Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

Fall Online Registration Opens next Week To complement our in-person continuing education opportunities, Grow in Grace also provides a strong selection of online courses. Whether your goal is to strengthen your pastoral care skills, sharpen your teaching, deepen your theological understanding, or continue work toward an STM degree, we invite you to join us online for one of six enriching courses designed to support faithful ministry.

Many of the articles featured are intentionally selected with sermon preparation in mind. Our editors look for scholarly yet accessible resources that shed light on upcoming lectionary readings, helping pastors uncover fresh insights, strengthen their exegesis, and enrich their preaching. Did Jesus send the Twelve out with a staff or without one? Why does God call Israel “your people” in Exodus 32?

Walk the streets of Syrian Antioch, where believers were first called Christians. Marvel at the culture of Tarsus, the birthplace of the apostle Paul. And that is just the beginning. You will visit sites from Paul’s first, second, and third missionary journeys. Read more Professor Stephen Geiger will lead the trip. If you are interested, please read the trip brochure or email Professor Geiger with your questions at steve.geiger@wls.edu.

Overview In 1 Peter 5:3, Peter appeals to church elders: “Shepherd God’s flock that is among you, serving as overseers, not grudgingly but willingly, as God desires, not because you are greedy for money but because you are eager to do it.” This is the essence of pastoral ministry – pastors shepherd the people God entrusts to their care. Privilege that it is, ministry can also be burdensome.

More than 2,000 years ago, our Savior said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt 9:37–38). His words are timeless. The population of the world today is estimated to be approximately 8.3 billion people, most of whom don’t know that Jesus died to save them. The harvest truly is plentiful, but the number of faithful pastors and missionaries is small.

Welcome to the summer! I pray that this season provides you with extra time for pondering the gospel and your public ministry of the gospel. These days we hear a lot about drone warfare. Can you imagine what it must be like to have hundreds of enemy drones sent against your city in a given week? As Christians we face a barrage of attacks from the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Sometimes these attacks are overwhelming. They can be discouraging.

On the morning of Wednesday, May 20, the seminary hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for students, faculty, staff, and donors to the campaign. It was a memorable way to begin a series of special services on campus. This summer, renovations to the seminary library will move forward. A new student lounge fostering more informal interactions between students and faculty and a more accessible rare books room are the highlights of those renovations.

On May 22, 2026, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary held its graduation service. President Earle Treptow based his sermon on the class verse, John 6:68, with encouragement and a prayer that the graduates continue to want more of God’s Word throughout their ministries and lives. This year, forty-two seniors received master of divinity degrees. Three men received bachelor of divinity degrees and one man received a bachelor of theology degree through the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI).

Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Justification by faith is the chief article upon which the Church stands or falls. We adore the comfort those Pauline passages bring as they emphasize forensic justification in a declarative sense, as God states we are “not guilty” of our sin. But how should we feel about those passages in James 2 that just as plainly talk about justification by works? It helps me to know that James defined δικαιόω differently than Paul.

N.T. Wright is a giant of New Testament studies, a scrupulous historian, and a Christian who believes in the inerrancy and the power of the Scriptures as the Word of God. In his “brief, though not shallow” (1) commentary on the book of Acts, I compare him to an itamae, or a sushi-chef plating morsel after delicious morsel.