Students at Luther Seminary learn and lead wherever God calls and sends them—and they are living, learning, and leading all over the place. This fall, we welcomed one of our largest entering classes at Luther Seminary in nearly a decade. As of this writing, our students reside in 43 states and hail from 16 countries around the world.

More and more of our students are distributed learners who take classes, travel to Minnesota several times a year for intensive learning, and, for some, begin their journey in leadership by engaging in nondegree programs. In this issue of Story, we look deeply into the experiences of our students, their processes of discernment, and the significant changes we have seen in recent decades in who attends seminary, why, and when.

Paths to ministry leadership have always been wide-ranging, with recent trends toward older, second-career students, more women in ministerial studies, and an increase in adult converts to Christianity engaging in theological study. Luther Seminary also has more denominational diversity and vocational scope than ever before. Read more about these historical trends in “A time for everything.” Luther has responded by offering new and expanding ways of delivering education, providing housing, financing theological study, and completing contextual education as a distributed learner, embedded in a faith community. In “A seminary without walls,” you can read more about what student life looks like today.

As the church and Luther Seminary accompany people at various stages of discerning their call to ministry, we see evolving needs for how to support prospective students, current students, and our alumni in this ongoing journey of listening to God’s call. Read more about the range of opportunities Luther Seminary offers—retreats, classes, conversations, events, and many other avenues for “holy conversations”—in “Discerning a call to ministry.”

Luther Seminary has been providing theological education well beyond the walls of our St. Paul campus for decades now. We are grateful for the Spirit’s guidance as we continue our mission of educating Christian leaders for the church and helping them discern their ongoing call to follow Jesus.

Grace and peace,

Robin J. Steinke
President