The Lord’s flock needs good shepherds, with hearts shaped by Christ and with wisdom flowing from God’s Word!

The chief calling and mission of Concordia Seminary is to serve church and world by preparing pastors, deaconesses and missionaries. The whole church is looking to us to do this well — thoroughly, faithfully and effectively. Countless souls who are not yet a part of the church will be impacted eternally by the work we do in fulfilling this calling and mission.

Therefore, “Ministerial Formation” is the second of twelve focus areas addressed in our Seminary’s new five-year strategic plan. In the coming years, we will be implementing improvements in our ministerial formation curricula with particular attention to the quality and extent of our students’ study of Holy Scripture. Long the hallmark of the Lutheran church, of Lutheran theology and of the programs of Concordia Seminary, we seek to embrace and build upon this vital strength. The serious study of the Divine Word, and the personal shaping and pastoral wisdom that comes from that Divine Word, will continue to characterize our graduates and will do so more and more.

Our focused attention on quality ministerial formation will include several other areas of attention as well:

• Adjusting the curriculum to deepen our graduates’ background in church history and to prepare them for ministry in an increasingly post-church, secular society.
• Strengthening our continual improvement processes in both residential and distance/hybrid ministerial formation programs.
• Cultivating a mission heart in our students, utilizing course work, formation labs, Residential Field Education experiences, participation in urban and cross-cultural ministries in St. Louis and regular on-campus visits by missionaries and mission recruiters.
• Securing funding to partially subsidize every residential ministerial formation student for one travel-study experience to Israel, Wittenberg, or a location of LCMS mission and mercy involvement.

I am so grateful for the confessional Lutheran, Scriptural, mission-minded formation I received as a Concordia Seminary student 30 years ago! I thank and praise God for all of you — the well-formed, faithful pastors, missionaries and deaconesses who have gone out from our Seminary over the years. With God’s help, Concordia Seminary is dedicated to faithfully and fully forming workers for our Lord’s purposes for years to come!

Thanks for your support, partnership and encouragement as we do so!

In Christ’s love,

Thomas Egger
President