President’s Message

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago turned 40 years of age on September 4, and we have been celebrating this significant anniversary during the entire academic year!

With festive banners flying outside the main building, we began our observance with a wonderful Eucharist at which Dr. Harold C. Skillrud, the first board of directors chair, preached. And we will officially end it with the May 5, 2003 dedication of The Augustana Chapel at LSTC. In the midst of historical displays and reminiscences from former presidents Stewart Herman and William Lesher, one of the most prominent activities, has been thanksgiving to God.

Where human beings are concerned, different anniversaries carry different meanings. In this culture, a 13th birthday means that one has made the social transition from being a “child” or “kid” to becoming a teenager. Similarly, a 21st birthday legally denotes the conferral of adulthood with, as I say at the seminary’s commencement, “all the rights, privileges and responsibilities thereunto appertaining.” And, of course, a 100th birthday puts an exclamation mark on physical longevity and sparks curiosity about lifestyles.

When individuals turn 40 years of age, we half-playfully and half-seriously offer mixed messages. On the one hand, we joyously declare that “life begins at forty!” On the other hand, we sarcastically pronounce that, upon turning 40, one is “over the hill!”

Of course institutions age at a different rate than individuals, and neither of these sayings apply to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. For the Seminary life began, not at 40, but on that first day of incorporation when it received from its predecessor seminaries and carried forward the mission of preparing God’s people to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ through Word and Sacrament, through Word and service, in word and deed.

Likewise, the Seminary is hardly over the hill at 40. Rather, building on the past, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is moving into an exciting future with a renewed emphasis upon the spiritual formation of women and men for ministry, a closer collaboration with McCormick Theological Seminary, a wonderful new emphasis in youth ministry made possible by the Lilly Endowment, a gifted faculty and talented staff, and an increasing number of excellent students.

As you can see, we have much for which to give thanks in this ministry, including a veritable host of God’s saints who uphold the seminary in their prayers, enrich it through their participation, and support it with their philanthropy.

And so, as the Seminary celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, I invite you to join with me in saying, “Thanks be to God for all that has been and yet will be at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago!

Blessings and Best Wishes

James Kenneth Echols

President