Archives for July 11, 2022

In this devotion, Donald C. Torala ’75 M.Div. reflects on God’s promises. Read today’s God Pause.

Summer is the season we welcome new faculty. Three Bible professors started new positions July 1, and one leadership professor joins the faculty August 1.

The three Bible faculty, Kristofer Coffman, Jennifer Pietz, and Anna Marsh, are not new to Luther Seminary. Kristofer Coffman has been teaching Greek as an adjunct professor and now joins us as an assistant professor of New Testament. Kristofer says, “I am delighted to join the faculty full-time this fall and looking forward to getting to know everyone better. My wife, Julie, and I recently purchased an old farm in Stillwater and are in the process of moving in and dreaming of how to bring it back to life. The kitchen is my place of rest and I enjoy hunting, fishing, and fruit-growing to add new flavors to our table. “

Jenny has been teaching as a Louisville Fellow and now joins the faculty as an assistant professor of New Testament. She says, ““I am enthusiastic about my vocation of guiding people into rich engagement with Scripture. I have been blessed to live out this calling in the Luther community for the past two years and look forward to continuing to do so. When I am not teaching and writing, I enjoy outdoor activities, photography, and spending time with my family.”

Anna Marsh has taught as an adjunct professor, and with Michael Chan’s departure she joins the faculty as a visiting assistant professor of Old Testament. Anna says, “I am a native Midwesterner who grew up in the church as part of a family in ministry. My husband and I live in Saint Paul with our young daughter and old dog. Aside from the beautiful complexity of the Hebrew Bible, my favorite things to talk about are food (restaurants, recipes, traditions, etc.) and what you’re watching on TV.”

Steve Thomason joins the faculty as the associate professor of spiritual formation and discipleship and will divide his time between the degree programs and Faith+Lead. He has taught as an adjunct professor in both the D.Min. and M.A./M.Div. programs. Steve says, “I have been married to Lona for 33 years, and we have four adult children. We live in Apple Valley, and we enjoy movies, music, and good food. I am a visual artist—drawing, painting, cartooning, animation—and I really look forward to bringing my art into our collaborative scholarly work with you all at Luther. I can’t wait to meet everyone!”

Please welcome these new colleagues either via email or by stopping by their office in Bockman Hall.

Terri Elton
Dean of Academic Affairs

Rolf Jacobson
Dean of Faculty

Invoices, Expense Reports, and Voucher Forms:

Please submit invoices, expense reports, voucher forms, or reimbursement requests for goods received or services rendered prior to June 30, 2022, by Friday, July 29, 2022. All submissions need to have proper coding and approvals. Please email to busoffice@luthersem.edu or drop them off at the Business Office.

If you have received goods or have had services services performed but have not received an invoice from the vendor, please contact Tony Herrera (aherrera001@luthersem.edu) by Friday, July 29, 2022.

Credit Card Statements and Receipts:

Please submit your June credit card statements and supporting receipts to the Business Office by Friday, July 29, 2022.

Checks and Cash:

If you have checks or cash that need to be deposited for Fiscal Year 2022, please bring to the Business Office by Friday, July 29, 2022.

Thank you for your prompt attention and cooperation!

Reported employee cases: –
Reported student cases: 0
Students in quarantine or isolation: 0

Reported cases only include students and employees who have been on campus within a period of time during which they may have been contagious. According to the CDC this includes two days prior to the onset of symptoms or a positive test.

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19, or if you are an unvaccinated individual who has been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 (close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of that person for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period), please report that to the appropriate person. For employees, that person is Michael Morrow (mmorrow001@luthersem.edu). Students should contact Leon Rodrigues (deanofstudents@luthersem.edu).

Contact Tracing Protocol

When an on-campus case of COVID-19 is reported, that person is first asked to stay off-campus and quarantine in accordance with CDC guidelines. In addition, the seminary takes two steps for contact tracing:

1. The Minnesota Department of Health is notified, per guidelines for institutions of higher education

2. The person reporting the case is asked to identify “close contacts”; the close contacts identified are notified of the exposure and asked to follow CDC guidelines for testing and quarantining (quarantine applies only to close contacts who are unvaccinated).