Rev. Kou Seying, the Lutheran Foundation Professor of Urban and Cross-Cultural Ministry at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, was one of 17 historians to receive awards Nov. 13 from the Concordia Historical Institute (CHI).

Seying received one of the institute’s “Awards of Commendation” for his article, “Hmong Mission in the LCMS,” which was published in the November 2014 issue of Missio Apostolica, a journal of the Lutheran Society for Missiology. The article is the first comprehensive analysis of the first two decades of ministry in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) among the HMong people in the United States.

Seying received the award at the CHI’s 41st annual awards banquet held at Concordia Seminary. The annual awards recognized significant works published in 2014 related to the archives and history of the Lutheran church in the United States.

“I am grateful for this honor by CHI, but more importantly, I give God thanks and praises that the HMong people are an important part of LCMS history, a church body that continues to proclaim the saving Good News of Jesus as its central message,” Seying said. “Acknowledging HMong mission in this historic way after 40 years of HMong ministry in the LCMS is a good step forward for the church in embracing the opportunities to reach people of all cultures, especially in the United States where all the world is here.”

Seying, associate dean for urban and cross-cultural ministry and the first ordained HMong pastor in the LCMS, joined the Concordia Seminary faculty this academic year. He oversees the Seminary’s ethnic pastoral formation programs, the Center for Hispanic Studies and the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology.

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.