{"id":7816,"date":"2024-05-21T15:36:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T15:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/?p=7816"},"modified":"2025-08-13T20:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:36:54","slug":"theological-education-for-a-new-kind-of-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/2024\/05\/21\/theological-education-for-a-new-kind-of-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Theological education for a new kind of leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2019, Katie<\/strong> DeMarais<\/strong>\u2019 hometown congregation, Gary Lutheran Church, began the challenging process of searching for a pastor after its longtime leaders moved on to new calls.<\/p>\n

Members of the small congregation in rural northwest Minnesota, including DeMarais, stepped up to find a creative solution to an issue increasingly faced by many Christian communities\u2014the need for steady pastoral leadership amid a rapidly changing church landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily have the resources to be able to call a pastor,\u201d DeMarais said. So she and her congregation began to ask: \u201cHow can we connect with other churches in our area that are experiencing the same thing, that have been without a full-time pastor for many years?\u201d<\/p>\n

Though their work was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Gary Lutheran Church joined with other congregations in 2021 to form A New Journey Lutheran Parish. As part of that transition, DeMarais was commissioned as a synodically authorized minister (SAM). With synodical authorization and a supervising pastor, she is able to preach, baptize, preside over communion, and perform other ministerial duties for her parish.<\/p>\n

\"Graduate
Graduate certificate students Will Weikle <\/b>and Kate Roettger<\/b> walk with their cohort\u2019s mentor, Arlene Flancher<\/b>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of her training as a SAM, DeMarais decided to participate in Luther Seminary\u2019s first-ever graduate certificate cohort receiving the Jubilee Scholarship\u2014another creative solution that lifts up lay leaders amid clergy shortages. The cohort of students began classes in Fall 2023 alongside the seminary\u2019s graduate degree students, with mentorship from Director of Rural Ministries Jon Anderson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a SAM, you are commissioned, and then you are trained,\u201d DeMarais said. \u201cI hope to have enough of a theological understanding and basis to be able to preach authentically, steeped in the Lutheran tradition, so that I can feel more confident that what I am saying is actually what I should be teaching. Also, I hope I\u2019m personally able to build connections through the program and relationships with people who are doing the same type of ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeMarais\u2019 goals as a graduate certificate student align with the seminary\u2019s goals in revamping its certificate program with input from ELCA synod leaders. Following strong interest in the first experimental cohort that included DeMarais, Luther Seminary quickly developed a second graduate certificate cohort focused on children, youth, and family ministry, which began classes in January 2024.<\/p>\n

From there, seminary leadership worked to refresh the graduate certificate curriculum, formally strengthening the program to best serve future lay leaders and the church. The new curriculum, approved by the faculty in late February, outlines five graduate certificate concentrations: Christian ministry; Bible, history of Christianity, and systematic theology; children, youth, and family; cultivating new Christian communities; and ELCA candidacy completion.<\/p>\n

Going forward, the certificates are designed to provide a robust and flexible theological education in six courses\u2014four required concentration courses and two electives. Certificate students typically take one course at a time over two years. \u201cThis is right in sync with our mission at Luther Seminary,\u201d said Terri Elton \u201998 M.A., \u201907 Ph.D.<\/strong>, dean of academic affairs. \u201cAs the church changes and not every congregation is going to be able to get a leader with a master\u2019s degree, I think graduate certificates are a really good way of equipping another kind of leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing a need<\/h2>\n
\"Jon
Jon Anderson<\/b> talks with a cohort of graduate certificate students.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The idea to enhance the certificate program\u2014including expanding the Jubilee Scholarship to provide full tuition for certificate students\u2014came out of conversations between leaders of the seminary and ELCA Region 3 in the spring of 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we were listening,\u201d Elton said, \u201cone of the big shifts discussed was the church going from a professional model of leadership where everybody has a pastor with a master\u2019s degree and then is supported by volunteers, to the master\u2019s-level leaders supporting the lay people doing ministry\u2014a lay-led, clergy-supported versus a clergy-led, lay-supported model of ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

To help equip these lay ministers, Luther Seminary\u2019s leaders realized they could turn to the graduate certificate program. At the time, certificate students did not qualify for the Jubilee Scholarship. The certificates \u201cwere underutilized in our curriculum\u201d and had very low enrollment, Elton said.<\/p>\n

The seminary swiftly put together a plan to scholarship the Fall 2023 cohort of graduate certificate students who each needed to be nominated by synod leaders in Region 3, which covers Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. This effort yielded 11 students, including DeMarais. Each student is pursuing the certificate concentration of their choice.<\/p>\n

Building on this early success, the seminary recruited six students for the second cohort in partnership with the Minneapolis and St. Paul area synods. That group of students, who were required to already be working in ministry, is focused only on the Children, Youth, and Family Certificate and is mentored by Arlene Flancher, children, youth, and family coordinator and student advisor.<\/p>\n

Learning and growing as leaders<\/h2>\n

Students from both cohorts say they\u2019ve enjoyed the experience and are eager to continue learning in the seminary\u2019s supportive community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been cool to be in a more academic setting revolving around the things that I\u2019m learning and working through at church,\u201d said Will Weikle<\/strong>, a member of the second cohort who works as director of children, youth, and family at Grace Lutheran Church in Andover, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Weikle had been working at Grace Lutheran\u2014his hometown church\u2014for less than a year before starting the certificate program. Previously, he\u2019d been an elementary school teacher. He said the Children, Youth, and Family Certificate is an accessible way for him to further his theological education as he begins a new career in ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part is that it\u2019s covered by the Jubilee Scholarship,\u201d Weikle said. \u201cAnd it sounded very doable with one class at a time. That\u2019s a big deal. With it being a two-year program, it feels less complicated [than a master\u2019s degree program]. I\u2019m doing this for the specific experience in what I\u2019m doing already. Because I just want it for the actual knowledge, I don\u2019t feel like I need anything more than a certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Graduate
Graduate certificate students Roettger and Weikle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kate<\/strong> Roettger<\/strong>, director of children, youth, and family ministry at Cambridge Lutheran Church in Cambridge, Minnesota, had similar reasons for starting the graduate certificate program this January. However, only one class into the program, she\u2019s already thinking about potentially pursuing a master\u2019s degree at Luther Seminary, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very interested in using my time right now as an on-ramp into going for a master\u2019s,\u201d Roettger said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that sense of being within an environment where you\u2019re really digging in, and you\u2019re really wrestling with theological questions, and the colleagues that you\u2019re with, hearing different perspectives and different ways of doing ministry\u2014you\u2019re like, \u2018How can I not continue?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Roettger has worked in children, youth, and family ministry at various churches for over 10 years. She\u2019s contemplated attending seminary in the past, but she never felt it would be the right fit until now. Like Weikle, she said the Jubilee Scholarship helped make Luther Seminary feel accessible. Being in an educational cohort of other ministry professionals was a draw for Roettger as well.<\/p>\n

And if Roettger does decide to go for a master\u2019s degree after or instead of the certificate, all of the classes that she\u2019s already taken will transfer to the degree program. Elton explained, \u201cThis certificate program is unique in the sense that it\u2019s graduate-level education\u2014so it\u2019s a high bar\u2014but it also is scholarshipped and could go toward a degree program if you choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting certificate students and degree students in classes together not only paves the way for a certificate student to go on for their master\u2019s\u2014it also diversifies the perspectives in the classroom as students with varied levels of academic or ministerial experience learn from each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause our classes have master\u2019s students as well,\u201d DeMarais said, \u201cI feel like I\u2019m getting the same quality of education that anybody at Luther is getting. It\u2019s been great to be all together and to challenge each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

A wide-reaching impact<\/h2>\n

In addition to providing students with a rigorous and accessible theological education, the graduate certificate program aims to directly benefit the church. The first conversations about revamping the certificate program in partnership with Region 3 began just as Luther Seminary\u2019s MDivX experiment\u2014an accelerated Master of Divinity program\u2014was concluding. Synod and seminary leaders have said these experiments are evidence that the seminary is willing to continue to innovate and be nimble in response to the changing needs of the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Luther Seminary\u2019s enhanced graduate certificate program represents a crucial step in addressing the evolving landscape of Christian ministry professions within our cultural context,\u201d said Kris Bjorke \u201907 M.A., \u201918 <\/strong>D.Min.<\/strong>, assistant to First-Third Ministry for the Minneapolis Area Synod. \u201cSeminary institutions must attentively heed the evolving needs of the church and collaborate closely to continually adapt and innovate. Luther Seminary has exemplified this commitment through this initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the faculty mentor for the first cohort of certificate students and a former ELCA bishop, Anderson agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cExperiments are profoundly important for the seminary as an institution as it tries to figure out how to serve a rapidly changing church and large areas where it\u2019s very difficult to find an M.Div.-trained pastor to serve,\u201d he said. \u201cI think a lot of our assumptions about how to do church will become more fluid, and we\u2019re going to have to run experiments like this to figure out how we are going to grow capable ministers, deacons, and pastors in a world that is less likely to have as much privilege for churches and where churches may have a lot less power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Anderson and Flancher said they\u2019re eager for the seminary to continue to experiment for the benefit of future church leaders and the church overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the seminary has learned a lot about how to provide a flexible education and how to do it well,\u201d Flancher said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that with these experiments, our reach will continue to broaden even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anderson
Anderson and the first group of graduate certificate students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Refresh and expansion<\/h2>\n

Although students for the first two experimental graduate certificate cohorts were recruited in partnership with ELCA synods, Elton said future cohorts will be open to students from all ministerial backgrounds as the program expands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already decided that next year we\u2019re expanding the Jubilee Scholarship for certificates for anybody in ministry,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re still keeping the connection to synod or church leaders, but it\u2019ll be more ecumenical, too. We really partnered with our ELCA network for the two experiments that we did, and the program will certainly be open to ELCA people throughout the whole church, but it\u2019s not limited to ELCA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elton said seminary leaders are still deciding how future cohorts will be organized. Students may be grouped by certificate\u2014like the children, youth, and family cohort is\u2014or they may be structured in another way. \u201cIt depends on who signs up and where the interest is,\u201d she said, \u201cbut the idea would be that you would come in, get a cohort of students, and you would travel with that group through the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid any change, it\u2019s crucial for the seminary to continue listening to the needs of students and the church, Elton reiterated. \u201cThe fact that we were able to start something and learn quickly enough so that in a year we could open it up is kind of fun\u2014but that\u2019s all based on really good partnerships with the church,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, as a leader at Luther, I want people to know that we want to hear from you and we want to partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a rural ministry lay leader who has seen the power of partnerships within her parish, DeMarais said she\u2019s deeply grateful for Luther Seminary\u2019s collaborative effort through the certificate program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think participating in this program has benefits to my entire church community, helping to connect us to the larger church, to Luther, to the larger Lutheran body in general,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not feeling like we\u2019re on our own. It\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, there are people who care about you, and look at all the cool stuff we can do when we work together.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

Read more from Summer 2024<\/h2>\n