Archives for April 2026

The Bible Division invites graduating M.Div. and M.A. students to submit papers for the Milton Prize in Old Testament and/or the Bruce Prize in New Testament. Prizes will be awarded at commencement to the students submitting the best papers in the areas of Old Testament and New Testament studies. The prizes include monetary awards. Papers written by graduating M.Div. or M.A. students during their seminary careers are eligible (both December 2025 and May 2026 graduates). These may be course papers, independent study projects, or papers written for this occasion. Papers should not exceed 6,000 words in length. Papers are due by email to Kathryn Schifferdecker, chair of the Bible Division, by Wednesday, April 15 (kschiffer@luthersem.edu). Learn more on these webpages about the criteria the Bible division uses to judge the papers: Milton Prize in Old Testament and Bruce Prize in New Testament. Winners of the Milton and Bruce prizes will be recognized at the commencement ceremony. (And did we mention there are monetary awards?) Talk with your Bible professors or Kathryn Schifferdecker for more information.

For an easy way to stay informed about upcoming events, check out the Luther Seminary Community calendar. The calendar shares information about any seminary event open to the entire Luther community, to all students, or to all faculty and/or staff. Examples include chapel, community meals, social events, and important dates like upcoming Residential Focus Sessions. You can add the calendar to your regular Google calendar view and submit events via the community announcements submission process. (Note this calendar is for informational purposes only and does not reserve a room for you—use Coursedog to reserve a space on campus. Contact communic@luthersem.edu with questions.

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

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.

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.