That is how the Chicaneries treat their friends:
Kuske, Oelhafen, Adrian.
Saginaw News
Michigan Lutheran Seminary, a private residential high school on Saginaw's West Side, dodged the threat of closure in 1992 and 2007. Can it do so a third time?
About 400 voting delegates of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod will convene on the campus, a neighborhood mainstay at 2777 Hardin, from July 27-31, for their biennial convention. On tap: Deciding on a budget that could include closing the school.
"I'd say there's a real chance the school could close -- not this year, but possibly after next school year," said teacher Jim Wooster, 57, of Saginaw Township.
Wooster was a delegate two years ago, when synod leaders rejected a proposal to shut down the private school.
Delegates must choose between two budgets, said Joel W. Hochmuth, spokesman for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, based in Wauwatosa, Wis. The difference between them "is essentially how $1 million is apportioned," he said.
"In one budget proposal, that $1 million goes to ministerial education," Hochmuth said. "In the other proposal, the $1 million is allotted to home missions and world missions.
"It's under that second proposal that Michigan Lutheran Seminary is not viable."
A neighborhood mainstay
The possibility of closure is a concern for neighbors such as Dianne L. Felsing, 76, who lives at 2826 Hardin, across the street from the school that has 124 years of tradition.
"I'm hoping and praying that it doesn't close," said Felsing, whose daughter, Catherine Felsing, and granddaughter, Jamie Jurek, both graduated from Michigan Lutheran Seminary and work as Lutheran schoolteachers.
MLS students come from Michigan and other states, with some students living in dorm rooms on campus.
Two years after its founding near Adrian, German Lutherans moved Michigan Lutheran Seminary to Saginaw in 1885. The 8-acre campus includes a dormitory as part of its 126,400-square-feet of space. A related divinity school closed in 1910.
"That school is a godsend," said Robert F. Reed Jr., 53, who lives a few yards from the school softball diamond. "The seminary kids are great. They respect their neighbors. They walk on the sidewalks and don't cut through your yard, and they don't litter."
Saginaw City Manager Darnell Earley said he hopes the synod can find a way to keep financing seminary.
"They've been a valuable part of the community," he said.
Cuts already
In a nod to the budget crisis, seminary has cut 13 jobs -- including six teaching positions.
It had 60 staffers two years ago; today's staff size wasn't immediately apparent.
About 197 students attended at the start of last school year, and school officials expect about the same enrollment this fall. The population peaked in 2001 at 381 students.
If delegates approve a budget requiring closure, the coming academic year would be the high school's last, Hochmuth said.
Teachers losing their positions in the June cutbacks included Timothy Malchow, Marcus Manthey, Kenric Peterson, Daniel Retberg, Larry Seafert and Steven Westphal, the MLS Web site reports.
The synod operates two "preparatory schools": Michigan Lutheran Seminary in Saginaw and Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis. Both schools train future ministers and teachers, though that doesn't mean all students end up attending Martin Luther College, the synod's worker-training college in New Ulm, Minn. Some pursue other careers.
Tuition is $4,725 for commuter students, $7,925 for those who live on campus.
The synod also runs a fourth school, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis., which prepares future pastors over four years after those men graduate from Martin Luther College.
The synod's budget for the new fiscal year that began in July declined by 21 percent from last year -- from about $38 million to $30 million, synod officials said.
"You can't go from a $38 million budget in one year, to a $30 million budget the next year, without making some stark choices," said Rev. Paul Wendland, a member of the WELS Board for Ministerial Education.
Two years ago, WELS convention delegates came up with their own budget proposal rather than approving a plan to close seminary, Hochmuth said.
"Two years ago, it was more along the lines of restructuring our synod and doing a better job of stewardship with the money we had," Wooster said. "This time the issue is, in fact, financial.
"The monies the synod counted on are not arriving, so that puts additional pressure on the synod."
Felsing believes that the denomination's members will keep the school open.
"Everybody's got to dig a little deeper for some money, and it can be done," she said.
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GJ - The Shrinkers have been digging a little deeper...a grave for MLS for the last 15 years. Gurgle/Mueller blew through all the money and millions in restricted funds to "get the synod going." Funny how no one thought about education serving as a good and permanent investment for the future.
