Dcs. Dr. Jennie J. Asher

Dr. Jennie Asher joined the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis faculty in 2025 as director of Deaconess Studies. She brings decades of experience in education and diaconal ministry, both in the United States and abroad.

Before coming to the Seminary, Asher taught special education at New Discoveries Montessori Academy in Hutchinson, Minn. (2020-25). She previously served as a deaconess and missionary for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), working in Kaiserslautern, Germany (2016–20), and a primarily Muslim country in Eurasia (2014–16). She was assistant professor of Theology and director of the deaconess program at Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Ill. (2005–14). Earlier in her ministry, she served as a deaconess at Zion Lutheran Church, Marshall, Mich. (2002–05), and as Deaf Ministry Facilitator in the LCMS New England District (1993–97).

Asher holds a Bachelor of Science in special education (1983) and a Master of Science in special education (1992) from St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn. She completed the coursework for elementary teacher certification at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, Wis. (1986), and earned a Certificate of Advanced Studies and Deaconess Certification from Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Ill. (1993). She received a Doctor of Education in Educational Technology, Research and Assessment from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill. (2015).