Dear friends,
In June, we shared with you an important decision in the life of St. Andrew's and Lutheran Theological Seminary. It followed years of deepening partnership, conversation, and discernment about how our schools might best serve theological education into the future, building upon a relationship between our institutions that reaches back decades. The decision made this spring was therefore an important step in a much longer journey. As we now move into its next stage, we can say more clearly what that decision entails: LTS and SAC are becoming one institution.
Since then, the Transition Team has begun the considerable work of giving that decision institutional form.
SAC and LTS will shortly begin the search for a Transitional President. We anticipate they will begin serving in January 2027.
Working under the direction of the Transition Team and the authority delegated to it by both Boards, the Transitional President will provide day-to-day leadership in developing and implementing the governance, academic, administrative, and financial arrangements required for one institution.
While institutional structures are changing, the work of theological education continues. Current students will continue to be supported in their programs, and Lutheran and United Church education and formation will remain central throughout the transition.
As we grow together, we remain committed to ensuring that the distinctive theological traditions of both schools continue to flourish. One institution will bring our leadership and resources together while sustaining specifically Lutheran and United Church theological education. Lutheran and United Church programs, faculty, and courses will continue to provide formation rooted in their respective histories, theologies, practices, and denominational relationships, while creating new possibilities for learning together.
Students, alumni, donors, congregations, church leaders, denominational partners, and friends have shaped and sustained SAC and LTS through generations. This transition therefore touches more than institutional structure: these schools carry histories, relationships, traditions, and communities that matter deeply to those who have built them. As we change, and the world changes, we are consistently attentive to emerging questions about identity, belonging, and continuity. Much remains to be defined in how SAC and LTS carry their distinctive traditions and commitments forward into the new institution.
As this work continues, we remain committed to listening carefully to the communities that have formed and supported SAC and LTS. Your perspectives will help inform how we put this shared future into practice.
The Transition Team will seek a leader who understands the particular character of theological education, the denominational traditions represented by SAC and LTS, and the relationships upon which their shared future will depend.
The Transitional President position and accompanying materials will be made publicly available shortly. We want those who care about LTS and SAC to hear directly from us first. We are deeply thankful for your continued interest, encouragement, and support as we undertake this work together.
Rev. Dr. William H. Harrison
President, Lutheran Theological Seminary
Dea. Dr. Richard Manley-Tannis
Principal, St. Andrew's College
