LCMS Leaders See University Lutheran Chapel as Vital Ministry

Several key leaders from throughout the LCMS have recently focused their attention on the future viability of University Lutheran Chapel (ULC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pastor David Kind has organized a National Leadership Team to help the Chapel raise capital to purchase the property from the Minnesota South District which has proposed divesting itself of the campus in part to solve budget challenges and also in part to fund a new, remote program for ministry to university students.

These key LCMS leaders of the National Leadership Team call on every member of the LCMS to consider joining them in this historic and important endeavor as they help ULC take the next step in its life together, owning their own sanctuary and campus.

The National Leadership Team consists of some well known figures from around the synod, pastors in the Minnesota South and North Districts and some key lay leaders.

  • Professor John Pless, Concordia Theological Seminary,Ft. Wayne, IN
  • Pastor Klemet Preus, Glory of Christ Lutheran Church, Plymouth, MN
  • Pastor Christopher Esget, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Alexandria, VA (Mollie Ziegler Hemingway’s pastor)
  • Pastor Marcus Zill, St. Andrew Lutheran Church and Campus Center, Laramie, WY and Executive Director of Christ on Campus, Higher Things
  • The Rev. Dr. Karl Weber, St. John Lutheran Church, Ottertail, MN and St. Paul Lutheran Church, Richville, MN (Minnesota North)
  • Pastor Brian Thorson, Zion and Trinity Lutheran Churches, Lewisville, MN (Minnesota South)
  • Noreen Linke, member, Memorial Lutheran Church, Houston, TX(home parish of the Rev. Dr. Scott Murray, Fifth Vice President of the LCMS)
  • Glenn Meints, Chairman of the Congregation, University Lutheran Chapel, Minneapolis,MN
  • Pastor David Kind, University Lutheran Chapel, Minneapolis, MN

Also serving on the National Leadership Team are the partners of Wittenberg Church Consultants, The Rev. Dr. Timothy A. Rossow and Donna Linnemeyer, of Naperville, Illinois, who are donating their services and the campaign plan to the cause.

The Chapel is home to over 100 members and countless students of the University of Minnesota and other area colleges.  The twin cities area has an unusually high concentration of young Lutherans who look to the ULC as their church home and to Pastor David Kind for solid, confessional preaching and teaching during their young adult years. The Chapel reaches out beyond the university campus with its annual theological conference and study weekend, its liturgical arts activities and by sending countless confessional and liturgical pastors, teachers, and musicians into the field of the LCMS.

In an heroic effort to save this vital, active and confessional church, local members, along with church leaders from around the country have vowed to conduct this national capital campaign to raise the funds needed to “buy back” their church from the District. 

Earlier this month this National Leadership Team was formed to work the plan to reach out to current members, students, alumni, alumni parents, confessional churches and confessional individuals who realize the importance of maintaining this beacon of good confessional teaching and preaching. The National Leadership Team has heartily endorsed the plan and is kicking off the effort by enlisting additional volunteers to begin organizing local meetings around the state of Minnesota and around the country to share the story of the ULC and gather financial gifts and pledges of support.

In the meantime, the members of the ULC parish have formed a group of program team leaders and volunteers to carry out the nuts and bolts of the campaign.  They will be producing brochures, a video, pledge cards, hosting a prayer vigil, among other strategies.

What can you do?  If you realize the importance of keeping this vital, confessional church open and functioning so that its members, as well as current and future students will have a place to hear the Gospel preached and taught in all its purity, contact Pastor David Kind to find your place in this campaign.  If you can help the ULC reach it financial goal of one million dollars, please send your gifts to: University Lutheran Chapel, 1101 University Ave, SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55414. (Designate your gift for the “Capital Campaign.”) Future articles will offer more information on how you might host a home gathering for the cause or contribute in other ways. ULC requests your prayers for God’s blessing as they embark on this next step in their life together serving the students of the University of Minnesota and the broader synod.

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