Full Text for Our "Practical" Seminary (Text)

THE SPRINGFIELDER December 1971 Volume 35, Number 3 Our "Practical Seminary C OSCORDIA THEOLOGICAL SESIIS:IH1. Sj~rin~ti~lc!, Illi- nois, is 125 years old this year, right? \l'cll. ~n,~vbc.. gust 1846 is indeed thc offcia1 date -of thc opening of o~ir 'pr;tcilcnl seminary." But . . . the I\-ork of this seminnrl- began t\\.o \.cars earlier in 1844, when Pastor Fredcricli C. D. \~'?~CI;CII ~i!~dc;tooIi to train two men in his yarsonagc in Fort \i-,i\-j~e, I~~ili,in,!. In 1545 IVyneken accepted a calI to Baltimore; his s;tctc.ssor, Dr. 11-ilhclni Sihler, continued this work. 'The students wcrc gradu;itcJ iri 1846 and 1847; both their names, G. Jaebker ancl C. Frincke, ;tppcnr on the first roster of the Missouri Synod, Frinckc being \\ncxl's first missionary-at-large, Taebker. pastor of :I church 11r.1r k't. \!'a\ ~ic. \fTvneken had solicitecl help from \\~illirln~ I-oehv ;lntl in i~i~~lst 1846 it- arrived in a big nav-cle\.en Gernxin thco1ogic;ll st~rde:~ts and their instructor? R. ~ckbellen, to complctc tllcir twining in America. The seminary was formally organized, a four-room houw rented as a dormitory, and cIasses for the clcvcn bqun in Sihlcr's parsonage. Dr. ~ihler was the first prcsitlent, Cant!. ~'lmhcllcn, thc' first instructor. Roebellen was soon replaced by another Lochc man, Cand. A. IITolter, who taught the languages-L~~tin. Grcek, ;~nd Hebrew as we11 as dogmatics, csegcsis, anc1 ch ~il-ch histor\.. Sihler taught dobmatics, exegesis, pastoral thcoIogy, isilgosics. s!mbolics. and catechetics. In 1847 when the SIissouri Synod \\.as organi~ecl, Luehc. 11;tct at the request of Synod transferred the institution to this bod\., con- tinuing to support it with books, money, and students. WoIter died in a cholera epidemic in 18 49, about the sarnc. tiiilc the senlinary bought a 14 acre campus about a mile ciist of Ft. \\';~yne. The first building erected on this canipus 1s.a~ nand for him thC IVoIter House. I1701ter's successor, Pastor A. Bielycnd, was ciillect hs the sc.111- inary at St. Louis after onlv ten months at Ft. \Va!.nc. His successor was Pastor F. A. ~raerner of Frankenmuth. Xlichigm. bclo~cd teacher and later President of Concordia Theological Scnliaar!,, Springfield. At the 1860 convention of Spnorl it was rcsoIved that thc practical seminarv should be moved to St. Louis, to bc operated jointly with the (heoretical serninan. This \\.as done in 156 1. and C. F. RT. IValther gained another hat, beconling president of the practical seminary. The joint operation didn't \vork too \\-ell; there was friction both between the faculties and the student bodies, and so, in 1874, the proseminq was removed to the campus of thc defunct Illinois State University in Springfield. group from Trinitv Congregation had attempted unsuccessfull~ to use the buildings for an "Evangelical Lutheran Female College and Yormal School," hut onl! ;I t'cti- stiiclc~~ts ;inel no teachers could be found for such a projcct. '\\'l~cil sp;lc.c. bccainc short at St. Louis, the twentj--nine pr+ seminar!. students tvcre offered accon~i~~oclation in Springfield. The semin;ir\. propcr rcmaincd in St. I-ouis. I'roscminar!. students and tcachcr,~ G. I;rocning, 1it.d and worked in one building, the long- sulcc-clcniolishecl Icr 193 S, teaching also a number of courses in the regular curriculum. In 1911 all high school teaching lvns ;iholishc.d, alitl ;I high school diploma was required of entering strldcnts. 111 1943 the Illinois State Department of Education accrcditec.l Conc,orclia as r.1 teacher training institution on the elemen tar? lt~.cl ant1 recognizctl the course of studies as equiralent to a 13. A. dcgrcc. Thc Board of Control the same year took action to reincorporate "Concorciin C'ol- TY lege, empowering it to grant the usual academic degrccs. From that tiil~e on, the seminarv became incrcnsinglv conscious of academic requirements and in son~b may approrimatini the lAn~cr- ican system of theological education. Dr. N'altcr A. II.?eplcr. n.ho succeeded G. Christian Barth as president, rnisctl the c*ntrancc requirements from a high school diploma to tn-o Years of colIcgc. This of course paralIeled the German gymnasiun~-urliversitv s\stcm. It was also parallel to the synodical system of junior colleges follon.cd by seminary education. The synodical system strcssed thc classical languages-something which the Springfield seminary [lid not require for entrance. Dr. George Beto added further impetus to acaclenlic excellence. During his time the library, with now nearly 70,000 volun~es, was constructed. He established the principle that the seminary ~vould prefer to accept college graduates. Iluring his tenure about half of the entering students met this requircmcnt. He also laid down the ideal that seminary professors should have completed their doctorate degree. Dr. J. A. 0. Preus carried this program to completion so that in the fall of 1968, the seminary was received as a member with American AssociaLon of Theological. Schools. Instru- mental in this accreditation was Dr. Lorman Petersen. The degree of Bachelor of Dirinity is fully accredited and will be replaced by the Master of Divinity degree in 1973. In July 1969 the seminar). had tl~c birlg~~lar honor of having its president elected to head the Lutheran Church-_\lissouri Synod. The seminary was not on center 5tagc. hut it \\ as at least sharing some of the beams of the lime light. Dr. I:icharcl 1. Schnltz has headed the seminary since 1970 ,and has continuccl to strvss that the seminary is "practical," that the school exists to sene congregations bv giving them pastors. But now "prac- tical" clocs not exclude academic excellence and theological erudition. Suddenly the st'nlinnr!- discovered that its middle name was "thee logical": C,o~lcordin TheoZogicnZ Seminary. The Sqnod mas now look ing to 31,ringfield for 'guidance in confessional as well as practical matters.