Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

File:LSTClogo.png
Type	Seminary
Established	September 4, 1962
Affiliation	Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Endowment	$23.1 million
President	Rev. Dr. James Nieman
Academic staff	19
Postgraduates	290
Location	Chicago , Illinois
Website	www.lstc.edu

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its degree programs are Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Philosophy. It offers concentrations in urban ministry, Bible, religion and science, environmental ministry, Hispanic/Latino ministry, African Descent ministry, American Indian and Alaskan Native ministry, Asian Descent ministry, and interfaith studies for M.Div. and M.A. students. Ph.D. students may earn degrees in the fields of Old Testament, New Testament, historical studies, theological studies (including concentrations in Christian ethics/church and society, religion and science, systematic theology, and theological anthropology) and world Christianity and mission.

LSTC is located near the University of Chicago in the Hyde Park neighborhood. LSTC is a member of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), a consortium of 11 area seminaries and theological schools. It shares the JKM Library and portions of its campus with McCormick Theological Seminary.

History

On September 4, 1962 Augustana Theological Seminary, Grand View Seminary, Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary and Suomi Theological Seminary consolidated to form the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). The context and impetus for that union was the merger that same year of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (Suomi Synod), and United Lutheran Church in America, that came together as the Lutheran Church in America (LCA).

For the next five years, the Lutheran School of Theology operated from two locations: the Augustana campus in Rock Island, Illinois and Chicago Lutheran campus in Maywood, Illinois, while an urban, university-related setting in the Chicago area was found. Three months before the seminary officially opened its doors adjacent to the University of Chicago campus, Central Lutheran Theological Seminary became the fifth LCA seminary to enter the merger. On October 22, 1967, the campus in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood was dedicated.

In 1983, 10 members of the faculty of Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, Mo. (1974), relocated to LSTC. On December 31, 1987 the two schools merged so they might enter as a unified body into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as it officially came into existence on January 1, 1988.

Notable scholars have taught at the school including Barbara Rossing, Linda E. Thomas, Antje Jackelén, Robert Fischer, Arthur Võõbus, William Danker, Fredrick Danker, Joseph Sittler, Philip Hefner, Richard A. Jensen, Carl Braaten, Albert "Pete" Pero, Jr., Harold Vogelaar, Paul Manz, David Rhoads, Kurt Hendel, Ralph Klein, Vitor Westhelle, Mark Swanson, and Edgar Krentz. The school holds a strong tradition of academic excellence in the Lutheran community.

See also

• Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science
• Gruber Collection

External links

• The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
• The Association of Chicago Theological Schools