Concordia Seminary

Concordia Seminary on March 5, 2008
Type	Seminary
Established	1839; 186 years ago (1839)
Religious affiliation	Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
Endowment	$163.6 million (2020)[1]
President	Thomas J. Egger
Academic staff	26 (full time)
Students	591 (2024)[2]
Location	Clayton[3] (St. Louis postal address) , Missouri , United States 38°38′18″N90°18′41″W / 38.6382°N 90.3113°W /38.6382; -90.3113
Website	csl.edu

Concordia Seminary is aLutheranseminary inClayton, Missouri.^[3] The institution's primary mission is to trainpastors,deaconesses,missionaries,chaplains, and church leaders for theLutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, the seminary initially resided inPerry County, Missouri. In 1849, it was moved to St. Louis, and in 1926, the current campus was built.^[4]

The St. Louis institution was at one time considered the "theoretical" (academic) seminary of the LCMS whileConcordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne was considered the "practical" seminary, although those distinctions no longer exist. Concordia Seminary currently offers aMaster of Divinity degree leading to ordination, as well as Master of Arts,Master of Sacred Theology,Doctor of Ministry, andDoctor of Philosophy degrees. The seminary is considered theologically conservative. It does not trainwomen for ordination as pastors. However, it does offer a program by which women may be rostered as deaconesses (a category of "ministers of religion" within the LCMS). It promoteshistorical-grammatical^[5] interpretation of theBible. It is an accredited member of theAssociation of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and is accredited by theHigher Learning Commission.

Radio stationKFUO-AM had its studios on the seminary campus until they were relocated to the LCMS International Center in the St. Louis suburb ofKirkwood, MO although the station continues to use a transmitter tower on the campus. For many years the nationally broadcastLutheran Hour originated from this LCMS radio station.

Dedicated on November 15, 1992, the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus serves as the house of worship for the Concordia Seminary community. Aside from the primary worship space the chapel building also contains a choir practice room, one classroom, the dean of chapel's office, the housefellow's quarters, and a chapel that is used primarily for small worship services and for worship practice.

Concordia Seminary Library has the capacity to house 250,000 volumes and to seat over 300 people, providing study space for divinity students and carrels for graduate students and scholars. The book collection numbers over 245,000 volumes. Included are the personal libraries of many of the founding fathers of the LCMS and its theologians, includingC. F. W. Walther. A copy of the 17th-centuryCalov Bible that was owned byJohann Sebastian Bach is also in the collection.^[6]

Located next to Founder's Hall, the Luther Statue was originally dedicated at the former site of Concordia Seminary on Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis in 1903. In 1926, when the present campus was dedicated in Clayton, the statue was relocated to the new campus site. The statue is an exact replica the one in theLuther Monument inWorms, Germany. The statue in Germany is located whereMartin Luther made his "Here I Stand" speech at theDiet of Worms.

Luther Tower was designed by architectCharles Klauder and was completed in 1966. It stands 156 feet (48 m) tall. At its base is a small chapel, the Chapel of the Holy Apostles. Its crown contains a 49-bellcarillon. The bells are dedicated to the memory of all LCMS pastors. The largest bell weighs 2.5 short tons (2,300 kg) and the smallest weighs 17 pounds (7.7 kg).

TheConcordia Historical Institute is the Department of Archives and History of the LCMS. The institute is located at 804 Seminary Place on the Concordia Seminary campus. The building includes a reference room for patrons, a conference room, a museum exhibit space, and three stack areas for storage of the collections.

The institute maintains theSaxon Lutheran Memorial and thePeace Lutheran Church historic sites inPerry County, Missouri. It also publishes theConcordia Historical Institute Quarterly, and assists districts and congregations of the LCMS to preserve their historical records.^[7][8]

Concordia Park is located in theDeMun neighborhood on the grounds of Concordia Seminary. The city of Clayton has leased this passive 1.5-acre (0.607 ha) park from the seminary since 1992.^[9] It consists of several hills and trees. Benches and tables are provided for visitors. It was named a Best Picnic Spot by theRiverfront Times in 2008.^[10]

Concordia has varsity basketball and tennis teams, but the teams are not affiliated with any league. It also offers club sports including golf and soccer. Known as the Fighting Preachers, the basketball team schedules games with other independents as well as with someNCAA Division III teams. There is a longstanding rivalry with the other LCMS seminary,Concordia Theological Seminary inFort Wayne, Indiana; Concordia had won every game in that rivalry for 24 years (as of 2008^[update]).^[11]

The basketball team plays in the Eldon E. Pederson Fieldhouse. The fieldhouse originally was an airplane hangar on an airbase in Kansas. In 1949 the seminary purchased it, disassembled it, and re-erected it on the campus. At one time it served as the practice court of the NBA'sSt. Louis Hawks and as the home court for the ABA'sSpirits of St. Louis.^[11]

Concordia Seminary became a focus of national media attention in 1974, when 45 of its 50 faculty members, together with the vast majority of students, walked out of campus to form a rival institution known asSeminex, or Concordia Seminary in Exile.^[12] The procession protested the suspension of the seminary's president,John Tietjen, who faced charges from the conservative Synodical president,Jacob Preus, of allowing the teaching of false doctrine.^[13] More specifically, the charges alleged that Tietjen had permitted the teaching ofhistorical-critical methods of scriptural interpretation, rather than upon exegetical principles that consider scripture to be the inerrant word of God (seeBiblical inerrancy). During this same period, in 1975, Concordia was added to a list ofcensured institutions by theAmerican Association of University Professors.^[14]

Seminex struggled due in part to the LCMS preventing it from placing graduates in ministerial positions within the LCMS. It suffered a gradually declining enrollment over the course of the late 1970s, with the last St. Louis commencement being held in May 1983. It continued to exist as an educational institution at theLutheran School of Theology at Chicago campus through the end of 1987. Seminex contributed to a major schism in the LCMS.

• Robert Bergt – associate professor in church music and worship (1956–1974), artist-in-residence and Bach scholar (1995–2011)
• Ralph Arthur Bohlmann – professor (1960–1981)
• Frederick William Danker – professor (1954–1974), left to join Seminex
• Martin Franzmann – professor (1946–1969), chairman of exegetical theology department (1957–1969)
• Norman Habel – associate professor of Biblical studies (1960–1973)
• Robert Kolb – professor of systemic theology (1993–2009)
• Reed Lessing – professor of exegetical theology (1999–2013)
• Walter A. Maier – professor of Old Testament history and interpretation (1922–1930)
• Franz Pieper – professor of systematic theology (1878–1931)
• Robert David Preus – professor of systematic theology (1957–1974)
• George V. Schick – professor of the Old Testament and Hebrew (1936–1964)^[23]
• Mark A. Seifrid – professor of exegetical theology (2015–present)
• Louis J. Sieck – professor of pastoral theology (1943–1952)
• Robert H. Smith – professor (1968–1974), left to join Seminex

• Alvin L. Barry – tenth president of the LCMS
• G. Christian Barth – president of Concordia College in Wisconsin
• Karl L. Barth – president of Concordia Seminary
• William F. Beck – Lutheran pastor, author ofThe Holy Bible, An American Translation of the Bible
• John William Behnken – sixth president of the LCMS
• David Benke – former president of theAtlantic District of the LCMS
• Ralph Arthur Bohlmann – ninth president of the LCMS
• Frederick William Danker – New Testament scholar and an editor of theBauer Lexicon
• Joseph Ellwanger – Lutheran pastor and civil rights activist
• Jack Faszholz – Major League pitcher and later Lutheran pastor
• Flame – Christian rapper
• Clifford Flanigan – professor of English, medievalist, and theatre history
• Henry F. Gerecke – Lutheran pastor and U.S. Army chaplain during theNuremberg trials
• Ole Grönsberg – second president ofPacific Lutheran University
• J. C. M. Hanson – American librarian
• Oliver Raymond Harms – seventh president of the LCMS
• Alan Harre – 17th president ofValparaiso University
• Bjug Harstad – founding president of Pacific Lutheran University and first president of theEvangelical Lutheran Synod
• Joel D. Heck – professor of theology atConcordia University Texas
• Paul Heyne – American economist
• Torger Juve – member of theWisconsin State Assembly
• Jack Dean Kingsbury – former professor of theology atUnion Presbyterian Seminary inRichmond, Virginia
• Ralph W. Klein – emeritus professor of Old Testatment atLutheran School of Theology at Chicago
• O. P. Kretzmann – former president of Valparaiso University
• James F. Laatsch – former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Reed Lessing – professor atConcordia University, St. Paul
• Richard Lischer – professor emeritus atDuke Divinity School
• Paul L. Maier – author and former professor of ancient history atWestern Michigan University
• Walter A. Maier – speaker onThe Lutheran Hour radio broadcast
• Martin E. Marty – American Lutheran religious scholar
• Adolph F. Meyer – American Lutheran pastor
• Thorbjorn N. Mohn – first president ofSt. Olaf College
• Richard John Neuhaus – founder and editor ofFirst Things monthly journal
• Walter Obare – former presiding bishop of theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya
• Jaroslav Pelikan – American scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology, and medieval intellectual history atYale University
• Friedrich Pfotenhauer – fifth president of the LCMS
• Franz Pieper – fourth president of the LCMS and author ofChristliche Dogmatik
• J. A. O. Preus III – former president ofConcordia University Irvine
• Paul Rajashekar – professor of systematic theology atUnited Lutheran Seminary
• Bong Rin Ro – American theologian and missiologist.
• Carl Schalk – Lutheran composer, author, and lecturer
• Robert P. Scharlemann – American professor of religion known for his theological works on the being of God and as an interpreter ofPaul Tillich
• Norbert Schedler – professor of philosophy and founding director of theHonors College at theUniversity of Central Arkansas
• Berthold von Schenk – pastor of the LCMS and pioneer of Lutheran liturgical renewal
• Paul W. Schroeder – professor emeritus of history at theUniversity of Illinois
• Milton Sernett – professor of American history atSyracuse University
• Louis J. Sieck – former president of Concordia Seminary
• Ernest Gottlieb Sihler – professor of classics atNew York University
• Arthur Simon – founder and former president ofBread for the World
• Robert H. Smith – Lutheran theologian and lecturer on the New Testament
• Stephen J. Stein – American historian of religion
• Frederick William Stellhorn – professor of German atCapital University, professor at theEvangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary of theOhio Synod
• Peer Stromme – Lutheran pastor and author of books about the experience of Norwegian immigrants to America
• Hans Gerhard Stub – bishop of theNorwegian Lutheran Church in America
• Gregory N. Todd – 20thChaplain of the Marine Corps
• Ralph Underwager – Lutheran pastor and psychologist who rose to prominence as a defense witness for adults accused ofchild sexual abuse in the 1980s and 1990s
• Jaroslav Vajda – American hymnist
• Robert E. Webber – American theologian who played a key role in theConvergence Movement

• Gronberg, Erik K.J.  "Adaptive Leadership in Crisis: John Tietjen, Concordia Seminary, and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Crisis of 1969-1975" (PhD dissertation, Dallas Baptist University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2017. 10281137)online.

• Kloha, Jeffrey, "Concordia Seminary magazine | 175th Anniversary" (2014).Concordia Seminary Magazine. 13. (2014)online
• Meyer, Carl S.Log Cabin to Luther Tower: 125 Years Towards a More Excellent Ministry: Concordia Seminary 1839-1964. St. Louis, Missouri. Concordia Publishing House, 1965.
• Meyer, Carl S. "Concordia Seminary: for 125 years toward a more excellent ministry,"Missouri Historical Review (1965) 59#2 pp. 210-222

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