Luther Lindberg

Luther Lindberg was born on January 2, 1933 in Hordville, Nebraska. He was baptized two weeks later on January 15. He is one of four children born to Paul M. and Hortense Dorothy (Larson) Lindberg. Luther's father was a Lutheran clergyman who went on to be president of Luther College and Academy in Wahoo, Nebraska, and later professor of Homiletics and Practical Theology at Augustana Theological Seminary. His mother was born in India, the daughter of Lutheran Missionaries. His Lutheran familial roots include one grandfather who was a professor at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas and missionary in India and the other a professor at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois and who was the founder-director of Immanuel Deaconess Institute, Omaha Nebraska.

Luther's general education began in the elementary school in Wahoo, Nebraska and continued in St. Paul Minnesota. He went on to attend Central Junior High in Rock Island, Illnois for the ninth grade but in 1949 Luther went to live in Frankfurt, Hoechst, Germany with his siblings and parents when his father became the Senior Director for the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees serving in the American Zone. Luther and his sister had tutor for one year prior to attending the Martin Luther School in Rimbach in the Odenwold. With the relocation, Luther, in his first year of high school, had a tutor during that first year in Germany. Following that year he attended the Martin Luther School in Rimbach in the Odenwold. During this period Luther traveled with his family to various parts of Germany as well as other countries in Europe including: Denmark, Sweden, Bavaria, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. One particular unique memory was visiting Hitler's Eagles' Nest hideaway and the nearby SS German barracks.

Although Luther spent his secondary school years in Germany, his diploma was from Luther Academy in Wahoo. With the completion of his high school studies, he and his brother returned to the United States where they began their college studies at Luther College in Wahoo. After one year (the completion of the first year), they transferred to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where Luther majored in philosophy. In addition to academic work, Luther enjoyed vocal music and was a member of the Augustana College Choir. He was also active in student government on campus and was elected vice-president of the Student Council. In 1954 he graduated Cum Laude from Augustana and was listed in Who's Who in American Colleges for that year.

Luther entered Augustana Theological Seminary in preparation for Word and Sacrament ministry in the Augustana Lutheran church. (Over and above his theological course work) While at the seminary Luther assisted in a Lutheran church in Davenport, IA for three years where he taught confirmation classes. During his parish internship, which was required for the seminary, he served Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Those congregational experiences nurtured his interest in the area of confirmation. This led to focused study and coursework (and so focused him, that he geared his studies and course papers) around this educational ministry of the church.

In 1956 he married Adele Celeste Stone, also a 1954 graduate of Augustana College. They had been in the same confirmation class as teens.

His college and seminary years of study were exciting years. The experiences were building blocks for his future work in religious education. The climate at these church institutions was intellectually and theologically stimulating. From these formal educational experiences he was able to focus his vocation in ministry. It became clear to him that his intention was directed to becoming a teacher, an educator of the church. Although he was prepared for parish ministry, he knew by the time of graduation from seminary that he wanted to more academic work.

In the spring so 1958, Luther completed his theological studies and accepted a call to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He was ordained on June 22, 1958 at the Chautauqua Institute near Jamestown, New York. Motivated to becoming a teacher of the church upon graduation from the seminary, as he began his first pastorate, he had the intention of pursuing graduate work in religious education and began his doctoral studies that September. This required him to search for a doctoral program in the area as well as getting the approval of the congregation. This was not an issue for the congregation's previous pastor had done his doctoral work while serving the congregation and went on to become president of Midland Lutheran College, one of the Lutheran Colleges in the Midwest. Throughout the process the members were genuinely supportive and periodically inquired of Luther about his studies.

Luther was admitted to and entered the doctoral program at Boston University. His decision to attend Boston University was based on the fact that the institution was sensitive to the adult learner and professional. The graduate program was amenable to the part-time student with many of the classes held on Saturdays or other unconventional time-periods. Luther as able to put this innovative scheduling to his advantage in that, he was able to translate his scholarly work and inquiry into the every day life of the congregation.

In addition to general pastoral work within the congregation along with his doctoral studies, Luther also immediately involved himself in the educational ministry at the broader church level. He was a member of the New England Synod Parish Education Committee from his beginning years in the synod and chairperson of the same from 1963-1968. It was during that time that he put together his first educational piece as an educator which was a summary of the 50 years of the Augustana Synod in the New England area.

As part of his responsibilities on the synodical parish education committee, he was tapped by Dr. Kent Gilbert, the Executive Director of the Board of Parish Education of the Lutheran Church in America, to introduce the Long-Range Curriculum of the church. He attributes having this responsibility due to the fact that Gilbert knew about his doctoral studies at Boston University.

Doing doctoral coursework on a part-time basis meant an extended time for completion of his studies. In fact, it took him eleven years to complete the degree. Eight of those years he spent completing the coursework. Luther's primary concentration was the philosophy of education with a minor in inter-personal relations and group dynamics. He appreciated working with his primary advisor, Dr. Kenneth Benne. In March of 1964, in the midst of his doctoral work, he accepted a call to be pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chelmsford, Massachusetts which at that time was in the midst of constructing a new church facility. While serving as pastor in Chelmsford, he started a pre-school which fostered outreach to the community.

In the midst of scholarly research and general pastoral leadership in the congregations he served, there was always room for the teaching ministry. Each occasioned Christian education program development, adult education, parenting classes, and catechetics. In addition, he also taught in the Council of Churches University of Life schools. All of this was prelude to his next call within the church.

In 1968, Luther and his family moved to Phoenixville, PA. at the request of Kent Gilbert to join the staff of the Board of Parish Education of the Lutheran Church in America. His first assignment was in the area of youth ministry. He was a field staff person which meant being away from the desk a great deal of the time in order to see that tasks were getting done. It involved developing training programs for youth leaders which subsequently turned into leadership development and confirmation ministry. It was during this period that he wrote his doctoral dissertation. The culmination of his interest in confirmation ministry was the completion of the terminal degree. Luther was awarded the Ph.D. in 1969. His dissertation was entitled "The Relationship of Educational Philosophy to the Issues of Confirmation in the Contemporary Lutheran Churches of the United States."

Although Luther pursued graduate work with the intention of teaching, his career as a church educator took a different path. In 1971, he was appointed secretary for Church Leadership Development. Two years later Luther was promoted to the Secretary of Confirmation Ministry staff position which he held until 1976 when he was made Assistant Executive Director of the LCA Division for Parish Services. In that position, he was responsible for coordinating the Christian Education work of the Division and the Lutheran Church in America as well as other parish services. In this role he managed the Division's work with the nine theological seminaries of the LCA. In addition, he was responsible for the ecumenical work and external funding for the Division. This was done in a division with over 100 people on the staff. One might say that those were the golden days of Christian education within this church body. The quality of the resources was superb with the financial support that came from the church. The more difficult part of the work was to communicate a sense of partnership between the churchwide agency and the various synods of the church.

The years in the church-wide offices also involved teaching with guest lectures and teaching responsibilities at three of the Lutheran seminaries in the country. He was guest lecturer in Christian education three times at the Philadelphia Lutheran Seminary between 1970 and 1981; guest lecturer at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 1974, and visiting professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg in 1972 and 1973. Besides these involvements in theological education, he was a key facilitator in establishing the annual conference for the Lutheran Church in America seminary education professors which began in 1982 and continues to the present time in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, its successor church body.

In 1987, after nineteen years working in the denominational offices, Luther and his wife left Philadelphia and moved to Columbia, South Carolina where he was called to be Professor of Educational Ministry at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. This call was unique in the history of the seminary in that with this appointment, he became the first faculty member to be called to that seminary as a full professor. This certainly was a tribute to his years of immersion, research, coordination, and contribution in educational ministry in the life of the Lutheran church. He taught the following courses: Educational Ministry, Stewardship and Evangelism, Parish Administration, Pastoral Leadership, The Written Word, Confirmation Ministry, Ministry with Children, Ministry with Youth, Ministry with Older Adults as well as seminars and independent studies. Along with these responsibilities, his administrative gifts were further utilized in1995 when he was appointed acting Dean while the Dean of the Seminary was on sabbatical., Luther retired the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 1997,after ten years as a faculty member.

Luther Lindberg died of leukemia (AML) on June 4, 2010. There was a beautiful music-filled service on June 12 at his home church of Living Springs in Columbia, South Carolina. At his request there was no eulogy, only a gospel sermon. Many people shared memories and gave tributes to him at the reception after the service. He is survived by three children: Christine Lindberg, Marie Niemkiewicz, and Luther (Eric) Lindberg.

For Lindberg, religious or specifically Christian education has to do with passing on basic Christian values that are sensitive both to the present and the past. It looks to togetherness and a concern for "the other." One example of this definition or focus has been Lindberg's concern for confirmation ministry in the Lutheran church.

Having been nurtured in the Lutheran educational tradition, Lindberg's educational legacy has been his on-going research and interest in confirmation ministry in Lutheran educational tradition. For Lutherans, confirmation is that time when students over a one to three year period of time, usually in early adolescence (seventh through ninth grade or 12 to 14 years of age) are involved in a pastoral ministry which assists the baptized young person to reflect on the traditions of the church through catechetical and biblical instruction. Lindberg's scholarly and pastoral writings reflect his concern that the message of the church continue to be articulated and passed on to the next generation. This takes place in both worship and learning events of the congregation. To this end, his educational writings in this area of religious education have been directed to teachers, pastors, as well as parents in order to keep them informed. More importantly, he helped to re-educate an entire denomination to see that confirmation is rooted in baptism.

Another important aspect to Lindberg's vocation as a religious education has been his commitment to help bridge the gap between religious education and general education. His concern, from his graduate school years to the present time, is critically examining and transferring the best research and practice in public education into the educational structures of the church.