News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service
Leadership resignations follow seminary deficit A
s Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., reported a $4 million funding shortfall for 2012, its chief financial officer, Don Lewis, and president, Richard Bliese, resigned last November and December, respectively. Both had served since 2005.
The board of directors named an interim president, Rick Foss, and an interim chief financial officer, Wil- liam Frame. Foss, who took over Jan. 1, was
previously the seminary’s director of contextual learning. Before that, he served as bishop of the Eastern North Dakota Synod. Frame’s previous positions include chief financial officer of Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., and president of Augsburg College, Minneapolis. As of June 30, 2012, end of its fiscal year, Luther had $23 mil- lion in income, which was “$4 mil- lion less in revenue than we had in expenses,” said seminary board chair James Lindus. “That included depreciation, asbestos [remedia- tion costs], maintenance [costs for] aging buildings, an investment per- formance that was lower than we’d hoped and a less-than-ideal expense management.”
Seminary leaders are asking “‘How did we get here?’ so we don’t do it again,” Foss said. “We’re abso- lutely sure that the things that didn’t go well weren’t because someone didn’t mean well. Rick [Bliese] brought all kinds of good things here.”
The resignation decisions were
made “after prayerful deliberation,” and the board is working “to restore
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confidence,” Lindus said. “[Frame] has given us a realistic [financial] picture. ... We’re thinking we’ll have a balanced budget next year.” Working with faculty and staff,
the seminary’s leadership team has already put into place new finan- cial controls and management sys- tems, and is implementing a plan to strengthen the seminary’s finances. While declining enrollment is a concern, Lindus said the “5 percent decrease in overall enrollment, which is reflected across U.S. seminaries,” was less of a factor in the shortfall. Though down from a $76.8 mil-
lion endowment value as of June 30, 2011, “we still have a $70 mil- lion endowment and $100 million in assets,” Lindus said, emphasiz- ing that the seminary is financially secure. “But key for us is the ques- tion: ‘How are we going to make theological education sustainable for our students and faithful to the church so we have a long, bright future?’ ” For now, Foss said the seminary is taking “a reality-based road to hope,” avoiding the ditches of “wishful thinking” and “panic and doomsay- ing” on either side. Foss said he’s cognizant that fear over finances “can carry the tempta- tion of turning inward and [doing] things that are not our best selves.” To help prevent that, “we’re being as clear as possible about our com- munication,” he added. “Many good things are happening at Luther. We have some work to do, but we’ll be fine.”
Lindus said Luther Seminary hopes to begin a presidential search this May.
Lutherans Restoring Creation has an Energy Stewards Initiative to help ELCA congregations and camps lower energy use, reduce carbon emissions and save money. A $10 a month subscription to the two-year program includes a step-by-step pro- cess to lower energy use; webinars; online charts that track gas, electric and water usage; resources to help congregation members lower energy use in their homes; consultation with energy experts; networking and shar- ing with other participants; and more. Some grant monies are available to help fund participation. Learn more at
www.lutheransrestoringcreation. org (click “Energy Stewards Initia- tive”) or email director Peter Bakken (
pwbakken@gmail.com).
Templeton grant for LSTC
The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Zygon Center for Religion and Science (
www.zygoncenter.org) received a grant of nearly $200,000 from the John Templeton Foundation to help future clergy and lay leaders connect religious wisdom and scien- tific knowledge. Center director Lea Schweitz (page 24) will take the lead in developing curricula for existing required seminary classes. One goal
Quote
I could tell there was this real need, real hunger, at least in my denomination, for there to be some response that is not only prayers and expressions of sad- ness, but also a call to action.
Jim Winkler, general secretary of the
United Methodist Church’s public policy arm, the General Board of Church and Society, talking to The New York Times about religious groups mobilizing for stricter gun control policies.
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