With a recently minted divinity degree, Janet Karvonen-Montgomery ’15 M.Div. traveled to 15 countries around the globe and conducted 70 interviews with church leaders, including 50 women pastors. That was 10 years ago.
Karvonen-Montgomery’s experience as one of Luther Seminary’s Graduate Preaching Fellows—documented on her Inspired by the Call website—strengthened her call to ordained ministry and affirmed her voice for preaching the gospel in a world that needs words of grace and hope.
The experience also inspired her and husband Alan Montgomery to reinvigorate the Graduate Preaching Fellowship, after a long pause during the COVID pandemic, with a gift of $800,000.
Recipients begin their fellowship after graduation from Luther Seminary, spending anywhere from 1 to 12 months on their work, depending on the proposed project. Fellows travel to and learn from rural, suburban, and urban communities as they study preaching and ministry in a variety of cultural contexts.
Karvonen-Montgomery spent the entirety of her time as a Graduate Preaching Fellow in international settings. In this new iteration of the program, applicants are encouraged to consider domestic settings too. “Al and I are so pleased to see these latest proposals—both focused on ministry contexts in the United States—and hope they will inspire future applicants to dream and think creatively about future fellowships,” she said.
Susan Schmalzbauer ’25 M.Div. became a preaching fellow last fall and has since been conducting interviews and field observations of female interfaith clergy across Missouri and the US. Her project, “Preaching Protest: Amplifying Female Clergy Voices in the Justice Movement,” seeks to document and uplift the prophetic preaching of women clergy—preachers, pastors, rabbis, cantors, women religious—engaged in justice work. She plans to create an online archive featuring 50 recorded interviews and a public report on the landscape of female prophetic preaching.
“I was raised in an evangelical tradition where women rarely occupied the pulpit,” Schmalzbauer said. “So I understand firsthand the challenges women face in claiming authority as preachers and religious leaders.” She emphasizes that women’s contributions to the justice movement are often overlooked compared with those of their male counterparts and seeks to address this imbalance.
Karvonen-Montgomery was excited to read Schmalzbauer’s proposal because it reminded her of her own fellowship project. “Most of the preachers I interviewed were women who encountered resistance to their participation in God’s mission for the world. My work strengthened my confidence as a woman called to congregational ministry. Susan’s work couldn’t come at a better time. It takes courage to be a truth teller in a world with many false prophets. Susan will have the opportunity to hear and learn from courageous women clergy who speak truth to the forces of power at work in the world.”
Katie Weiland ’26 M.Div. became a fellow this spring and is exploring how ordained ministers and local leaders equip and empower laypeople to proclaim the gospel through preaching. “I am particularly interested in the models being used in rural congregations and how these compare with training practices at outdoor ministry sites and within suburban and urban congregations,” she said.
Weiland’s project stems from her conviction that preaching is not only a pastoral responsibility but also a communal act that reflects the priesthood of all believers. “My experiences as a camp counselor and lay professional at Lands Lutheran Church were formative in helping me recognize this broader vocation for myself. It was there, in a small rural congregation, that I first encountered the power and promise of lay preaching—an expression of faith I had not previously imagined could be part of my own call.”
Weiland is documenting her research and conversations in various ministry contexts across Minnesota and will then develop a guide for clergy and other ministry leaders to use in preparing others to preach the good news. “Katie’s own call to Luther Seminary came through her work as a lay preacher, so this project is really suited to her passion, experience, and knowledge,” said Karvonen-Montgomery. “There are many faithful people whose lives may not have afforded them a seminary degree but whose hearts and minds live in service of the gospel.”
For Karvonen-Montgomery, the impact of these experiences on the broader Christian community is central to her vision for the fellowship: “In a rapidly changing world, it is critical to give leaders the time and resources they need to inform the direction of their work. This financially supported educational opportunity may seem like a luxury to some, but Al and I think it helps recipients and others reimagine the kingdom of God in opportune ways. We are grateful to be yoked in this effort with Luther Serminary, a trustworthy partner for imagining new ways of sharing the good news with the world.”