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ALTS Advantages
Introduction
The cooperative arrangement between ALTS and CTS affords our students a number of advantages. We are able to provide an education that is academically challenging and respected; we are able to provide an environment in which people’s spiritual needs will be met in a Lutheran environment; we are able to present the many ways in which people’s physical needs will be met.
Educational Advantages
One of the larger reasons ALTS chose to align itself with Concordia Theological Seminary is due to its academic reputation. Their 27 faculty members include world renowned scholars such as Dr. Charles Gieschen, Dr. Art Just, Dr. David Scaer, Dr. William Weinrich and Dr. Dean Wenthe. The faculty also contains a number of people well known within the wider Lutheran world such as Prof. John Pless, Prof. Kurt Marquart, Dr. Harold Senkbeil, as well as a number of others who are highly regarded authors and wonderful teachers. The depth and breadth of the CTS faculty and their commitment to forming up the next generation of church leaders makes this an outstanding academic environment.
Furthermore, a number of renowned scholars are invited to campus each year. During the 2005/2006 school year, CTS hosted a symposium celebrating the 100th birthday of Bishop Bo Giertz, author of The Hammer of God; the Good Shepherd Institute held its annual symposium on Pastoral Theology and Sacred Music, at which Rev. Dr. Frank C. Senn, (the author of Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical, and many others), hold forth on the subject of the Medieval Luther; CTS hosted a conference celebrating the 100th birthday of Dietrich Bonhoeffer; and CTS offers Organist Workshops each June and July. Scattered throughout the school year are convocations on a variety of subjects: for example, a recent convocation covered the Just War concept, and was presented by the U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains.
One of the main annual events on campus is the Theological Symposia. This four-day, annual event is divided into a symposium on Justification and a symposium on the Lutheran Confessions. At the 2006 symposia the scholars presenting papers included Dr. Paul E. Rorem, a Lutheran on the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. Mark A. Seifrid, professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Dr. John R. Nunes, Research Associate in Urban Ministry, Wheat Ridge Ministries, Chicago, Illinois; and Dr. Stephen Westerholm, Professor of Biblical Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Quite a number of CTS professors also presented papers. It was interesting to discover Lutherans employed at other schools, and to discover CTS students being exposed not only to Lutheran thinkers, but to a range of thinking within Christendom.
Spiritual Advantages
You will be able to engage in a genuine ecumenical dialogue here, yet always within a Lutheran context. You will also find an environment at CTS in line with your Lutheran background. Chapel life is centered on the ministry of Word and Sacrament. The preaching makes a distinction between law and gospel. The language of salvation is God-centered, not man-centered; salvation is not a synergistic act. The fundamentals of Lutheran doctrine are taught in the classroom, proclaimed in chapel, and lived out in community.
Physical Advantages
A married student at Concordia Theological Seminary is able to participate in the full range of campus services. For example, the seminary operates a food Co-op that can cut a student’s food bill by 75%. The seminary operates a clothing Co-op where you can pick up clothes, furniture, and other items---all for free.
Housing in Fort Wayne is quite inexpensive, with a really nice three-bedroom apartment renting for $600 - $700. More than adequate housing is available for under $500. You can rent a house for about the same cost as a nice apartment. Fort Wayne’s cost of living is lower than the national average, and the support the seminary provides makes this even more attractive. Local merchants often offer discounts to people from the seminary. Some local housing is reserved and/or discounted for seminarians, and some jobs are offered to the seminary community first before being offered to the community at large.
Conclusion
ALTS is positioned to meet your needs educationally, spiritually, and physically. Should you decide to apply, you can be sure that you will be well educated, your spiritual needs will be met, and you will be well taken care of. We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with you further. Call or write us anytime.
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