While Luther Seminary thanks God for gifts for named scholarships, endowed chairs and special funds, it is unrestricted gifts — those with no strings attached — that are most crucial to keeping the seminary running each year.
Last year the Sustaining Fund and other budget-relieving gifts supported over 40 percent of the seminary’s budget! This is a powerful funding tool that helps to attract the best students and teachers, create strong programming and support the cost of operating the seminary.
What really makes the Sustaining Fund special, however, is that it entrusts the seminary’s leadership with the flexibility to use these gifts where they will have the greatest impact on the quality of seminary education our future church leaders are receiving.
Following are just a few highlights of areas the Sustaining Fund supported this past year:
- Hands-on learning: At Luther, the classroom extends far beyond the seminary campus. Individual congregations, organizations and neighborhoods serve as communities of learning and service for students. Each Master of Divinity (M.Div.) student receives a congregational placement from among designated missional congregations.
- Cross-cultural learning experiences: many of Luther’s students experience mission in countries around the globe and in cultures other than their own right here in the U.S. These experiences bring depth and understanding to their education and future ministries.
- Student scholarships: Gifts to the Sustaining Fund are used for top priorities in seminary education. The fund’s flexibility enables seminary leadership to adapt support as circumstances change. For example, as a result of the recent enrollment growth, the seminary was able to use Sustaining Fund dollars to assist students when demand for financial aid increased.
A special thank you to the thousands of donors who each year give generous gifts without strings. The mission of Luther Seminary depends on you.
Would you like to give a gift that you can be confident will be immediately put to use where it is most needed? You can use the giving envelope inserted in this issue of Story or contribute online to the Sustaining Fund at www.luthersem.edu/gifts–click on “Make a Gift.” Or call the Office of Seminary Relations at 651-641-3448, or 1-888-358-8437.