TOGETHER The place that brought us

By Keisha T. Dyson

A Seminary Born In Chaotic Times

it was formed; and the political, social, and cultural conditions that shaped it.

In this commemorative edition of the Epistle magazine, we plan to warp time— taking you back to our yesteryears and leaving you with a vision of our tomorrow. We hope to tell stories that capture the broadest perspective and paint the most transparent view of our thriving institution. Tracing the history of our seminary through time, we will explore some of the most significant moments of our institution through the people who experienced them in the world and in the place we once called home.

America in the 1960s was a country fraught with conflict. Political and ideological clashes that persist today reverberated throughout society then as the nation grappled with questions of equity and freedom. An era that began with the high hope of becoming a Golden Age ended in turmoil, marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and antiwar protests, and political assassinations.

In this context,LSTC was born when five Lutheran seminaries officially became one under the newly formed Lutheran Church in America (LCA). At that time, Philip Hougen, former interim president of LSTC, was a seminary student at

Augustana Seminary. He recalls that period as a dynamic time, mixed with the emotions of overwhelm and excitement.

“It seemed like a great new venture,” remembers Hougen. “The overwhelming part for me, having grown up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was moving to the urban setting of Chicago. The exciting part was that we came as 13 students from Augustana Seminary in Rock Island. And that was a small group related to the whole class, coming from five different seminaries.”

Before the merger, each of the the seminaries faced challenges. Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary was remote and isolated due to its location in Maywood, Illinois. Augustana Theological

Seminary, Grand View Seminary, and Suomi Theological Seminary were located on college campuses but the communities desired further intellectual and cultural stimulation. To compound these challenges, each was experiencing declining enrollment. There was no doubt that they would be stronger together.

“My sense is that the mission of LSTC, in the minds of its founders, was to put together these relatively small Midwestern seminaries—some of which were more viable than others—to form LSTC in an urban setting,” said Hougen. “In this new urban setting with its relationship to the city and university, LSTC became a presence for teaching Lutheran theology in the context of a major university and the city of Chicago.”

In 1958, an inter-seminary committee was formed to explore a merger among the institutions and to search for a new seminary location. Holding the values of their European forebearers, committee members were convinced that a university setting was imperative for the training of pastors in modern society. It was therefore decided that if and when the schools were to officially combine, they would be affiliated with a larger academic community to help sustain and challenge the academic life of faculty and students where LSTC could gain and give in an academic and civic environment.

The Chicago area presented the seminary with two prestigious institutions to consider for partnership: Northwestern

University and the University of Chicago. As for the location, a case was made by members of the committee for the seminary to be located in Chicago. Proposed locations included Rock Island, Maywood, and locations on the North and South Side of Chicago. Today, their decision to relocate to Hyde Park seems like the obvious choice, given the seminary’s goals. But back then, the decision wasn’t so simple. The president of the Maywood campus was vying for the seminary to move to its existing location in Maywood, and, for a while, Augustana representatives supported this idea.

Eventually, all representatives agreed that the school should be located in Chicago or the Chicagoland area. Still, after a visit to the University of Chicago, the site committee was underwhelmed. In a report about the visit, the committee said, “The sociological situation in the vicinity of the university is a recognized problem of enormous proportion. It is not an inviting prospect.”

The debate continued for more than two years without a solution in sight. Ultimately, pressure to arrive at a decision came when Augustana Seminary’s president, Karl Mattson, announced that the school was ready to merge. Reinvigorated by this change, a new site committee was appointed to study Northwestern University and the University of Chicago locations. The new committee felt strongly that nothing should deter them from studying the University of Chicago’s location.

“Proximity to a university also means close involvement with city life,” the committee reported on February 21, 1961. “We heartily concur with your judgment that if theological students are to minister effectively upon ordination to the urban and suburban areas in which so many Lutheran churches are located, they should learn the problems of these churches while yet students.”

Finally, nearly a year after the schools merged, an announcement was made that the seminary would be located near the University of Chicago.

The public announcement of the new LSTC site in September 1964 sparked a petition and ongoing protests by U of C students and community members. Opposition grew from the community with claims that LSTC’s construction plans threatened residential security.

Partnership With U Of C

In April 1965, the cooperative agreement between the U of C and LSTC was approved by the LSTC Board of Directors. Through the original deal, students of both institutions would share access to library resources and would be allowed to enroll in courses on either campus. LSTC students were also permitted the use of the university’s fitness facilities with a quarterly fee.

Our affiliation with U of C continues to enrich the LSTC community today through access to its libraries, shuttle and food services, graduate housing, and academic and cultural programs.

It also provides opportunities for students to access unique academic opportunities. LSTC’s dual degree program with the U of C’s School of Social Service Administration, for example, makes it possible for LSTC master of arts or master of divinity students to complete both the AM degree (equivalent of a master’s in social work) and their LSTC degree in one year less than it would take to earn them separately.

THE BUILDING’S DESIGN

When discussions began about the building’s design, Presidentelect Stewart Herman Jr. told the architects, “Everything about the new building should express the fullest possible communication between our theological training, the world around us, and God above us. Architecturally, it seems to me that this may be indicated by avoiding the usual cloistral or sequestered effect.”

When the architects returned with their drawings, they presented a design concept that envisioned a three-story, three-building complex with a curtain wall façade of glass and metal containing an interior open court. Each building was designed to rest on four concrete pedestals. This construction would permit a cut-away entrance at each corner of the building, providing an open view of the center court.

Protests Against The Building

Though the U of C was an eager and supportive partner, as the seminary began purchasing property, opposition grew from the community with claims that LSTC’s construction plans threatened residential security. The public announcement of the new LSTC site in September 1964 sparked a petition and ongoing protests by U of C students and some community members.

To assist in the development of better community relations, the board created a Lutheran Neighborhood Committee and announced its plan to relocate students into other apartments owned by the school. Other residents were to be assisted in securing housing by the Department of Urban Renewal.

In a letter sent July 8, 1963, to the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and other organizations, the board explained, “In the selection of the site and the formulation of our plans, we have sought to minimize any impact upon non-white families. Of the 199 units, only 31 involve non-white families.”

Despite the committees’ intentions, today we are aware of the impact of structural racism, which manifested itself through the urban renewal projects from the 1950s and 1960s, resulting in people of color disproportionately experiencing discrimination, redlining, and exclusionary policies.

Convocation And Building Dedication

On June 24, 1967, three months before the seminary officially opened, Central Lutheran Theological Seminary became the fifth LCA seminary to enter the merger. Although the building was incomplete, the seminary opened as scheduled on October 1 and held a dedication ceremony later that month.

In his book, LSTC: Decade of Decision, Harold Skillrud writes, “From a make-shift podium, speaking to faculty, staff, and students and friends sitting on paper covered concrete risers, President Herman compared the design concept of the new school in which they were gathered to the task it was built to serve. In a reference to the proximity of the University of Chicago, he pleaded that the seminary enterprise relates its theology to the knowledge explosion of the age.” This was just the beginning for LSTC in its building located at 1100 E. 55th Street. Over the next several decades, the seminary would demonstrate there was much more to come.

When the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago held its first chapel service in Rockerfeller Chapel on Sunday, May 3, 1964, it was to inaugurate Stewart Herman Jr., the seminary’s first president, who had been guiding LSTC from its two locations in Rock Island and Maywood while planning, fundraising, and building the new campus.

In his inaugural speech, Herman set forth the school’s educational ideals in a room filled with more than 1,000 people. “LSTC comes into a complicated world of rapid social change,” said Herman. “Interaction between the church and the world must constantly be encouraged for the welfare of both. LSTC has no intention of avoiding such interaction.”