# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S63
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
status quo and to imagine and rehearse plausible alternative
future scenarios.

•

CTSFW continues to offer the largest deaconess formation
program in the LCMS through our MA in Deaconess Studies
program offered both residentially and in a distance mode
(consisting of online and intensive on-campus courses).

•

CTSFW expanded our graduate programs beyond the PhD
in Missiology to also offer a PhD in Theological Studies
with emphases in Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine,
and Lutheran Confessions. Our first students in the PhD–TS
program are now in the dissertation stage and will be important theological educators in the future for our seminaries
and universities and in mission contexts.

Faithful Stewardship
•

CTSFW paid off all institutional debt at the end of the 2022
fiscal year! CTSFW is committed to faithful and transparent stewardship of all its resources and in all its business
practices.

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One hundred percent tuition assistance is guaranteed for all
pastoral and diaconal residential students. Ongoing support
from districts, congregations, and individual donors is critical to fulfilling this for your future pastors and deaconesses.

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Creation of new scholarships (Regents’, President’s, Provost’s, and the Dr. Rosa J. Young scholarship) for expenses
beyond tuition provide support in addition to the 100 percent
tuition-assistance guarantee. This is only made possible by
our Lord’s gracious provision and the incredible outpouring
of support received from His people.

•

CTSFW successfully completed CTSFW’s first comprehensive campaign under the theme “Make Known His Deeds!”
Exceeding the goal for the campaign, CTSFW raised just
over $82 million to support vital day-to-day operations and
provide 100 percent tuition assistance to relieve students and
their families of the burden of incurring debt.

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The Dean O. Wenthe Chair in Old Testament Theology was
established, and Dr. Jeffrey Pulse was appointed as the first
holder of this chair.

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CTSFW received full accreditation for all academic programs from the Association of Theological Schools (ATS)
and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central
Association of Colleges and Schools. The accreditors noted
that CTSFW’s “mission and [Lutheran] identity permeate,
animate, and guide the school and are supported by a strong
sense of community.” They also complimented the seminary
for “exceptional financial stewardship and generosity of the
seminary’s constituency (both local and global) that make
it possible for students to graduate with manageable debt.”
The next accreditation visit will be in 2030.

Global Impact
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CTSFW has partnered with Seminario Luterano El Reformador in the Dominican Republic and the LCMS Office of
International Mission to provide pastoral and diaconal formation in Spanish for the countries of Latin America.

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Four cohorts of students graduated from CTSFW’s Master of
Sacred Theology (STM) extension site operated jointly with
the Lutheran School of Theology in Gothenburg, Sweden.
This extension site provides the opportunity for advanced
theological study for students largely from Scandinavia and
eastern Europe.

•

CTSFW launched the Lutheran Leadership Development
Program (LLDP) in collaboration with the International
Lutheran Council, Concordia Publishing House, and the
LCMS to provide Lutheran church bodies around the world
an opportunity to develop leaders who are competent in both
solid confessional Lutheran theology as well as practical
skills in leadership and resource management. The LLDP
held its first commencement exercises in November 2022,
awarding the Certificate in Theology in Lutheran Leadership to four graduates from Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa,
and Tanzania.

Resourcing the Church
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Our outstanding faculty has rich pastoral ministry experience as well as the highest academic credentials from such
outstanding universities as Vanderbilt, Michigan, Notre
Dame, Wisconsin, Marquette, Harvard, Yale, Durham, and
Basel.

•

Concordia Theological Quarterly is praised internationally
as a very significant journal for fostering confessional Lutheranism.

•

CTSFW’s magazine, For the Life of the World, is read by
over 25,000 people domestically and internationally.

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Nearly 1,000 people from around the world view CTSFW’s
chapel services daily via livestream on social media and the
website.

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Between 400 and 600 pastors, church workers, and laity participate in an average of 35 continuing education courses
each year. Roughly 750 more participate in CTSFW’s annual on-campus conferences and workshops.

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The successful Christ Academy offerings were expanded
with the 2023 launch of the Christ Academy: Family Institute (CAFI), focused on assisting parents, caregivers, pastors, and youth-focused church workers. The goals of CAFI
are to help participants raise godly and faithful families and

Students to Serve Christ and His Church
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•

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Faithful, caring, mission-minded students from all areas of
the United States and around the world exhibit a mission
zeal to bring Jesus to a hurting world in need of His saving
Word. The seminary is deeply grateful for God’s abundant
blessings of stable enrollment and generous support through
His people. The seminary will, under God’s grace, continue
to faithfully fulfill its mission.
Strong recruiting of students has led to stable residential enrollment during a period when many seminaries are experiencing sharp declines. Nevertheless, as our Lord states in
Matthew 9:37–38, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers
are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into his harvest.”
CTSFW continues emphasis on residential pastoral formation through rigorous Master of Divinity and Alternate Route
programs. The curriculum is regularly updated to ensure our
students are adequately prepared to serve in the unique ministry contexts in which they are placed.

63

2023 Convention Workbook