Archives for April 9, 2026

In this devotion, David Haven ’86 M.Div., considers the importance of breakthrough moments in our lives. Read today’s God Pause.

Join us today in the OCC Dining Room at 11 a.m. CT for Lunch Church.
Topic: Why Jesus?
Speaker: Elizabeth Schoenknecht, Philanthropic Advisor, Seminary Relations
Lunch is provided. Share your prayer requests.

Bryant Kumlin, Ph.D. Candidate – Friday, April 10, 2026 | 1–3 p.m. Gullixson Hall 103
The oral examination is a public event open to faculty, students, and staff. Other than the candidate, only faculty members have speaking privileges. What is a Ph.D. oral defense? The oral defense is the final step for Ph.D. degree candidates before graduation. The student has finished all research and is presenting a thesis that is an original contribution to the field of scholarship. A copy of the completed thesis is available prior to the defense for those in the Luther Seminary community. Read “The Spirit of Love Speaks: The Personal and Communal Mysticism in the Inspired Testimonies of Barbara Heinemann and Christian Metz, 1817-1883” in this shared Google doc.

Come experience one of the vibrant churches of the Global South—the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania—one of the fastest-growing and largest Lutheran church bodies in the world with 8.5 million members. Students will participate in a conference with ELCT pastors, learning from them about topics like evangelism, women’s leadership, poverty and the prosperity gospel, and church-sponsored development work. There will be much singing (and some dancing) involved. We will be based in the small city of Iringa, Tanzania, and will also stay in rural villages for a weekend. There will be time at the end of the trip for relaxation at a safari camp in Ruaha National Park and on the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean. The cost will likely be around $4600, depending on the price of airline tickets. This cost includes airfare, lodging, transportation, and many meals. There is financial aid available through the St. Paul Area Synod of the ELCA for students under the age of 36—interested students should apply as soon as possible. This is a CD course but can also count as a Bible elective. Likely, other financial aid will be available for all students too. If you are interested in this trip, contact Kathryn Schifferdecker, kschiffer@luthersem.edu, by early May, as space is limited. Also note that the dates may change by a day on either end but will be set by early summer. The dates for the course as currently planned are January 16-31, 2027.

Access to the Luther Seminary Archives will be temporarily paused for church partners and external researchers from April 1 through August 31, 2026. During this period, archives staff will focus on inventory, processing, and preparation of the collections for the seminary’s anticipated move to a new location in the Twin Cities following the 2026–27 academic year. Archives staff will respond to individual research questions on a case-by-case basis throughout the spring and summer. Please contact archives@luthersem.edu for support. These collections include the institutional history, since 1869, of Luther Seminary and its precursors, Augsburg Seminary, the Hauge Synod School, Red Wing Seminary, and Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary; the archives of ELCA Region 3, which date from 1843 and include records of many of the precursor church bodies of the synod; and a number of special collections. For more information about the collections and working with the archives, visit luthersem.edu/archives.

The Sixth Global Summit on Spirituality, Religion, and Mental Health will be a centralized opportunity for interdisciplinary engagement to chart the future of the integration of spirituality and religion in mental health support. The summit, to be held in at the Harvard Medical School conference center in Boston, MA, from May 14-15 has already received over 170 proposals from faith leaders, psychologists, psychiatrists, chaplains, and public health officials. We hope you will join us to bridge research and practice and local and global initiatives during this two-day event. Check out the event website, which includes schedule and session details.