Monday, January 1, 2018

Six Seminaries Merged into One To Form LSTC ELCA -
With Side Helpings of Jesuits and Presbyterians -
And They Are Still Flailing Away and Failing...
Fifty Years Later

 LSTC finally returned a Greek manuscript taken
100 years ago and kept in its library (from an earlier school).
Unfortunately, the overdue fines will bankrupt the seminary,
the district, and ELCA. Just kidding.

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (ELCA) was formed from no less than six different schools -

  1. Augustana Seminary - Swedish
  2. Grand View - Happy Danes
  3. Suomi - Finns
  4. Maywood - ULCA. The original campus from Passavant. His first purchase from his own money became Wrigley Stadium.
  5. Central Seminary, Nebraska - ULCA.
  6. Seminex - Ten faculty who left Concordia, St. Louis, including gay activist Deppe. They arrived late and stuck together to get things done their way, but promised funds for them never arrived.
In partnership, the Jesuits moved to the campus with their library. McCormick Presbyterian Seminary moved there,  sharing signage with LSTC, but they have moved out.

 Conrad Bergendoff remembered us from Augustana days when he was in a nursing home at around the age of 100.

Conrad Bergendoff (Augustana Synod) really wanted a merged seminary near the U. of Chicago campus, where he earned his PhD, so the LCA picked this location, some said to honor his original dream. Mrs. Ichabod and I attended a seminary president's inauguration at the gloomy Rockefeller Chapel, at the U. of Chicago campus. From time to time we were at LSTC, partly to  finish research on my dissertation.



 This property became Wrigley Stadium after the campus moved out to Maywood. Below is the LSTC campus, which broke up urban housing to serve the Hyde Park area.


McCormick Presbyterian Seminary constructed a building closing off the LSTC open campus, in 2003.

No less than six years later, McCormick's board voted to end the real estate sharing at LSTC, due to financial pressures. Their address is 5460 S. University Avenue Chicago, IL 60615.

Somehow a Jesuit School of Theology is involved in this history, at least in the library, called JKM - for Jesuit-Krauss-McCormick.

LSTC, created by six ELCA merged seminaries, now has 91 MDiv students enrolled.

Julie Sevig helps write the LSTC magazine.
She wrote this about Obama worshiping in Eau Claire.


TUITION
& FEES

Rates are for the 2017-2018 Academic Year.

MASTER OF DIVINITY & MASTER OF ARTS

Tuition* (9 courses at $1,870 per class)$16,830
Activities Fee$70
Technology Fee$150
Total Tuition & Fees**$17,050

ADVANCED STUDIES: MASTER OF THEOLOGY & DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Tuition* (6 courses at $3,650 per class)$22,800
Activities Fee$50
Technology Fee$150
Total Tuition & Fees**$23,000
*Full-time: MDiv=9 courses, MA=8 courses, ThM/PhD=6 courses
*Audited courses are charged at half of the course rate indicated for the specific degree program.
**Other fees may include: Continuing relations fee - $3,800; Affiliation fee - $900; Graduation fee - $350 (plus robe rental)