Concordia Seminary, St. Louis has received a $1.5 million cash gift from a Lutheran layman. The gift is designated to establish the first fully endowed faculty chair in homiletics and literature. To be occupied by Dr. Dean Nadasdy of the Concordia Faculty on a renewable basis, the new chair will provide preaching resources for pastors in The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod as it enhances Concordia's curriculum to form pastors for the Church.

Nadasdy said there are several options to be developed through the chair. They include:

• A preaching resource letter for pastors, to be published on a regular basis;
• An annual Concordia Seminary sponsored homiletics monograph (a learning treatise on a particular subject);
• Regional-based seminars and workshops on preaching;
• Special on-campus events, such as an annual question-and-answer forum with a noted homiletician.

"Few gifts relate more directly to the mission of the Church than this one, leading toward more effective and engaging preaching of Law and Gospel," Nadasdy said. "The chair will add to the literature in the field of homiletics and encourage effective preaching. A grateful seminary and Church look forward to the great things God will do with this extraordinary gift," he said.

Nadasdy encourages those who have ideas for other ways the chair can encourage effective preaching to contact him. Write: Dr. Dean Nadasdy, Concordia Seminary, 801 DeMun Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63105; or call 314-505-7145.