This text from Revelation (21:5) was on a framed print inside the back door of my late parents’ home. Every time I visited and came in the back door—only family and friends entered through the back door in their rural Minnesota home—this text with the image of a tree stump with a tiny green shoot emerging was there to greet us all.
I have been thinking a lot about that image and how God nurtures new things. Luther Seminary continues to address the significant changes we are experiencing in church and world, trusting that God provides what is durable to the calling before us and will sustain us with hope, courage, and resiliency for whatever is ahead.
The center of our response, rooted in God’s steadfast promises, has been to cultivate a culture of curiosity that aligns closely with our educational mission. We do so with the recognition that, in a rapidly changing ecclesial and social landscape, humility and attentiveness to the cries of the world are vital to our leadership and to our witness to those very promises.
There is no longer one single model for congregational life nor for pastoral, diaconal, and discipleship preparation. A significant outcome of spending years within a culture of curiosity is that Luther Seminary’s educational offerings are adapting to become accessible to more and more people following their call to ministry. Our curriculum helps students prepare to lead in a variety of communities, serve within diverse expressions of church, and follow many different pathways to earning their degree or certificate.
Moving forward faithfully invites careful cultivation of all that has gone before us and attending to new voices. The summer 2026 issue of Story magazine shares stories that illuminate how theological education continues to honor and teach both the old and the new. As people of faith, we embrace stories and promises made in ancient times while also celebrating the unexpected and exciting ways God is moving in and among us. In this issue of Story, available in print and online, you will:
- Meet brothers bonded through an educational journey
- Learn how worship continues to serve as an anchor for our community
- Get to know church historian Jennie Wojciechowski ’19 Ph.D., whose scholarship and teaching opens up new ways of understanding the lives and legends of Christians from our past
I invite you to check out the entire magazine.
We all are experiencing what Christian communities are encountering in contexts all over the world—the intermingling of traditional and innovative forms of worship, service, learning, and discipleship that tell an old, old story while honoring the living tradition that we are invited to nurture. We trust that God is making all things new today, moving us toward faithful responses durable to this calling.
Peace,
Robin Steinke
President