LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 94

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94 SYNODICAL REPORTS

e Anticipating future growth, Concordia took advantage of a unique
opportunity in 2003 to obtain real estate adjacent to campus when
it purchased nearly five acres from the City of St. Paul. The site
includes a 16,000-square-foot, two-story building and additional
14,000-plus square feet of warehouse and garage space.

* Concordia received a $1 million endowment commitment in July
2003 for its Center for Hmong Studies. The initiative will enable
CSP to more effectively reach out to the Hmong community in
the Twin Cities and throughout its service area. Minnesota has
one of the largest populations of this Southeast Asian immigrant
group in the United States.

¢ Concordia partnered with the St. Paul Urban League and the Na-
tional Practitioners Network for Fathers and Families (NPNFF)
in 2003 to launch a first-of-its-kind partnership to offer a distance
education program for professional development and education
for practitioners working with fatherhood issues.

* Concordia launched the $10,000 Church Professional Aid Assur-
ance Program in 2001 to assist students pursuing degrees in the
church professions. The program is available to all church pro-
fessions majors.

Concordia College, Selma—Julius Jenkins, President

¢ $634,000 Kellogg Grant to implement a four-year Parent/Child
Enrichment Center

¢ A 100 percent increase in our Title III Grant to assist the college
with further improvement and expansion, raising the total annual
gift to approximately $1.1 million

* A grade of “A” from the Alabama State Department of Education
for our teacher education program based upon an evaluation of
the performance of Concordia’s teacher graduates for each of the
last two years

¢ The dedication of our 42,000-square-foot health and fitness center

¢ The fall enrollment for 2001, 2002, and 2003 was 758, 972, and
851, respectively ;

¢ The Lutheran student enrollment during 2001, 2002, and 2003
was 42, 38, and 44, respectively

¢ The number of church-work students for 2001, 2002, and 2003
was 15, 19, and 15, respectively

Concordia University, Seward—Orville Walz, President

* Enrollment the last three years has continued to stay among the
largest in the university’s 110-year history. The 2003-04 enroll-
ment stands at 1,317 students; there were 1,425 in 2002-03 and
1,369 in 2001-02. The university developed and implemented a
strategic plan with a five-year business plan and financial model
and initiated the On A Mission campaign for endowment, opera-
tions, and scholarships and capital projects.

¢ The DCE program maintained enrollment of over 150 students,
the largest in its history; the women’s basketball team had the
highest GPA in the nation in the NAIA for four straight years;
and the athletic program captured the Great Plains Athletic Con-
ference All-Sports Trophy in 2003. -

* Academic achievements included revising graduate program of-
ferings and summer term; establishing a three-year baccalaureate;
expanding online offerings; achieving accreditation of the music
and business programs; establishing the Center for Liturgical Art
to serve the LCMS and all Christian congregations; and incorpo-
rating a servant leadership emphasis into the core curriculum.

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne-—Dean Wenthe,
President

Concordia Theological Seminary is an institution of theologi-
cal higher education of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
dedicated primarily to the preparation of pastors for the congrega-
tions and missions of the LCMS (and, when appropriate, of her
partner churches). Its programs and services offer an understanding
of the Christian faith that is Christ centered and biblically based,
confessionally Lutheran, and evangelically active. Concordia The-

2004 Convention Workbook

ological Seminary provides graduate level theological education
and continuing study for qualified students and pastors that address
meaningfully our non-Christian, pluralistic, and culturally diverse
society and world.

Major Achievements

* Accreditation. In 2003 the seminary received its longest reac-
creditation in its history, having successfully moved through a
thorough self-study process and institutional site visit. Both the
Association of Theological Schools and Higher Education Com-
mission (NCA) noted the “renaissance” that has occurred at the
seminary since the mid-1990s.

In its accreditation report, the ATS/NCA commended the semi-
nary’s success at integrating strategic planning into the cultural
fabric of the institution. Noteworthy items in the seminary’s
strategic plans for the next three years are as follows:

¢ Strategic initiatives to continue the steady patterns of strong en-
rollment

¢ Intentional programs to encourage the expansion, development,
and nurture of an outstanding and confessionally committed fac-
ulty

¢ Calculated efforts to maintain the seminary’s debt-free status in
order to strengthen the overall fiscal well-being of the institution

¢ In accord with the resolution adopted by the Synod (2001 Res. 5-
06B), the seminary has developed and instituted a program for
the preparation of deaconesses for The Lutheran Church—Mis-
souri Synod.

* A consistent pattern of large entering classes has increased the
size of the seminary community to levels not seen since the early
1980s. In the past several years the seminary has placed its well-
qualified students into all Districts of the Synod.

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis—John Johnson, President

The mission of Concordia Seminary is to serve church and
world by providing theological education and leadership centered
in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for the formation of pastors,
missionaries, and leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—
Missouri Synod.

Since its establishment in 1839 in Perry County, Mo., Concor-
dia Seminary in St. Louis has been instrumental in the formation
of more than 11,000 pastors and missionaries for the office of pub-
lic ministry in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Major Achievements

¢ Significant enrollment growth over the past triennium with 750
students in all programs for the fall of 2003. The largest first-year
class in 32 years was enrolled.

¢ The addition of 6 new full-time faculty members, bringing the
total number of faculty to 42. The faculty averages 12 years of
full-time parish ministry experience and 75 percent hold earned
doctorates in their field of teaching expertise.

¢ The Board of Regents continued its policy of guaranteeing that
tuition costs would be covered in full for all students at Concordia
Seminary who are preparing to serve as pastors in The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod.

* Increased innovative efforts were made in providing theological
education by extension through the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of
Theology, DELTO, Seminary Hispanic Institute of Theology, and
a pastoral education program to meet the needs of preparation for
ethnic pastoral ministry on the West Coast in partnership with
Concordia University, Irvine.

¢ The acquisition of Christian Brothers College, a neighboring cam-
pus. This historic expansion will provide additional classrooms,
offices, and a continuing education/conference center.

¢ The establishment of a program of deaconess formation.

We thank and praise God for His continued blessings that He
pours out so freely on higher education in the LCMS. This report
also recognizes the invaluable contributions of the members of The