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 […]
By Melanie Ave Rev. Steve Carretto’s path to the ministry was a winding one — sometimes fraught with doubt — but today he is ably leading the congregation where he served his vicarage while a student at Concordia Seminary, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Boca Raton, Fla. In this wide-ranging conversation, Carretto shares the ups […]
By Travis Scholl How does a boy who was born in Chile and grew up in Panama, end up in Iowa? Professor Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. says it’s all the work of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit does things like that,” Sánchez says, “brings things together.” As it turns out, the work of the […]
By Kendra Whittle Standing at the front of the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus, Concordia Seminary’s Director of Placement Dr. Wallace Becker began announcing the list of students and their placements as pastors at congregations around the country. He read the first two names on the list and then, “Dustin Atkinson, Northwest District, […]
By Charles Arand One perception that non-Christians often have of Christians is that we are more concerned about the world to come (and making sure we get into it!) than we are concerned about this present world and how we live within it for the sake of all who inhabit it. Rightly or wrongly, that […]
Our seminaries are not graduating enough new pastors. This shortage is serious. Last April more than 60 congregations received the sad news on Call Day that there would be no graduate coming to their church. Some people come to worship rain or shine; almost nothing keeps them away. Others, sadly, have walked away from worship […]
Faculty members who wrote or contributed to books published during the past academic year were honored at an annual reception co-hosted by Concordia Publishing House May 16, 2017. The professors’ published prose explored the Reformation, Martin Luther and a variety of theological themes. Honored were: Dr. Joel Biermann, Waldemar A. and June Schuette Professor of […]
By Joel Okamoto We will debut our revised Master of Divinity (M.Div.) curriculum this fall. As chair of the M.Div. curriculum review committee, I have received a lot of questions. Many were about what we were going to teach. How many new courses are there? What courses are you dropping? Will you still teach “Religious […]
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 […]
