The library would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge its sole responsibility for the recent item in the seminary Community Announcements, “Tributes to Pastor-Theologian, Tim Keller” (Friday, June 2, 2023); this is to inform the community that the administration of Luther Seminary was in no way responsible for that announcement. It has been lovingly brought to our attention – and we here acknowledge – that some of Pastor Keller’s writings and opinions have caused pain and, at times, been used to exclude persons, in particular, those of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. We humbly acknowledge this oversight and offer our apology to any who felt unseen or hurt.
As a library, we are not in the business of silencing voices with which we do not agree, but we do ourselves and our communities a grave disservice if we are not honest – and ever mindful – of the ways in which all of us have fallen short and “missed the mark.” To that end, the library re-commits itself to the Luther community to being a space where honest, respectful conversation can take place. There is a grand conversation that continues between the past – contained in thousands of books in our collection – and the present, that lives and breathes in each and every patron that walks through our doors.
We see you. We hope you see yourselves in our collection. By the grace of God, may we grow to see more fully and completely with every new day.