A rapid transition at Luther Seminary
Late last year Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota—the largest of eight seminaries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—announced that its president and chief financial officer had resigned amid a $4 million budget shortfall and a hefty drop in the value of the seminary’s endowment.
Richard Bliese, president of Luther Seminary since 2005, made no public statement about his resignation, which was announced in a December 10 news release. The same announcement said that Don Lewis, vice president of finance and administration, resigned in November.
A flurry of news reports failed to explain why the changes were urgent. School officials and an outside expert maintain that the seminary is on solid footing.
