Universities and Colleges Turned into Edsels in a Few Decades

 

 Edsel quickly became a joke.

Some of us saw the shrinking of higher education coming long ago. One cause was the student loan program, which made it easy to earn a degree, creating more supply than demand. 

Universities and colleges were able to expand - in population, buildings, and programs - because of the money flowing in from the loan programs. Schools could get even fancier with alumni gifts. Endowments did not ease the burden of tuition costs, so some suggest that the richest schools have become trust funds with a campus, kids, and profs serving as a side venture.

Denominations started with schools dedicated to teaching their children in specific areas. My mother took 10 years to finish her bachelor's degree at Augustana College, taking night school to earn a MA in education. 

ELCA went completely woke at its 2009 convention, when the rules were reversed for pastors. The failing seminaries in ELCA were scaled down so they could maintain some dignity in the midst of reducing everything. 

Mergers became popular - or a necessity. WELS combined Dr. Martin Luther College with Northwestern College to become Martin Luther College School of Ministry. All the women at MLC are ministers now - didn't see that coming? 

ELCA turned Gettysburg and Philadelphia into United Lutheran Seminary,  but their new lady president was not woke enough for them.

The next decade will have many colleges, seminaries, and universities sheltering in place, trying to keep their budgets in the black, their faculties passive, and their alumni wealthy.

Oh noes!

More "Oh Noes" Are Coming from Valporaiso

 

More information is here - https://www.valpo.edu/uplift-valpo/thrive-2/operational-sustainability/

From Matt Becker

Some elements in today's announcement did catch me and others by surprise. The proposal includes the elimination of tenure (even for those of us who have been tenured for decades [not sure they can do this, but that's in the proposal]), the establishment of one-year rolling contracts for all affected faculty (which means that any one of us could be told mid-year that our contract won't be renewed for next year), and the requirement (at least for me) to teach an additional course per semester at no additional pay. (I have been teaching a 3-3 load, and occasionally a 3-2 load, since I joined the faculty in 2004. The proposal requires a 4-4 teaching load for all affected faculty.)

It is not at all certain that the current theology requirement (two required 3-hr courses in the gen ed curriculum) will continue. The basic 200-level "Christian Tradition" course will likely continue, at least for a while, but the upper-division theo courses will likely go away. If that would happen, the dept would eventually disappear, since no prospective faculty member will want to come to an institution where they can't teach in their area of expertise and research. As theo faculty retire (or if their contracts are not renewed), those spots won't be filled. Who would want to join a dept if the university can only offer new faculty a one-year rolling contract, no tenure, no program per se, no support for research, just "service teaching" in the gen ed curriculum at a 4-4 level?

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Lent 3 - "Therefore it is necessary for us to watch as the apostles always admonish us, especially St. Peter, 1 Peter 5:3: “Brethren, be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”; for wherever he overthrows faith, he easily restores again all former vices."

 

"I Borage, give thee courage."

Complete Sermon - 

Luther's Sermons - Luke 11:14-23.
Oculi. Third Sunday in Lent

20. That he comes again and finds the house swept and garnished (Matthew adds “empty”) signifies that the man is sanctified and adorned with beautiful spiritual gifts, and that the evil spirit clearly sees that he can do nothing there with his familiar tricks, for he is too well known. Thus when the worship of idols was driven from the heathen, he never attacked the world with that device again. But what did he do then? He tried something else, went out, took with him seven spirits, more evil than himself, and entered in with them and dwelt there, and the last state of that man was worse than the first. So he has dealt with us. When Christ had become known in the world and the devil’s former kingdom with its idol worship had been destroyed, he adopted another plan and attacked us with heresy and introduced and established the papacy, in which Christ was entirely forgotten, and men became worse heathen under the name of Christ than before he was preached, as we can see now with our own eyes.

Such also was the lot of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Greeks under the Turks. And so all will fare, who at first hear the Word of God and afterwards become secure and weary of it. St. Matthew says, in Matthew 12:14, that Satan finds the house empty. And in Matthew 13:25, he sowed tares among the wheat, by night, while men slept. Therefore it is necessary for us to watch as the apostles always admonish us, especially St. Peter in 1 Peter 5:3: “Brethren, be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”; for wherever he overthrows faith, he easily restores again all former vices.

Valparaiso University (somewhat Lutheran) Is Kicking Out Their Theology Major and Minor

https://t.e2ma.net/webview/g32bun/8a9a26f09e8335a53b15c0ad06317119.

Here is a letter that went out today. Apparently the theology department got the news just this morning.

Dear Friends -
 
I'm writing to give you a heads up about some news that you may hear coming out of Valpo today. Over the past year we have been going through a program review as part of our strategic planning process. Part of that review includes evaluating the number of majors we offer and the enrollment in each program.
 
The decision has been made to place a small number of programs into a program discontinuance process. The Theology major and minor are among those programs. You can find the full information here: https://t.e2ma.net/webview/g32bun/8a9a26f09e8335a53b15c0ad06317119.
 
This does not mean that the programs will definitely be discontinued. It also doesn't mean that Theology would disappear even if the major and miner were discontinued. All of our students have to take 2 or 3 Theology courses depending on their major. Regardless of final decisions, all current students enrolled in these programs will be able to finish their degrees at Valpo.
 
I wanted to let you know about this before you hear about it elsewhere. The campus community received an email at 11:30 AM. The affected departments were informed this morning.
 
Valpo remains committed to its Lutheran identity and faith-based mission to prepare students "to lead and serve in church and society." This is evidenced by the fact that we have the highest number of students we've ever had in our Allen Scholars program. This program helps students discern how they are called to live out their Christian vocations. Many of those students are discerning a call to ministry; all of them will be fantastic leaders in their congregations.
 
What can you do?
 
1.   Please pray for our community...particularly those who are directly affected by the cuts.
 
2.   Feel free to reach out to me and/or the President's office to express your feedback. My email address is brian.beckstrom@valpo.edu and you can email the President at president.admin@valpo.edu.
3.   Please pray for wisdom and guidance for the coming review process. After I learned about the affected programs on Tuesday, I felt a lot of emotions. Now I find myself asking, "What is God up to at this moment? How is God calling us to reimagine the way we prepare ministry leaders and help all our students to develop theological literacy?"
 
Thank you for your prayers and faithful service to the church. May you be filled with the hope of the resurrection even as we travel with Jesus this Lenten season through the darkest valleys.
Blessings,
Brian

From Daniel Lee Gard - Updates on the Ann Arbor and Mequon Dual College Arrangement

 

Daniel Lee Gard earned a PhD from Notre Dame, in theology.

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Yesterday at 04:33:24 PM

This was received today:

Dear members of the Concordia community:

A special session of the CUWAA Board of Regents is taking place today in Wisconsin. Prayers continue to abound.

We will make any outcomes from their discussion public on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Here are the details for how you can access the outcomes:

    Update from Board Chairperson Rev. John Berg to be posted online at www.cuaa.edu/future
    Friday, March 1, 10 a.m. Central/11 a.m. Eastern

Please note that the link isn't live yet, but will be tomorrow!

List of LCMS Colleges Already Gone or Going

1. The Chinese campus was sold to pay down the LCMS college debt, as I recall.
2. The Selma campus was shut down.
3. The New York City campus was sold and another school took it over immediately.
4. The Portland college embroiled itself in HotChalk, with both sides going to court over the online learning dream gone sour.
5. The Ann Arbor and Mequon schools, separate but equal, are getting the publicity now. The new president of the arrangement, with a Jesuit degree, seems to be a closer, not a builder.

Every campus gets a big load of federal student loan money, and foreign students are called "walking bags of money." However, the gradual erosion of Lutheran identity and doctrine has made the colleges very much like the other schools that were almost 100% for the teachers and students.

Online students can be from anywhere, and there is nothing keeping students from bouncing from  campus to campus, via the keyboard. 

ELCA was closing down colleges and slimming seminaries years ago. WELS/ELS are thinking they might be in a Schwan song of their own. Marvin liked to spread the loot around, so his gifts were stretched out between the ELS, WELS, and who knows?  Those shiny new buildings, chapels, and gyms are looking bad, turning into Christian (Pilgrim's Progress, which nobody reads) carrying a heavy burden on his back - his sins.

My high school English teacher asked the class, "Have you read Pilgrim's Progress? If you haven't, you are IGNORANT!"

Zoom Worked Very Well Yesterday in a Test

 

Some setbacks work wonders with practice.

Thursday, just a few hours ago, I took a suggestion and tried a different configuration for Zoom.

1. Everything should work well, whether speaking or using hymn melodies, on the same computer.

2. It is encouraging to have another computer check how it works for the congregation.

This worked well in the chapel, checking results with the library computer. SHARE takes the melody from the computer for a clear broadcast, but now the melody also comes out of the chapel speakers - no feedback, no fighting over the sound or sounds. I can sit and sing with the audience, hearing what they are hearing, but through my speakers, not theirs.

This will work well for the Reformation Seminary.

In other news, My Good Shepherd is being shipped.

Some of the copies have been sent, and more will follow for the rest of the congregation. 

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Lent 3 - "When Christ had become known in the world and the devil’s former kingdom with its idol worship had been destroyed, he adopted another plan and attacked us with heresy and introduced and established the papacy, in which Christ was entirely forgotten, and men became worse heathen under the name of Christ than before he was preached, as we can see now with our own eyes."

Complete Luther Sermon Here -> Oculi. 

Third Sunday in Lent - Luke 11:14-23.  

19. The text continues, “When the unclean spirit has gone out, he wanders through dry places, seeking rest,” etc. This means as much as the saying, “The devil never takes a vacation” and “The devil never sleeps,” for he is seeking how he may devour man. “Dry places” are not the hearts of the ungodly, for in such he rests and dwells like a mighty tyrant, as the Gospel here says; but there are dry and waste places here and there in the country where no people live, as forests and wildernesses. To these he flees in wicked rage because he is driven out. You will remember that the devil found Christ in the wilderness. Now, in Judea, there is not much water, hence we read that it contains many arid wastes. In other countries, however, as in our own, which are well watered, the devils stay in rivers and lakes, and there they sometimes drown those who bathe or sail upon them. Furthermore, at some places there are water spirits, who entice the children from the shores into the water and drown them. These are all devils.

20. That he comes again and finds the house swept and garnished (Matthew adds “empty”) signifies that the man is sanctified and adorned with beautiful spiritual gifts, and that the evil spirit clearly sees that he can do nothing there with his familiar tricks, for he is too well known. Thus when the worship of idols was driven from the heathen, he never attacked the world with that device again. But what did he do then? He tried something else, went out, took with him seven spirits, more evil than himself, and entered in with them and dwelt there, and the last state of that man was worse than the first. So he has dealt with us. When Christ had become known in the world and the devil’s former kingdom with its idol worship had been destroyed, he adopted another plan and attacked us with heresy and introduced and established the papacy, in which Christ was entirely forgotten, and men became worse heathen under the name of Christ than before he was preached, as we can see now with our own eyes.

Such also was the lot of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Greeks under the Turks. And so all will fare, who at first hear the Word of God and afterwards become secure and weary of it. St. Matthew says, in Matthew 12:14, that Satan finds the house empty. And in Matthew 13:25, he sowed tares among the wheat, by night, while men slept. Therefore it is necessary for us to watch as the apostles always admonish us, especially St. Peter in 1 Peter 5:3: “Brethren, be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”; for wherever he overthrows faith, he easily restores again all former vices.

Read And Weep - Lutheran Big Five - United Methodist Budgets Are Racing Downhill

WELS college students anticipated the social trend that led to Bud Light.
ELCA turned their almost vacant seminaries into the latest thing.

The Lutheran Big Five - ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic) are looking at the budgets and asking, "Is the United Methodist Church our canary in the coal mine? - the Bud Light in our social ministries?"

The UMC budget was $604,000,000 in 2016, when the break-out of conservatives began.

The current proposal is $346,700,000 - and that may be too much.

The Big Five should explain their waste of money on Church Growth fiascos, exciting new projects, and the rest of blather they ferment at their favorite anti-Lutheran feminist schools.

Why Read Luther? Lutheran Seminarians Do Not Really Want To Know.Notice How Fitting These Luther Quotes Are.

 

I am glad the Daily Luther Sermon Quotes are appreciated by so many. The early morning excerpts  from Luther's Sermons (Lenker edition) always encourage me and often make me laugh. He established the German language and his Reformation gave William Tyndale even more background for what became the King James Version. No wonder the Big Five - ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC (sic) - loathe and ignore Luther and the KJV.

This statement about the Holy Spirit and the Word should teach seminarians the efficacy of the Word. The mast majority of Protestant pastors - all denominations - brush this aside. What they should treasure the most is met with an intricate ballet dance around the Word of God, always making someone say, "That is something new. I never heard it before!"

The seminarians are not taught faith but success. Their lack of Biblical and doctrinal study makes it easy to grab a new opportunity to be new, fresh, exciting, and different, even if they are simply behind the fads by 10 years or more. Notice how often they apply the word effective to their apostasy. It is a nod to those who want to undermine the only good Bible and the best Luther teachers.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Lent 3 - "Then he gathers up his armor, the powerful, wise, rich and holy people, and sets them all to attacking God’s Word, as we see in the persecution of the teachers of the Gospel."

"Then he (Satan) gathers up his armor, the powerful, wise, rich and holy people, and sets them all to attacking God’s Word, as we see in the persecution of the teachers of the Gospel."

Complete Luther Sermon Here -> Oculi. 

Third Sunday in Lent - Luke 11:14-23.  

II. THE ALLEGORICAL OR SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THIS GOSPEL.

14. This dumb, deaf, blind, and demon-possessed man represents all the children of Adam, who through the flesh are possessed of Satan in original sin, so that they must be his slaves and do according to his will. Hence they are also blind, that is, they do not see God. They are deaf, for they do not hear God’s Word, and are not obedient or submissive to it. They are also dumb, for they do not give him one word of thanks or praise, nor do they preach and proclaim Christ and the grace of God. But they are all too talkative about the teachings of the devil and the opinions of men. In these things they see only too well and are wiser than the children of light in their undertakings, opinions, and desires. In these things they hear with both ears and readily adopt the suggestions of flesh and blood. So then, whatever we do, in word and deed, as to both body and soul, is of the devil, whether it be externally good or bad, and must be redeemed through the work of God. We are in his kingdom and therefore we acknowledge him, see, hear, and follow him and praise and proclaim his name. All this takes place through the Spirit of God in his Word, which casts out the devil and his kingdom.

15. The Jews called the chief of the devils Beelzebub. The Hebrew word “sebub” means a fly; “baal” or “beel,” a man or ruler, as a householder. When the two words form a combination, they mean an arch-fly or chief-fly, or, in plain German “Fliegenkoenig oder grosse Hummel,” that is, king-fly or the great drone. They gave Satan this contemptuous epithet as though they were entirely free from him, secure against him, and lords over him. That is the way all conceited, corrupt hypocrites do; they imagine they are so pure and holy, that the devil is a helpless, feeble fly compared with them, and that they do not need the grace of Christ nor the Word of God.

Still they think he is strong enough for others, yet, that whatever godfearing people teach and do must be the devil’s own work, and they consider it such a trifling thing as though it were a dead fly. The devil can well endure such contempt, for by it he is placed above the true God in their hearts.

16. The tyrant in the court or palace is the devil, as I said before. He is in peace, however, as long as God’s Word and finger do not oppose him, and just like this deaf-mute, his people do whatever he wishes, for they know no better. His weapons and armor are the carnal conceit, doctrines and traditions of men, by which he terrifies the conscience and protects himself.

17. But when the stronger man, the Gospel, comes, peace flees, and he rages like a madman, for he resents being condemned, unmasked, punished, and publicly branded. Then he gathers up his armor, the powerful, wise, rich and holy people, and sets them all to attacking God’s Word, as we see in the persecution of the teachers of the Gospel. Such rage and persecution signify that the devil retires very unwillingly and raves in his whole body; for as he acts in the body and its members when he must depart, so he also behaves in the whole world, resisting with all his power when he is to give place to the Gospel; but it is all in vain, he must be expelled.

 Philipp Jakob Spener is considered the father of Pietism. ELCA, LCMS, WELS,

and ELS came to America as Pietists.

LCMS Concordia Publishing House sold doggie shirts in honor of the Reformation.

WOW! More Than 80 People Came To Observe the 225th Birthday of the Worst "Lutheran" Ever.

 S. S. Schmucker is the spiritual father of all the dumb Schmuckers who call  themselves Lutheran but are really generic Protestants wanting to shed the burden of Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz. The ELCA contingent has proven themselves eager to work with LCMS and WELS, to worship together at Fuller Seminary, Trinity Divinity, and other melting pots of toxic Schmuckerism.

Seminary, college founder Schmucker's 225th birthday marked

• By Michael Cooper-White For the Gettysburg Times
 
• 23 hrs ago
 
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More than 80 gathered Saturday at Gettysburg College to observe the 225th birthday of local Lutheran leader Samuel Simon Schmucker. (Photo Courtesy of Michael Cooper-White, now working at Union Seminary, NYC.)

More than 80 people gathered at Gettysburg College Saturday to honor the 225th birthday of one of Gettysburg’s most famous citizens, Samuel Simon Schmucker.

As a young man in the 1820s, Schmucker had three goals: to establish a theological seminary, a preparatory academy, and translate a German theology book into English.

Within a decade after his arrival in Gettysburg at age 27, he had founded both the Lutheran Seminary and today’s Gettysburg College, as well as helped establish Christ Lutheran Church. Major campus buildings are named in honor of Schmucker at both the seminary and college.

Schmucker’s legacy expanded beyond his initial goals as he became a prominent citizen involved in founding Evergreen Cemetery, where his grave resides on a high point of the burial grounds.

Other callings would come Schmucker’s way, which propelled him to become a nationally and internationally recognized church leader.

He played a major role as Lutheran congregations formed the General Synod, including writing its constitution. Schmucker traveled to Europe to raise funds and collect books from continental Lutherans for his fledgling seminary.

The Schmucker legacy was celebrated by a series of speakers at Saturday’s commemorative event, sponsored by several college departments, Christ Lutheran Church, and the Lutheran Historical Society of the Mid-Atlantic.

Leading off was the Rev. Dr. Maria Erling, Professor of Modern Church History and Global Mission at United Lutheran Seminary (ULS). In her lecture on “Schmucker’s Long Shadow,” Erling described how the pioneering leader confronted challenges posed by a divided Lutheran church and polarized American society.

Lutherans in the 19th century disagreed fervently over matters of doctrine, and Americans were divided over slavery. While taking a stand against slavery, Erling said, Schmucker attempted to preserve unity among Lutherans and forge collaboration with other protestants as well.

“Schmucker concluded the western frontier demanded a new approach that was not exclusively Lutheran,” Erling said. But his new approaches were not embraced by more conservative ecclesial contingents, so Schmucker ended up being “skewered in both doctrinal debates and over slavery.”

Schmucker