LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 43

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OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
most important because our divinely mandated mission is to take the
Gospel to all people.
The seminary thanks the people within the congregations of the
LCMS for helping to put the seminary on the path to financial sustainability. Historically, Concordia Seminary received its primary revenue
directly from the unrestricted budget of the LCMS. Direct funding
from the LCMS has gradually declined. Loyal donors, largely born
in the 1920s and 1930s, have risen to meet the challenge. With the
help of Generations: The Campaign for Concordia Seminary, revenue from endowment and planned gifts will balance the seminary’s
revenue sources and enhance financial stability. Since 2010, the seminary has operated with no debt.
The dearest accountability of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is
to the LCMS. In order to provide caring, Christ-centered pastors and
deaconesses for faithful Lutheran ministry in the 21st century, the
faculty is engaged in a complete revision of the residential program.
The design of the new curriculum began by identifying the qualities
people desire in a pastor, especially excellent theological formation
combined with mature interpersonal skills. The faculty is now crafting the curricular and extracurricular experiences that will achieve
the desired outcomes. The new curriculum will move the seminary
from the quarter system to semesters, permitting greater interface
with the schools of the Concordia University System. It will become
operational in fall 2018.
For more information about Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, visit
www.csl.edu or follow the seminary on Facebook (www.facebook.
com/ConcordiaSem), Twitter (@ConcordiaSem), or Instagram (@
concordiasem).

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Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Concordia Theological Seminary exists to form servants in Jesus
Christ who teach the faithful, reach the lost, and care for all. God continues to bless CTSFW richly through the faithful support of alumni,
friends, and donors who have enabled the seminary to carry out this
mission under Christ’s leadership for the sake of the church and the
world. Among the many blessings your seminary has experienced
over the past three years:
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Strong leadership with Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. completing five years
as president of CTSFW and enjoying positive relationships with students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and regents.
Ready to embrace new opportunities and challenges, President Rast
has recently led the seminary community through development of a
strategic plan that builds on what it means as a seminary to be distinctively Lutheran, community-oriented, and committed to excellence.
Faithful, caring, missional students from all areas of the United States
and around the world. Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne,
continues to be recognized as one of the leading confessional Lutheran
seminaries in the world, called by some the “Wittenberg of the 21st
century.” The seminary is deeply grateful for God’s abundant blessings of stable enrollment and the 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.
Continued emphasis on residential pastoral formation through rigorous master of divinity and alternate route programs.
Continued growth in the number of deaconesses formed for service
through both residential and distance tracks (the distance track is a
combination of online courses and campus intensive courses).
Outstanding contextual learning opportunities for students through
fieldwork, summer vicarages, vicarages, and targeted module learning experiences.
Significant growth in the revised doctor of ministry program that
combines academic and pastoral excellence, distance and residential
learning components, yet is very affordable.

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Continuation of the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program with
new students each year and the development of a Spanish-language
SMP track in order to train Latino pastors in context (also publicized
as Bilingual Pastoral Formation for Latinos).
Continuation of a strong PhD in missiology program under the leadership of Dr. Detlev Schulz that draws students from around the globe.
Collaboration with the OIM with assisting in the training of pastors
and deaconesses as well as organizing theological libraries in Ghana,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and elsewhere.
Expansion of the international impact of our graduate program through
the establishment and ATS approval of a site for our master of sacred
theology program courses in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Development of the Missionary Formation Certificate Program at
CTSFW which is a continuing education experience for missionaries consisting of six online modules.
Completion and dedication of the Wayne and Barbara Kroemer
Library Complex, which includes the renovation of the original library
building.
Implementation of the Lilly Endowment funded research and education for students, congregations, districts, and the Synod on the issue
of overcoming the burden of student indebtedness.
An outstanding faculty with rich pastoral ministry experience as well
as the highest academic credentials from such outstanding universities as Harvard, Yale, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Wisconsin,
Durham, Oxford, Drew, Marquette, and Basel.
The naming of Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr. as the Director of Spanish
Language Church Worker Formation at CTSFW to work with the
LCMS OIM to launch an international training program in partnership with the Lutheran Church of Argentina.
The establishment of the Robert D. Preus Chair in Systematic Theology
and Confessional Lutheran Studies through gifts and the appointment
of Dr. Roland Ziegler as the first holder of this chair.
Expanded urban missional formation through two national conferences
hosted at CTSFW and the deployment of students for missional experiences in Baltimore and New Jersey.
Significant leadership from CTSFW on the LCMS Commission on
Theology and Church Relations (the president chairing the CTCR and
two faculty serving as committee chairs).
Collaboration with the Office of the President of the LCMS, the Office
of Church Relations, and the OIM toward the implementation of the
LCMS’s Global Seminary Initiative.
The continued publication of Concordia Theological Quarterly,
praised internationally as a key resource for fostering confessional
Lutheranism.
Accreditation for all of its academic programs through the Association
of Theological Schools (ATS) and the Higher Learning Commission of
the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (next accreditation cycle will be in 2020).

CTSFW has served the Synod faithfully by making the blessings of the church available to a world in need of Christ’s salvation.
To that end, it has been privileged to provide the church with more
than 5,000 pastors and missionaries who have served the Lord of the
Church throughout the United States and the world.
We invite you to get to know CTSFW better. Visit our website at
www.ctsfw.edu or our campus where you will find a vibrant, Christcentered theological community that engages and provides resources
for the church and world, domestically and internationally, with distinctively Lutheran teaching, practice, and worship. Join with CTSFW
bringing the saving Gospel into all the world by forming servants in
Jesus Christ who will teach the faithful, reach the lost, and care for all.
Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support (PALS)

In an increasingly secular society, we need our pastors to receive
the best preparation possible and to continue in that education. This
is necessary so the Gospel can be taught in its truth and purity and
pastoral care applied in the midst of the myriad challenges facing us
2016 Convention Workbook