LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 110

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Word, shall be studied with unwearied diligence, day after day,
from the first rays of the morning until late after nightfall.” 3
The investment of time needed for the formation of our
students is important for the life of the Church. This includes
the discipline of daily chapel, the deep study of Christ’s Word
in classrooms, and the ongoing conversations and
relationships outside the classroom. These form a certain
habitus and character and become a foundation for a lifetime of
pastoral ministry in Christ’s church.
Within our seminary communities, daily chapel is a
particularly important aspect of personal formation. The
rhythm of daily worship instills a humility before the Word of
God. Each day in chapel we submit to our Lord and to the
hearing of His Word. Each day, we sit shoulder to shoulder
under this life-giving Word—faculty, staff, students, families,
visitors. Each day, we confess together not ourselves as Lord,
but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Each day, we pray for one
another, for the whole church, and for those who don’t yet
know Christ.
Such Spirit-worked humility before the Word of God then flows
outward from our shared chapel life to our classrooms,
submitting to God’s holy Word, knowing that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of all true wisdom.
The Word of God alone shapes pastors. Our congregations
don’t need the “gut sense” or the brilliant insights of their
pastors. The church needs Jesus Christ and His heavenly Word.
The church needs pastors who will declare the whole counsel
of God as revealed in His Word. Knowing the sacred Scriptures
takes time and work and well-formed habits, habits formed
and nurtured patiently and persistently during their time at the
seminary.
This hearing and study of God’s Word at the seminaries takes
place in community. Our annual theme at the seminary this
last year was “Sharing the Gospel—Sharing Our Lives.” We
share life together on our campuses, forming lifelong bonds
between the future pastors of the church.
As I travel, I routinely ask pastors, “What formed you the most
at seminary?” They mention that they learned a lot in their
classes. But almost to a man, they also mention conversations
and relationships with professors and fellow seminarians.
Residential education creates and facilitates these
opportunities. Unplanned discussions during coffee time after
chapel, walking across campus, in the dining hall, in faculty
offices, on faculty porches, and around town.
Our seminary faculties play an essential role in forming pastors
and servants for the church. Many advocates of the new
education will say directly that faculties are not crucial. Anyone
can convey information. But as I look back on my seminary
days, I came to love the confession of the faith, in part because
of the confessors of that faith, who shared it with me and
taught it to me. I loved my teachers. I trusted them. The faculty
truly forms bonds with our students as they teach—and as they
share life together—and this contributes to the harmony,
unity, and shared mission of our church.

3
From C.F.W. Walther’s address at the Sept. 9, 1883 dedication of
the newly-constructed Concordia Seminary campus on Jefferson Ave,

110 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2023 (68TH) LCMS CONVENTION

Face-to-face learning in community establishes deep and
enduring connections, bonds—
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•
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between the students and the confession of the faith
being taught;
between the students and the faculty;
between the students themselves, future fellow pastors
in our church;
and between the students and the broader church.

We know it is not easy to be a pastor. And it’s not getting any
easier. As we prepare future pastors, we owe it to them to
ground them deeply in Christ, in His Word, and in the
community of His whole Church.
Residential seminary education helps form a personal
vocational identity as a part of a place that has trained
generations of Lutheran pastors, at a location where world
Lutheranism learns together. We thank God for our online
programs and for the dedicated men and women who are
preparing to serve the church through them. Real bonds are
also forged among these online cohorts, and personal faith and
identity in Christ is nurtured. We must recognize, however,
that these crucial bonds are established more profoundly
through in-person formation.
Some think the changing times mean we should make seminary
education quicker, cheaper, and easier. But the challenges of
our times make deep theological formation in the Word of God
more necessary, not less. Christ’s faithful lambs—and lost and
wandering sheep—need well-prepared shepherds.
Some point to the expense of residential seminary education as
reason to adopt other models. Expense is a valid concern that
we continue to address. Let me pause here to thank God for the
generosity that so many of you and our whole church have
shown to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and to Concordia
Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. In a day when seminaries of
other denominations are closing their doors, our seminaries
have been able to guarantee free tuition for residential
ministerial formation students. Thank you for your continuing
support and generosity that makes such student support possible.
Yet our students do make sacrifices. In some ways, the sacrifice
of moving to the seminary is itself formation for ministry. It is
an experience of the reality of a life lived in service to the
Gospel, which will often require a willingness to go where the
Lord calls. Students and their families must make sacrifices to
move to Fort Wayne or St. Louis—that’s certainly true. But I
would encourage you to ask our graduates whether the sacrifices
have been worth it.
Finally, let me briefly note the great benefit the church receives
from the faculties at our two seminaries, who possess a depth
of expertise in various areas of theology and practice. These
doctors of the church shape not only our future pastors,
missionaries and deaconesses, but, working together in
community, they also shape and enrich one another in
significant ways. Our seminary faculties provide the church
with theological guidance and theological resources:
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Service on the CTCR.

cited from Friedrich Bente, “Walthers Verdienst um das Sola
Scriptura,” Lehre und Wehre 57 (1911): 167–68, my translation.
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