OUR NEW HOME

OUR NEW HOME AT CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION (CTU) IN HYDE PARK IS A CUSTOM FIT FOR THE LUTHERAN SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CHICAGO CAMPUS COMMUNITY.

Located on the fourth floor, this 25,000-square-foot space is designed to suit the needs of an agile 21st century seminary that recently expanded its residential degree program offerings to include distance learning tracks.

Leaning into our commitment to become a more sustainable institution, our new seminary location reduces waste through a design concept that matches our practical use.

Central to its design concept, our new location is a space created to inspire students, faculty, and staff by promoting individual and collaborative learning and working.

Significant features of the design include three classrooms, 30 offices, various small meeting rooms, a recording studio, a rare books room, work rooms, a flexible chapel, prayer and wellness spaces, and public gathering areas, including a café and the grand hallway. All areas were designed with student accessibility in mind, in keeping with our community’s values of inclusion, equity, and justice.

WHERE WILL WE GO?

In the site selection process, campus leaders first established some essential criteria for the new location. For instance, LSTC needed to remain in Hyde Park to fulfill the seminary’s mission. It also needed to be near LSTC’s campus housing and accessible by public transportation and the University of Chicago’s free transit system. When the options narrowed to two particular sites, LSTC looked closer to examine both prospective institutions’ missions, visions, ethos, and places where partnership opportunities might exist.

During town hall meetings and through other channels, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the board of directors were invited to share their feedback regarding the seminary’s final location.

As Catholic Theological Union

(CTU) emerged as a promising location and later as the singular option for LSTC, the opportunity to renovate became a central selling point for some who recognized this unique chance to make the new location feel like home.

Bob Berridge, senior project manager for the seminary, along with other campus leaders, knew LSTC would need to hire the right architecture firm to bring their vision to life.

After the LSTC team met and interviewed Dawn Newman of Charles Vincent George (CVG) Architects, it was clear the seminary had identified the right talent to design its new space.

Telling The Lstc Story Through Design And Space

As a designer and architect, Dawn Newman of CVG understands the value of weaving storytelling into spaces. She says that creating the right context with appropriate design elements helps shape how individuals associate with their environment.

“I’ve always loved designing educational spaces because you create the context where people will learn, experience, and grow,” Newman said. “I also love designing religious spaces, so the opportunity to work at LSTC was the perfect combination for me.”

For Newman, LSTC wasn’t just another project. It was an opportunity to create a setting that would serve as a backdrop where ideas and innovation flourish. Her design process started with listening to the campus community. CVG was particularly interested in learning how the campus used its space. The architects toured the building; listened to students, staff, and faculty; and scoured through the website and marketing materials to capture the essence of the seminary’s brand and character.

To keep the project moving, a small cross-functional core team began meeting weekly with CVG.

This group, consisting of three staff, two faculty, and two students with the additional support of Berridge and President James Nieman. The team was available to offer immediate feedback to the architects related to design considerations and budgeting. A larger campus-wide feedback team participated in the design process through a series of presentations, discussions, and surveys.

Early on, the needs that Newman’s group heard from the LSTC campus community boiled down to a few key points. The community desired a flexible and adaptive space that could be easily reconfigured. They thought it should be boldly constructed to encourage learning beyond tried and tested technologies and pedagogies.

LSTC also wanted the spaces to be creatively designed to inspire its community and inclusively designed to meet the needs of all learners.

This was a challenge Newman gladly accepted.

“There’s a huge trend for flexibility in the design of office and educational spaces. There’s more remote learning and work and less need for physical space,” said Newman. “So, the question becomes, how do you create spaces that could act as more than one thing? Can you have a chapel that could be used as a classroom space?

Could a big meeting room be a conference or a Zoom room?”

Newman also saw the value of bringing LSTC’s rich and treasured history into its current space without making it look stodgy or dated. By using some of the design parts from the old building—art pieces, the rare books collection, furniture from the chapel, and the stained-glass windows—Newman was able to make a connection from LSTC’s past to its present. When designing the layout, Newman also saw an opportunity to tell a story. She says thinking about zones, or naming spaces, provides an optimal organizational framework to cultivate various experiences.

The resulting layout is a colorcoded floorplan with interactive spaces where worship, research, learning, collaboration, conversation, and caring demonstrate who we are, what we do, and how our activities at LSTC intersect.

“From the beginning as a design team, we wondered, ‘What is the story about our school that this new design will tell?’” Nieman said, reflecting on the design process. “I think this portrayal of our common space starts to suggest an answer. It tells the story of a dynamic, interdependent organization, and how our shared service is varied and lively. It’s a richer story than any organizational chart could ever offer.”

For me, individually, I don’t have strong feelings about the move as I participate mostly online. For me, a member of multiple marginalized communities, my feelings are much stronger. As a Chicago native, I have hard feelings about the sale of the building. I understand the need to sell, there is grace there for that, but the building of the school caused major displacement of the local community, and the University of Chicago continuously contributes to that displacement and the over policing of Black people, so selling to them, through my lens, is active participation in the harm of my people. Also, sharing space with a Catholic-affiliated institution, regardless of the values of the individual institution, is a major violation of consent of the LSTC queer community. All that being said, I hope LSTC does some kind of reparations to the communities harmed by their decisions.

I’m excited and hopeful for my fellow LSTC students to get to see a side of Catholicism they haven’t necessarily seen before—one that can be progressive, social justice-oriented, anticapitalist, queer, and feminist. That’s the kind of Catholicism I love—and have found myself participating in, as of late—and I hope that our experience with CTU can demonstrate that.

Annelisa Burns (she/her)

first-year MA student

I hope the move is a new chapter for LSTC where we can plan for a better future and be more intentional about the kind of institution we want to be.

Jackie Miller

LSTC’s move has provided this community with a first-hand experience of what a church community in transition is like. This provided an invaluable learning opportunity for our future ministry both as an institution and as ministerial leaders. Continual reflection on what worked and what did not honestly can make LSTC stronger than before and equip its students to better shepherd communities in transition throughout their calls.

Emily Moentmann (she/her)

third-year Dual Degree MDiv/MSW student

While I recognize the need for the move, there are many traditions that I feel can’t be replaced; for example, I will be among the last class to walk through the baptismal font. I feel the students continuing will need to work hard to establish new traditions that create memories and meaning.

Paul Willey (he/him) final-year MDiv student

Moving and sharing space with CTU students and faculty is an opportunity to respond to the church’s call for theological and pastoral formation from an ecumenical perspective that responds to the challenges of today’s world, but it is also a clear sign of the commitment that both institutions have to continue working the path that leads us from conflict to communion.

Juan Manuel Arias Perea (he/him) second-year MDiv student

Though I’ll especially miss the incredible Augustana Chapel and had formative experiences in the old building, I’m actually looking forward to the opportunities the transition presents for LSTC. The relocation bears much grief and loss but is also a catalytic impetus for us to ask the necessary questions of who we are and who we want to become and provides a unique opportunity to reform ourselves even more in the image of Christ in our new space.

Kyle Duff

I think moving into the freshly renovated space that will be well lit with natural light from the windows and atrium will bring new life into our community. I’m excited to see what will spring forth from this resurrection opportunity for LSTC!

Kylee Bestenlehner (she/her) second-year MDiv student

I feel sad to say goodbye to the LSTC old building. At the same time, I feel excited for the move to CTU and getting a chance to experience the new shift of LSTC. LSTC has been, is, and will be moving. She is alive!

Seng Tsin (she/her) PhD student

I was skeptical about the move at first, I have a lot of opinions about our Catholic neighbors, having come from that tradition. However, I feel the sentiment with the move is that now LSTC can begin a new chapter alongside a Catholic institution that also has a better vision for the world.

John Perez (he/they) second-year MDiv student

I’m somewhat relieved. Chicago Theological Seminary went through a similar move through most of my time as a student there (2006-2012) and came out better for it. There’s no reason to think that LSTC won’t similarly blossom.

Francisco Herrera (he/him) PhD student

Honestly, I am sad to leave the LSTC building next semester, but I trust that God has prepared a good plan for LSTC in the CTU building. I hope LSTC keeps going to spread God’s love wherever we are.

Sweetry Noverlindra (she/her)

first-year MA student

I feel like I actually don’t have a lot of experiences in the old building. My class had one semester in person before the pandemic, and never fully resumed in person before we all departed for final year internship. My fondest memories were in the chapel, but those were largely shaped by pandemic restrictions. I don’t have a strong connection to LSTC as a physical place and feel this has actually equipped me to be a leader in the contemporary ELCA—where questions of space and function during a time of decline will surely come up.

Kelsey Johnson (she/they) final-year MDiv student

Leaving a space that means so much to me personally and to our community certainly comes with a lot of sadness and anxiety. But I also think this is a great opportunity for LSTC as a community-it’s been exciting to work as a part of the design team that has been working with the architects to design a space that not only works well for our community but also reflects our values. I have a lot of hope for what this next step looks like for us!

Hannah Johnsrud (she/her)

There’s something refreshing about entering into a new space. Although I have been visiting LSTC since my childhood (my congregation would use the space to host bible study and youth choir), I am excited about seeing something new. I hope we can preserve the memories of our old home and embrace the new ones that are about to be made. And as a commuter student I am thankful we will have a parking garage at our next location, especially during the winter. It will alleviate the stress around trying to find parking in Hyde Park.

Over my three years at LSTC, I have witnessed this community I love transform with its openness, creativity, vigor, and compassion for one another. While moving to CTU has created some anxiety for me, being with my peers as they passionately imagine what our learning community will look like in the coming years both humbles and excites me. I have deep faith that God is moving within us as our seminary ventures on to CTU.

Katie Mueller (she/they) third-year MDiv student

As the LSTC community explores the new campus at CTU, I hope and pray they forge new ecumenical partnerships that enhance the theological commitments of the communities on the CTU campus. As an outgoing student, I will cherish the memories of the spaciousness of LSTC.

Helen Chukka (she/her) final-year PhD student

Change is hard, especially when that change is a place you call home. For me, as an international student who packed up her life to move to a different continent, it feels even harder and a bit insecure. However, I chose LSTC to be my school because of the way we see church as more than just a building. Public church means being ready for change, and we are doing that, we are changing, and that’s exciting!

Veronica Mwakasungura (she/her) PhD student

I believe LSTC wants the best for its students by meeting their needs and helping them to make better choices. Sometimes things can seem to be [difficult], but consider the fact that we will have free transportation, and we can learn through each other on how we can adjust to the new change. Also, I understand that it might be hard for some students to cope with a new change, but God sent you LSTC and everything is alright. Read Proverbs 3:3-4, every day and watch what happens. This is my honest opinion about the NEW CHANGE. TRUST GOD!

Evelyn C. Taylor (she/her) first-year MDiv student

Since coming to LSTC as an international student, this campus, especially the classrooms, the verandahs/hallway, the chapel & LRWC helped me to learn and experience a lot of different things. These are the places where I first shared my thoughts, met all my friends, and learned from other cultures and heard their experiences. Therefore, I will definitely miss this seminary campus.

I am excited to explore our new campus in CTU and look forward to seeing the LSTC community grow in faith and glorify God. At the same time, I feel sad to leave the LSTC campus where I used to go and study, and I will miss every memory of the LSTC community in this building.

Char Laywa (she/her) final-year MA student

As an international student I actually feel a bit sad for this moving, there are many things I will miss from this LTSC campus. However, I think this moving will also give new experiences, such as meeting new friends and family, as well as a new environment.

It’s a strange but wonderful thing to spend so much time helping the design core team shape our new seminary home, even as I prepare to leave Chicago for internship. However, seeing the strength and support within LSTC as we look to the future reminds me why I chose this seminary as COVID struck three years ago - we are a community determined to care for one another, the church, and our world.

I am so excited to move to CTU and to share space with new neighbors! We must keep in mind the massive disruption this move is, especially as it effects the LRWC, JKM Library, the mailroom, and our student jobs as we know them, but we must move forward with a creative eye to care for our replanted community!

Erik Boss (they/them) third-year MDiv student

As an international student living a few blocks from the current LSTC seminary building, I would like to take LSTC’s move to CTU positively. I also have taken a few inperson classes at CTU. Therefore, the space is also somewhat familiar to me. I hope and pray this new space we will experience in the future can deepen our academic and ecumenical lives.

Luckmal Panditharathna (he/him) final-year ThM student

Although I will not be able to enjoy the new space at CTU as a student, I am super excited for my current peers and all the future seminarians who will benefit from an updated learning environment. I am hopeful that this opportunity will foster a new and invigorated sense of community between students, staff, and faculty as we hold our grief and excitement hand in hand.

Katie Linthicum (she/her) third-year MDiv student