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Luther receives grant from ELCA

Date 12/10/1998 12:00 AM | Topic: News

Luther has received an $800 grant from the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America (ELCA) to assist in the ongoing conversations about the vocation of a Lutheran college. Luther supplemented the grant with $200. Most of the money has been spent on books that address this topic.

The books purchased are The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universities from their Christian Churches, by James Tunstead Burtchaell, and How Church-Related are Church-Related Colleges? by Richard W. Solberg and Merton P. Strommen.

Each faculty and staff member also received a book titled Lutheran Higher Education - An Introduction for Faculty, by Ernie Simmons.

The grant has also been used to support the Text and Issues Lecture Series that took place earlier this semester.

The mission statement of the college raises such questions as, "What does it mean to be 'the church in higher education?'" and "How should our dedication to 'faith and learning' be manifested?"

According to David Anderson, dean of the college, this is a crucial time for continuing the discussion of the identity and mission of the college.

"Higher education is really on shifting ground right now, and not just at Lutheran schools, but at all colleges," said Anderson. "We need to take into consideration the things that make us different from other colleges, the things that make us distinctly Lutheran, like daily chapel, having campus pastors, and the general atmosphere of the college."

Besides the grant, many events have taken place continuing the conversation of what it means to be a Lutheran college. Many faculty members have taken part in conferences over the past year.

In June, Mary Hull Mohr, professor of English, Mark Muggli, professor of English, Wilfred Bunge, professor of religion, and Martin-Schramm attended "Models for Christian Higher Education: Strategies for Success in the 21st Century," at the University of Notre Dame, sponsored by Pepperdine University and funded by the Lilly Endowment.

In August, James Griesheimer, professor of .music, Nancy Barry, professor of English, Dale Nimrod, professor of chemistry, John Lund, career development center director, and Carter Hanson, professor of English attended the "Vocation of a Lutheran College" conference at Wittenberg University. The conference is held each year at different institutions.

Also in August, Jim Martin-Schramm, professor of religion, attended the "ELCA Convocation of Teaching Theologians," in Chicago.

Storm Bailey, professor of philosophy, was selected in May to be a participant in the "Rhodes Consultation on the Future of the Church-Related College," a 15-month national study funded by the Lilly Endowment.

"In that capacity he has convened a discussion group of faculty on campus to study the issues involved with church-related higher education," said Anderson. "The purpose of all these conferences is to have the attendees bring back to campus what they have learned and share it with the community."

Anderson said he was pleased with the Text and Issues Lecture Series, but he was a little disappointed with the turnout of both faculty and students.

When it comes right down to it, all this dialogue is meant to spark a close examination of the mission statement of Luther College, to see if it is okay, or if it needs to be refined.

"I believe that all of our faculty is committed to our mission statement, but there is a variety of interpretations of what the mission statement actually means," said Anderson.

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Maren Loken
Chips Staff Writer

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