mission needs of the church,  said Hempelmann.  It

provides contextual theological education leading to

ordination for men who provide pastoral services to

congregations in situations that cannot support a full 

time pastor or missionary.

 With the revised DELTO, students can 

complete the first 10 courses at the district level in

various ways for example, through a district 

program, at a Concordia college, or even by testing

out of some courses,  said Dr. Walter A. Maier III,

who is dean of distance education at Concordia

Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.  The remaining

20 courses are offered by the seminaries. We're

looking at new modes of delivery, including the 

possibility that the seminaries may collaborate to

offer courses online. 

Currently, the Fort Wayne seminary sends 

faculty at the beginning of a course to meet with,

LCMS seminaries in St. Louis and Fort Wayne enroll 826 students.

and teach, students grouped in regional clusters.

Nearly half of the first year class at St. Louis and two thirds of the first 

The St. Louis seminary brings students to the 

year class at Fort Wayne are studying to be pastors as a second career.

campus for a week at the beginning and end of a

course cycle. As students continue their studies at

teachers to identify potential church workers for

home, they stay in contact with professors by 

mentoring, educational experiences and connections

telephone, mail and Internet.

to leadership in the church.

In the area of retention,

C O L L E G E   U N I V E R S I T Y   E N RO L L M E N T

Hempelmann said, the objective is to

assist congregations in caring for their

Total Church 

work 

Institution

enrollment

students

church workers. One way is to build a

base of  best practices  based on

Ann Arbor, Mich.

548

203

congregation experiences  for sup 

Austin, Texas

1,073

133

porting church workers. Those will be

shared as models throughout the

Bronxville, N.Y.

654

59

Synod.

Irvine, Calif.

1,648

173

Mequon, Wis.

4,904

710

Distance learning 

Portland, Ore.

1,085

57

helps fill vacancies 

River Forest, Ill.

1,802

536

DELTO (Distance Education

Selma, Ala.

972

18

Leading To Ordination) is enabling

St. Paul, Minn.

1,921

214

congregations to raise up one of their

laymen to provide ministry services

Seward, Neb.

1,425

751

while he studies for the pastoral min 

Total

16,032

2,854

istry.

Without uprooting family or

S E M I N A RY   E N RO L L M E N T

leaving jobs, about 60 men are cur 

rently enrolled in the program, which

Total

Ordination

enrollment

track

involves cooperation between districts

and seminaries. Over a six year period,

Fort Wayne, Ind.

392

320

students complete 30 courses leading

St. Louis, Mo.

618

506

to ordination. 

 The LCMS DELTO program is

Total

1,010

826

a response to the extraordinary 

Photo: Concordia University, Seward, Neb.

(53) FEBRUARY 2003

25