest preacher, serving at the 2016 Multiethnic Symposium. His church […]
The brilliance of the Christian message is that it communicates directly with people — sinners and saints — where they are living and making a living in ordinary, everyday life situations. Christians know that their lives lay bare before a gracious and caring God who made them, performed for them His redeeming act uniquely in […]
By Kim Plummer Krull When Joel Heckmann needed to write a research paper on a “topic of interest” for his LCMS history class at Concordia Seminary, no subject immediately came to mind — until he mentioned the assignment to his grandparents, who suggested he look no further than his own family tree. That’s when Heckmann […]
