LSTC AND CTU IN VISIBLE COMMUNION

By Mercedes Kane

As the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago staff prepares to move to the campus of Catholic Theological Union (CTU), the CTU team is also preparing to welcome faculty, staff, and students and start a new chapter together.

the pandemic. The ways we teach, interact, and develop relationships, have shifted,” she said.

Lyndsay Monsen, first-year MDiv student

Finally, of course, a move would not be a move without a bit of sadness. As I have asked fellow students how they feel about the building transition, I hear a lot of mixed emotions. Many of us have emotional connections to the current space of LSTC—whether that be because it is the space where we first met dear friends, felt the Holy Spirit stirring within us as we sat in Augustana Chapel, or gained crucial knowledge about scripture, ministerial leadership, and the ethics and history of Christianity that will carry us forward into our many different career paths. There are also many traditions that will be lost as we move across Hyde Park, such as the ritual walking through the baptismal font at the beginning and end of one’s seminary journey. With these losses, though, come opportunities for new traditions and memories to be born. I am enthusiastic about the future of LSTC—both for personal reasons and when I consider the institution as a whole—and cannot wait to return to our new campus this fall.

“We are tremendously excited about LSTC moving into the fourth floor of our building,” said Sr. Barbara Reid, president of Catholic Theological Union. “One of the core values of CTU’s founders was ecumenical collaboration, which is why they chose to locate in Hyde Park. This is an important opportunity to strengthen this commitment.”

Over the months since the possibility of sharing CTU’s space with LSTC first began to be explored, discussions have taken place with all of CTU’s stakeholders: the Board of Trustees, Corporation, faculty, staff, students, and formation directors.

“Sharing our building with LSTC is an exciting step and a unique way of being together,” explained Reid. “The possibilities of deepening our partnership and making a stronger ecumenical commitment to one another will allow us to build on what already has been a very strong relationship.

“Some of the ways we could consider collaborating could include joint programming and shared worship. My hope is that in the years ahead ways of working together will emerge that we haven’t yet imagined.

“Both CTU and LSTC have experienced significant changes in the way we use our space since

“At CTU, 60 percent of the students attend class online now, and many professors teach remotely. It is a wonderful opportunity for both LSTC and CTU to be good stewards of our physical resources by making responsible adjustments to our space usage.

“Our new arrangement is not a merger; both CTU and LSTC retain our unique identities and mission. But we are very similar in our interests and our commitments,” Reid said. “As a union of religious communities with varying charisms, we’ve learned over the years that when we’re together with people who are not exactly the same as us, it helps to strengthen our own sense of our identity.”

Reid is aware that change can be challenging but feels confident that the new sharing between LSTC and CTU will positively affect both schools, and beyond.

“I am hopeful that the trust levels and bonds between us are deep enough that we can weather whatever challenges might come,” Reid said. “But thinking even bigger, I hope that the outcomes of our new relationship will have a ripple effect in the church globally, drawing us even closer towards full visible communion.”