THE PROMISE of tomorrow’s leaders

By Rhiannon Koehler

BUSINESS LEADER AND CHAIR OF FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES LARRY TIETJEN UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF PHILANTHROPY TO THE SUCCESS OF SEMINARIES AND FAITH COMMUNITIES IN A WAY FEW CAN CLAIM. “MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT A PASTOR’S EDUCATION IS FUNDED BY THE CHURCH,” TIETJEN SAYS. “AND THAT’S NOT THE CASE. A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THEIR EDUCATION IS FUNDED BY THE SYNOD AND THE CHURCH.”

Perhaps, then, it is no surprise that there is a global shortage of well-trained, ethical, Christ-centered leaders. After all, congregations, faith-based communities, educational environments and nonprofits are all in need of the guidance and support that stems from training provided by institutions like the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

This financial need led Tietjen to answer the call of one of his friends, Board of Directors member Harry Meuller, 19 years ago when Mueller asked Tietjen to join him in philanthropic leadership at LSTC. For Tietjen, whose father—the Rev. John H. Tietjen—was the President at Concordia Seminary/Seminex and taught on the campus of LSTC for years while acting as a driving force behind the creation of the

ELCA, it was a homecoming.

Over the past two decades, Tietjen and his wife Christie have worked as a unit to support some of LSTC’s most important philanthropic efforts in the hopes of equipping future leaders in our church and world with the skills and support they need to thrive.

Tietjen remembers with great clarity when, many years ago, former LSTC President James Kenneth Echols asked Larry and Christie if they would be willing to chair a comprehensive campaign. Larry feared he may be too busy.

“Dr. Echols made a smart move,” Tietjen said. “He picked up the phone and called Christie, my wife, and invited us to Chicago. We toured the seminary, we understood the needs, and when Dr. Echols asked if we would be willing to co-chair the campaign, Christie goes, ‘How can we say no?’”

Larry and Christie were significantly impacted when the Kolschowski family made a commitment during the campaign to invest in and form LSTC’s Center of Christian and Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice. Larry and Christie recall being at a dinner with Jerry and Karen Kolschowski and reflecting afterword upon how great it would be if they could make a significant contribution in the form of a Chair in the future.

“Over the years, one of the things that we’ve felt that has been missing in different environments is the component of theologically based leadership training,” Tietjen said. It was a pivotal moment for the Tietjens. Upon the sale of their software business, they created the Tietjen Family Foundation, thus enabling the creation of the Damm Chair in Leadership, named for the Rev. Dr. John Silber Damm, pastor, professor and seminary president, a close Tietjen family friend and mentor.

“Our vision for the Chair is that the associated leadership center becomes a funding mechanism for the seminary, not through contributions, but through delivering such value that churches want to send their pastors to classes, non-profits want to send their leaders, schools want to send their principals to gain leadership skills and potentially even business leaders like myself would want to take advantage of a theologically based center of excellence for leadership,” Tietjen said.

The goal, writ-large, is to create a mechanism that will support creating leaders in the church.

Tietjen hopes, as do leaders like Mueller, that the philanthropic value of LSTC will continue to become more evident over time.

“I think any giving to the school is an investment,” Mueller said in a 2020 address. “What you’re really producing is students and graduates who become pastors and church leaders who for many years will be the beneficiaries of whatever you gave.”

Today, Larry and Christie are working together in support of the upcoming Campaign for LSTC as well as supporting the final development of the Damm Chair intiatives, and Larry continues to guide the Board of Trustees.

“I think the board of trustees has in the past made significant impact on LSTC in direction and support and will continue to do that,” he said. “Now we have an opportunity for people to connect more with LSTC, to be more involved and engaged, and I look forward to that.”