{"id":10022,"date":"2025-01-24T14:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T14:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=10022"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:46:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:46:48","slug":"disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theological education, like the church itself, is in a period of significant transition. At Luther Seminary, we are deeply engaged in conversations about what it means to faithfully steward our mission for the long term.<\/p>\n

How can we educate leaders not only for today\u2019s church but for Christian communities that will look very different in the future? What must we let go of to be open to God\u2019s summons into our future work?<\/p>\n

Major shifts in attendance and engagement in the ELCA and other denominations, along with enrollment patterns in higher education broadly, are profoundly affecting Luther Seminary. Changes in how, when, how often, and where students enroll in courses\u2014most obviously the seismic shifts toward part-time and distance learning\u2014have disrupted all aspects of a traditional seminary education. We do not know exactly how these trends will shape our mission in the years to come, but we are blessed to answer these questions from a position of strength.<\/p>\n

We track, discuss, and learn from the data available to us about the institutions we serve and of which we are a part. I want to share with you here and in subsequent updates some of the key data points about theological education that we are thinking about and discussing regularly at the seminary.<\/p>\n

The current reality across all member schools in the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) is that from 2004\u20132023 the number of degree-seeking students is down over 10%. We expect this decline to continue or level out but do not expect any upswings in enrollment numbers across the ATS.<\/p>\n

The numbers are yet more sobering within the ELCA, which saw a 57% decrease in overall enrollment during that same twenty-year period. During this time, Luther Seminary itself experienced the same decrease of 57%, going from 804 to 344 total enrolled students.<\/p>\n

Even with these decreases, however, God continues to call many people to pursue education that will help them lead and serve the church. We give thanks for the 371 students who are enrolled in our degree programs at Luther Seminary, and we are grateful to be in a position of strength with regard to our broader learning community. Last year alone, over 8 million people across the globe engaged our digital ministries, including Faith+Lead, Working Preacher, God Pause, and Enter the Bible.<\/p>\n

These are remarkable numbers, and they signal a deep desire in the U.S. and nearly everywhere else in the world to continue learning about and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

The church is changing. Luther Seminary is changing, too. In delivering theological education, we must remain open to the Spirit\u2019s guidance and become more nimble in our institutional life.<\/p>\n

We are glad you continue to journey with us in this work.<\/p>\n

Peace,
\nRobin Steinke
\nPresident<\/p>\n

Read other installments in our winter 2025 series on how Luther Seminary continues to lead in providing theological education for the church:
\nWhat a Strong Seminary Can Offer<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 February 2025
\nOne Mission, Many Ways<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 March 2025
\nReimagining Leadership Everywhere<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 April 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theological education, like the church itself, is in a period of significant transition. At Luther Seminary, we are deeply engaged in conversations about what it means to faithfully steward our mission for the long term. How can we educate leaders not only for today\u2019s church but for Christian communities that will look very different in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newsletter","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDisruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Theological education, like the church itself, is in a period of significant transition. At Luther Seminary, we are deeply engaged in conversations about what it means to faithfully steward our mission for the long term. How can we educate leaders not only for today\u2019s church but for Christian communities that will look very different in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"258\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jspies001\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lutherseminary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lutherseminary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jspies001\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jspies001\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d\"},\"headline\":\"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Newsletter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\",\"name\":\"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":258,\"caption\":\"A person in a blue jacket stands in front of a large organ in a well-lit interior space.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Luther Seminary News\",\"description\":\"Luther Seminary\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Luther Seminary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Luther Seminary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/lutherseminary\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/lutherseminary\/\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LutherSeminary\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d\",\"name\":\"jspies001\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jspies001\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/author\/jspies001\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary","og_description":"Theological education, like the church itself, is in a period of significant transition. At Luther Seminary, we are deeply engaged in conversations about what it means to faithfully steward our mission for the long term. How can we educate leaders not only for today\u2019s church but for Christian communities that will look very different in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/","og_site_name":"News","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary","article_published_time":"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":258,"url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jspies001","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@lutherseminary","twitter_site":"@lutherseminary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jspies001","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/"},"author":{"name":"jspies001","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d"},"headline":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education","datePublished":"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/"},"wordCount":502,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg","articleSection":["Newsletter"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/","name":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education - Luther Seminary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-01-24T14:57:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T14:46:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/01\/Robin-Steinke_Jan-25.jpeg","width":250,"height":258,"caption":"A person in a blue jacket stands in front of a large organ in a well-lit interior space."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/","name":"Luther Seminary News","description":"Luther Seminary","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Luther Seminary","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/12\/LS_Box_Red_150x150_RGB.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Luther Seminary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary","https:\/\/x.com\/lutherseminary","http:\/\/instagram.com\/lutherseminary\/","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LutherSeminary"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d","name":"jspies001","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10852e3bfe5f1fd1bb10cb0004428b1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jspies001"},"url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/author\/jspies001\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10059,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10022\/revisions\/10059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}