The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part III)

Control of Seminary Students

The rules and regulations governing theological students while in school are not dissimilar to those of any other school. Students are expected to be diligent in study, attend classes and, in general, carry themselves with respectable deportment. The one important exception is to be found in the Students' Special Manual of Concordia Seminary. The rules cover nearly eight pages of fine print and go into every imaginable detail. For example: A student must not have his door locked when he is occupying the room, except when he has retired. The furniture of the room should be dusted every day. The bed should be covered with a white bed-spread. If a student enters the building after twelve o'clock at night without registering his name with the proctor he is at once suspended from the institution. Students are expected to rise at six o'clock in the morning on days when classes are in session. Students are not allowed to enter upon marriage engagements, and "any familiar relation with members of the other sex is prohibited." (p. 128-129)

The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part II)

The Recruiting of Students for the Seminaries:
In a very real sense every pastor of the Missouri Synod is a recruiting officer. It is considered part of his work to be on the alert for boys and young men who may become ministers.

Each year the pastors receive application blanks from the nearest institute or college of the Missouri Synod. These blanks are to be handed to prospective students. One of the questions to be answered on this blank is: "Will the applicant enter ministerial course?" Upon invitation of the pastor of the local church a representative from the school may make a call in the parish, perhaps preach a sermon on the service to be rendered by entering the ministry, make personal contact with promising young men and in other suitable ways place the ministry before them as a possible life-work.

The parochial school offers ample opportunity for the accentuation of the ministry as a calling. Throughout the elementary years the children are under the constant care of the Church. The religious faith and church ideals of the Missouri Synod become their school environment. Everything else being equal, such an environment ought to cause more young men to choose the ministry than would one of a less churchly nature.

But the real recruiting agency of the Missouri Synod according to their own estimate is the denominational junior college. [footnote: In answer to the question: Do you have a definite recruiting agency? a representative from Concordia Seminary said: "Yes, our other schools." The next question, "About what per cent of your students are recruited through the following agencies: a, b, c, etc.," received  this reply: "All are recruited through our denominational junior colleges."]

In its catalog, one of these colleges suggests very definitely the manner in which such recruiting may operate:

As the courses interlock, the students in the different courses meet frequently also in the classrooms, and there are cemented ties of fellowship which may mean much for the Church in the later lives of these boys. Besides, it is found that some boys who cannot be induced to enter the Ministerial Course will enter one of the other courses, and later, with the seriousness of added years, do make the change and decide for the ministry.

How successful this recruiting system may be it is impossible to say, but the following statistics may be suggestive. According to the Lutheran World Almanac of 1927-1928 there were 1,960 students in Lutheran Theological Seminaries in America. Of these students 569 attended the two seminaries belonging to the Missouri Synod. At the same time the total communicant membership of all Lutheran bodies in America was 2,707,183, and of these, 675,956 belonged to the Missouri Synod. Translating this into percentages it is seen that the Missouri Synod had in its own seminaries 38 per cent of the total Lutheran theological students, while its percentage of the total communicant membership is only 25. Comparable data for all Lutheran seminaries are shown in the table on page 86. There may be several other factors operating, but the significant fact is that the Missouri Synod has proportionately more theological students in its seminaries than have the other Lutheran bodies. (p. 83-85)

Recruiting in the Missouri Synod is supposed to be accomplished by means of the parochial school, the local minister and the junior colleges. According to the figures in the table on page 86 this system is exceedingly successful from the point of view of numbers, for this Synod has one theological student for every 1,188 communicant members—the largest proportion among the seven great Synods. (p. 92)

The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part I)

The other day, I stumbled upon an interesting book in the library—The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America, by Oscar Ahlenius Winfield (Augustana, 1933). While I found the entire book to be worth reading, I have decided to only pull out certain quotes which pertain to the Missouri Synod, as well as a few other interesting tidbits of information. This post is part one. Excerpts pertaining to the recruitment of students for the seminary and the control of seminary students can be found at their respective links.

Basic Lutheran Ideas Regarding the Ministry:
Educational Qualifications: The ministers are, as a rule, required to spend three years at a Lutheran Seminary, preferably the seminary belonging to and controlled by the Synod into which the candidate for ordination wishes to enter.... The customary educational requirement for entrance to the seminary is the B.A. degree with reading knowledge of Latin and Greek, and in some cases, as in the Missouri Synod seminary at St. Louis, Hebrew is required for entrance. Since much of Lutheran Church work is carried on among immigrants, a large share of the ministers must be able to speak at least one modern European language. (p. 50-51)

Preparatory Education of Theological Students:
Elementary Education: The only Lutheran body that seriously sponsors a program of parochial elementary education is the Missouri Synod. This Lutheran group constitutes about one fourth of the Lutherans in America. According to its Statistical Yearbook there were 77,837 children in the parochial schools of the Synod in 1928 [excluding the Argentine and Brazil districts]. Another table in the same yearbook shows that there are 18,534 "Lutheran children" not attending the parochial school. This means that nearly 81 per cent of the school children of the Missouri Synod are attending its parochial schools.

No figures are available showing what percentage of the ministers of this Synod come from the parochial schools, but the proportion of 81 and 19 will probably hold its own. In other words, it seems safe to conclude that 81 per cent of the ministers come from the parochial schools. This seems more likely in view of the recruiting value that may lie in parochial education. (p. 68-69)

In the case of the Concordia Seminary at St. Louis, Missouri, owned and controlled by the Missouri Synod, 99 per cent [footnote: From statement by Dean Fritz in a personal letter to the writer] of the students have been educated in either the high schools of the Synod, or in one of its junior colleges. The junior colleges of this Synod are administered on a six-year plan, receiving students from the eighth grade of the parochial school. Ordinarily, one who has decided for the ministry will attend such a junior college, from which he may directly enter Concordia Seminary. The chart on page 71 (below) shows college and seminary enrollment, suggesting a very close coordination throughout. (p. 70-72)

What has been said of the Concordia Seminary and its relation to secondary education is equally true in its relation to college education. The Missouri Synod sponsors a system of junior colleges and in nearly every case the seminary at St. Louis receives its students from these colleges. (p. 73)