Enhancing Boards of Directors for Lutheran Institutions • Vocation and Life
• "Why I became a Lutheran" • Story Feature

The Luther Institute works on occasional and special projects with other partner organizations and individuals. These may be single events, or pilot projects for longer term work. For information on any of the special projects, please contact The Luther Institute.

Enhancing Boards of Directors

The Luther Institute undertakes as part of its mission the call to enhance leadership among Lutheran institutions, primarily social ministry organizations and institutions of higher education. Programs in this project bring together administrators and board members from institutions representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for discussions and dialogue over the significant questions facing those institutions as they maintain a Lutheran profile for a new time. For further information about this project, please contact The Luther Institute.

The Lutheran theology of vocation can be a concept difficult to understand. Vocation refers to the call to service on behalf of God’s interests in the world given to all the baptized as they work this out in daily lives, including their professional lives. Difficulties or ambiguities might exist in the call to work out one’s vocation in the world. The potential for conflict between issues of faith and professional decisions create the opportunity for unresolved tensions. This project brings together in small gatherings individuals from various walks of public life to talk about some of these ambiguities and difficulties, and how they are managed. For more information about this project, contact The Luther Institute.

"Why I became a Lutheran"

When did you become a Lutheran? Why? If you became a Lutheran as an adult, the Luther Institute would like to hear your story. If you were raised Lutheran, left the church and returned as an adult, we would like to hear your story, too.

Many people think of Lutherans as Northern Europeans or European-Americans. But the Lutheran Church is a global church and growing fastest outside of the United States. Here in the United States, many come to Lutheranism from other traditions.

Adults may come to the Lutheran church for various reasons–its theology, the richness of Lutheran liturgy and music, or the strong sense of community in Lutheran congregations. Adults who join/rejoin the Lutheran tradition explain and describe it in ways that are instructive and inspirational.

The Luther Institute is collected stories about "becoming a Lutheran" for possible publication. You may request that your story remain anonymous. If you would like to contribute your story, please send a short essay (no more than 3 pages) to Dr. Michael Kuchinsky, Vice-President, The Luther Institute, 226 East Capitol St., Washington, DC 20003, or e-mail your story to mitchell@lutherinst.org. E-mail transcripts are encouraged.

Feature Report

The following story comes from one of the projects of the Luther Institute. Contact the Luther Institute for more information or to express your comment about the story.