Excellent seminaries are important to everyone who needs the Gospel. Well-formed pastors, deaconesses, ordained missionaries and theological leaders are vital to our life together as they faithfully and accurately teach the Gospel.
For our entire history as The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, well-formed and compassionate pastors have been important because the Gospel, faithfully delivered in Word and sacraments, is essential to each of us.
The LCMS supports two seminaries — Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis — with Sunday-morning worship offerings set aside by congregations for district and national/international work.
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The LCMS national office acknowledges the level of financial subsidy it provides is woefully insufficient to fully operate either seminary, let alone both.
The LCMS Joint Seminary Fund was established to supplement the Synod subsidy by directly soliciting the church for charitable donations. Gifts to the LCMS Joint Seminary Fund are restricted exclusively to supporting both of our world-class seminaries.
Our LCMS seminaries have only three sources of operating revenue:
- Investment income from endowment
- Tuition paid by students after financial aid is awarded (often in the form of student loans)
- Financial gifts graciously supplied by God’s people
The LCMS Joint Seminary Fund helps raise the last type, functioning as a line of defense against passing rising educational costs on to seminary students via higher tuition.
Those who designate gifts and bequests for LCMS Joint Seminary Fund combine vital financial resources, walking together in a way that supplies approximately $2 million annually in supplemental unrestricted funding to help educate our future pastors and other theologically-trained leaders.
Fiscal Year 2018 Audited Report
Those gifts cover expenses directly in a way that keeps them off each seminarian’s tuition bill.
Unless otherwise specified by the donor, a gift to The LCMS Joint Seminary Fund is disbursed to both seminaries as unrestricted support. At the discretion of their boards of Regents, these vital funds can be used to cover necessary seminary expenditures, such as:
- Teaching and research (faculty)
- Curriculum and program development
- Facilities maintenance, upgrades and construction
- Student financial aid
- Recruitment of students, faculty and support staff
- Continuing education for our current pastors
- Distance education programs
- Wherever the need is greatest as determined by the seminaries
Support The LCMS Joint Seminary Fund
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For more information, please contact:
Cindy Simpson
LCMS Joint Seminary Fund *
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63122
888-930-4438
* LCMS Joint Seminary Fund staff are members of the Mission Advancement unit of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The Fund itself is managed under the auspices of Pastoral Education, under the oversight of Synod’s Chief Mission Officer.