{"id":500,"date":"2026-05-05T15:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T15:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=500"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:53:09","slug":"student-spotlight-donald-rosenberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/05\/student-spotlight-donald-rosenberry\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Spotlight: Donald Rosenberry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where did you grow up, and what first got you interested in studying theology and ministry?<\/strong>
I grew up in the small town of Ellsworth, Wisconsin. There are a little over three thousand people in the township. My family and I went to the local ELCA country church\u2014Our Savior\u2019s Lutheran Church in Beldenville, Wisconsin. I remember being interested, around the age of 14, in what the pastor was doing in worship. I wondered if it would be cool to be a pastor but decided to continue my plans of being a schoolteacher. As an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, I joined a Bible study, which helped me grow my faith and ask deeper questions about the Bible. As I approached graduation from River Falls, my pastor and several people from the Bible study said that I should consider seminary. I thought they were just being very polite when they told me all the reasons I should go, but the idea danced in the back of my head for about three years. After teaching life sciences for a while, I decided to stop running from all the signs I felt God was giving me and applied to Luther Seminary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Donald<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What led you to pursuing theological education here at Luther Seminary?<\/strong>
I researched all the ELCA seminaries. There were many good options. I wanted a seminary where I could get an in-person learning experience at. I also wanted to go to a seminary that really understood their theology and scripture. Then Luther Seminary told me about their Jubilee scholarship, and one of the professors gave a talk on Ruth. After the research I had done, the talk they had given, and with the scholarship actually making it possible for me to go to seminary now\u2014instead of saving for years to go\u2014I had to apply. I could not come up with any excuses to say no to God\u2019s call. I’ve recently completed the Master of Divinity program and am hoping to become a pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has your student experience been like? And what do you do when you’re not studying?<\/strong>
The first two years at Luther Seminary, I was a commuter student who would drive over an hour to take classes in person. This was well worth it since I learn better in person and I wanted to be a part of the wonderful campus community. This year, after my third-year internship, I decided to move to campus. This has been an even better experience since I am more engaged in campus community groups and do not have to worry about a long commute. I take as many in-person classes as I can\u2014and this deepens my understanding of theological topics as I discuss them with peers and professors in and outside of class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, I work as one of the chapel staff at Luther Seminary. This has been a fun way to get practice with some of my church skills as well as be involved with many people of the community. When I am not in class, I like to play D&D with some of my friends, explore some of the local areas, read and watch science fiction and fantasy, and hang out with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has Luther Seminary helped you meet your professional, academic, and personal goals?<\/strong>
Luther Seminary has provided me with the opportunity to follow my call into ministry. The Jubilee Scholarship made it possible for me to truly listen to God and get the education I need to one day be a pastor. I have absolutely loved taking all the theology and scripture courses at Luther Seminary. Luther is one of the best seminaries for academics and has met all my goals of learning what I need to know to be a pastor in a congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s one thing people don’t know about you?<\/strong>
One thing a lot of people do not know about me is that I was a winter survival guide. Growing up, I loved Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts\u2014in high school, I became an Eagle Scout. I was a summer camp counselor during my college years and would live in a tent for three months of the year. Just before the pandemic, I was asked to be a winter survival guide at the same camp. That winter, I spent weekends living in shelters made from snow (called quinzhee) and taught Scouts how they can survive outside in the wilderness during the winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Rosenberry began as a commuter student and eventually became a residential student. He has served in outdoor ministries and recently completed an M.Div. at Luther Seminary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}