Archives for March 7, 2025

In this devotion, Sean L. Forde ‘12 D.Min., notes how God’s Word helps us combat the temptations we face in life and that this Word remains all we need. Read today’s God Pause.

The Luther Seminary community holds Leon Rodrigues, Vice President for Inclusion and Belonging and Dean of Students, in our prayers as he mourns the loss of his mother, Agnes Caroline Rodrigues. Agnes died peacefully on March 7, and Leon’s sister and brother-in-law were with her. Leon is traveling to South Africa and plans to return in about 2 weeks.

John Coskran, AVP and CFO for both Luther Seminary and Augsburg University, has accepted a new executive position with a privately held company in the Twin Cities area. John will be leaving both institutions following our May 9 board meeting. John joined Luther Seminary in January 2023 in the shared services CFO role. Over the course of his tenure, he has demonstrated exceptional financial leadership, as well as a remarkable ability to communicate complex financial information clearly. His contributions have greatly enhanced our financial planning, management, and forecasting, providing the clarity needed for sound decision-making. John’s calm, steady demeanor has been an invaluable asset as we navigated significant shifts in the delivery of our mission, student body, and workforce over the past two years. President Steinke has already discussed next steps with Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow. Since the AVP and CFO position is an Augsburg University role, Augsburg will lead the search for John’s successor. We will plan a celebration for the Luther community to honor John as we approach his final day with us. Please join the ELT as we all express our gratitude to John for his significant contributions to both institutions. We wish him all the best in his future vocational endeavors.

Lutheran scholar of religions Martin E. Marty died February 25 at the age of 97 after a distinguished career in public theology and church history, especially at the University of Chicago. See this Luther Seminary Library brief bibliography of Marty’s work, along with a bibliography of other notable Lutheran theologians of the 20th century.