Archives for August 20, 2026

In this devotion, Mark R. Peterson ’81 M.Div., considers who we really are and who the Son of Man is. Read today’s God Pause.

My beloved godmother/aunt, Monica Shikwambi, passed away at the age of 84 on Monday in Namibia. She was a survivor of the Cassinga massacre of 1978, where over 600 Namibian men, women, and children were killed during the liberation struggle against apartheid South Africa. She also lost her husband in the massacre. She carried that history with strength and resilience. Please keep me and my family in your thoughts as we grieve the loss of this giant of a woman in our family and history of Namibia. —Shamani Shikwambi, Dean of Students and Vice President of Inclusion and Belonging

The new academic catalog has been published. It is available on MyLutherNet under Academics. The new policies in the catalog are effective beginning with the Fall term of 2026. There are several major policy changes in this catalog.

• Degree Requirements are always defined by the catalog for the year of your enrollment in your current program.
• Academic Policies are always defined by the current catalog.
• Capstone – Many clarifications have been made to the capstone process for M.A. degrees.
• Drop/Withdraw – Students may no longer withdraw from a class at any point in the term. Withdraw decisions must be made by the end of the 8th week of the term. If at the time of withdrawal a student is deemed to be failing the class, a WF will appear on their transcript.
• Holds – Guidelines around writing holds have been added. Descriptions of other holds have been added.
• Incompletes – The timeframes for incompletes and incomplete extensions have been shortened significantly.
• Probation – Conditions around academic probation have changed significantly.

Luther Seminary is on the lands of the Mendota Mdewakanton (Dakota) people. Join us to attend their annual Wacipi (Pow Wow) on Saturday, September 12. It will be a great chance to watch and hear traditional dance and music and learn about their history and culture. We will meet at Luther Seminary at 11 a.m. and drive together to Mendota (about 20 minutes away). We will return to Luther by about 6 p.m. To learn more about the Mendota Mdewakanton community here. Complete this form so that we know whom to expect and make sure everyone has a ride. Questions? Contact Christian Eriksen (ceriksen001@luthersem.edu) or Jon Anderson (janderson008@luthersem.edu)

Register for a trip to Christ Church Lutheran—in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis—on the morning of Sunday, September 20. This visit will include worship and a tour of the Eliel and Eero Saarinen-designed building that is credited with setting the standard for modernist churches built following World War II. Transportation from Luther Seminary will be available for those who would like to attend both worship and the tour. The tour is hosted by Luther Seminary archivist Caleb Rollins and members of the Christ Church Lutheran community. Please register by September 9. All are welcome!

Registration is now open for the 2026 Minnesota Mockingbird conference in Bloomington on October 2 and 3. Mockingbird is an ecumenical, grace-focused ministry devoted to “connecting the Christian faith with the realities of everyday life.” This year’s conference theme is “Grace for the Ages,” exploring what grace looks like at different stages of life. There will be talks on everything from grace in parenting adult children, lessons from the last third of life, the relief that can come from realistic depictions of imperfect people in middle-grade novels, how a church focused on consolation rather than happiness seeking could benefit a generation of stressed-out young people, how God actually shows up in the young adult years, and more. Speakers include Paul Zahl, Gretchen Ronnevik, and Luther Seminary’s Andy Root and Joey Goodall. Click here to view the full schedule. Student tickets are available at a discounted rate. Feel free to reach out to Joey Goodall (jgoodall002@luthersem.edu) with any questions.