{"id":10044,"date":"2025-03-13T18:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T18:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/?p=10044"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:47:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:47:40","slug":"one-mission-many-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"One Mission, Many Ways"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How, where, and when we teach, learn, and work has changed significantly in recent years. In planning for the ongoing fulfillment of our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities, we must engage the many ways the church and society are evolving and how the pandemic has permanently reshaped our expectations of work, study, and life in community.<\/p>\n<p>What will the church and our learners require of us in the future? At Luther Seminary, we are responding to this question by investing in a full array of teaching modalities\u2014from fully online courses to in-person intensives, from hybrid classes with in-person and virtual instruction to fully residential courses and travel abroad courses. We have led through years of growing pains and continue to lead into a hope-filled future, so that we can continue to prepare the next generation of leaders.<\/p>\n<p>I shared with you last month that our finances are not an obstacle to our ministry but are, in fact, a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/13\/what-a-strong-seminary-can-offer\/\">source of strength<\/a><\/strong>. That said, building additional pathways and entry points to break down barriers, expand access, and develop leaders for the church requires ongoing investment. Equipping faculty to succeed in teaching in multiple settings and equipping staff to succeed in a hybrid work environment are true challenges, including the ongoing expenses of keeping our educational and professional technologies functional, robust, and secure.<\/p>\n<p>Our investments have already borne much fruit. Learners show up for remote courses and in-person intensives in full force. Our students\u2019 academic performance tells us that our faculty instruction is flourishing both in the classroom and online. The seminary\u2019s hybrid staff workforce is nimble, flexible, and innovative. And in adjusting our curriculum and programs to ensure the fulfillment of our mission for the long term, we are faithfully considering how we use our physical campus.<\/p>\n<p>Theological education delivered in multiple formats and locations is here to stay. This approach requires investment, and we think our mission is the better for it. Together we must lead in preparing leaders for the changing shape of church by embracing an understanding of church that \u00a0includes inherited forms of congregational life, today&#8217;s dynamic realities, and new forms of Christian community\u00a0 that meet neighbors where they are.<\/p>\n<p>We thank God for the continuing invitation to experiment, innovate, and adapt to support our students, who go out to serve local congregations and communities and the church around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Peace,<\/p>\n<p>Robin Steinke<br \/>\nPresident<\/p>\n<p>Read other installments in our winter 2025 series on how Luther Seminary continues to lead in providing theological education for the church:<br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/24\/disruptions-and-discernment-in-theological-education\/\">Disruptions and Discernment in Theological Education<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; January 2025<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/13\/what-a-strong-seminary-can-offer\/\"><strong>What a Strong Seminary Can Offer<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; February 2025<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/reimagining-leadership-everywhere\/\"><strong>Reimagining Leadership Everywhere<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 April 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How, where, and when we teach, learn, and work has changed significantly in recent years. In planning for the ongoing fulfillment of our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities, we must engage the many ways the church and society are evolving and how the pandemic has permanently reshaped our expectations of work, study, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10045,"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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>One Mission, Many Ways - 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\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Mission, Many Ways - Luther Seminary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How, where, and when we teach, learn, and work has changed significantly in recent years. In planning for the ongoing fulfillment of our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities, we must engage the many ways the church and society are evolving and how the pandemic has permanently reshaped our expectations of work, study, and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\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\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jspies001\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d\"},\"headline\":\"One Mission, Many Ways\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\",\"name\":\"One Mission, Many Ways - Luther Seminary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"A person in a white robe with a colorful stole stands at a wooden podium, speaking in a formal setting.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One Mission, Many Ways\"}]},{\"@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":"One Mission, Many Ways - 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\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"One Mission, Many Ways - Luther Seminary","og_description":"How, where, and when we teach, learn, and work has changed significantly in recent years. In planning for the ongoing fulfillment of our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities, we must engage the many ways the church and society are evolving and how the pandemic has permanently reshaped our expectations of work, study, and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/","og_site_name":"News","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LutherSeminary","article_published_time":"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg","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\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/"},"author":{"name":"jspies001","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/cf7bd84710a2a1d2614950515048224d"},"headline":"One Mission, Many Ways","datePublished":"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/"},"wordCount":448,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/","name":"One Mission, Many Ways - Luther Seminary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-13T18:53:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T14:47:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/03\/Robin-Steinke_March-2025.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"A person in a white robe with a colorful stole stands at a wooden podium, speaking in a formal setting."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/13\/one-mission-many-ways\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One Mission, Many Ways"}]},{"@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\/10044","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=10044"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10061,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10044\/revisions\/10061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}