Richard Bliese resigns as president of ELCA's Luther Seminary

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Dr. Richard Bliese has resigned as
president of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., according to a Dec. 10
announcement from the seminary. Luther is one of eight seminaries of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Bliese served as president
since 2005.
“Throughout this church there are members deeply grateful for the
gifted pastors and lay leaders who have been prepared for ministry during
Dr. Bliese's tenure as president of Luther Seminary,” said the Rev. Mark
S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop.
“Dr. Bliese's consistent priority was for Luther Seminary to
prepare evangelical leaders to serve God's mission in a rapidly changing
and increasingly diverse context. He was committed to developing
partnerships with congregations with particular focus on stewardship,
leadership and preaching,” said Hanson.
Bliese “built upon Luther's strong faculty with new appointments
that brought ecumenical and global perspectives. He led Luther through
the expansion of distance learning offerings while maintaining a
commitment to the benefits of learning in a seminary community that
gathers for worship, study and conversation,” said Hanson. “I thank God
for Rick's leadership.”
The Rev. James M. Lindus, chair of Luther’s board of directors,
expressed gratitude for Bliese’s leadership and “for all Rick has done
during his years at Luther Seminary.”
Bliese’s “compelling vision, unwavering commitment to Luther
Seminary’s mission and aggressive strategic plan have helped the seminary
maintain a healthy enrollment of students, a stellar faculty and strong
financial support from loyal and dedicated donors,” said Lindus.
While the seminary continues to function at “a high level,” said
Lindus, Luther is facing “a difficult combination of challenges, not
unlike those faced by many other institutions of higher education. These
challenges include deferred maintenance charges related to aging
buildings, the costs of delivering a wide variety of educational programs
and a nationwide drop in the number of students attending seminaries.”
Lindus said that the transition in leadership comes at a time when
the financial performance of the seminary has lagged expectations. The
seminary is taking positive measures to ensure its financial health,
which has included the naming of an interim chief financial officer.
Prior to his presidency, Bliese was the seminary’s dean of academic
affairs and associate professor of missions from 2003 to 2005. Before
joining Luther, he served as the director of graduate studies and as the
Augustana Heritage associate professor of global mission and evangelism
at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, an ELCA seminary. While
there, Bliese served as a part-time pastor at St. Andrews Lutheran
Church, Glenwood, Ill.
A graduate of Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, Bliese earned
a master of divinity degree from Christ Seminary Seminex, St. Louis, in
1981. His first call as an ordained pastor was to St. Stephanus Lutheran
Church in Herne, Germany. After serving four years there, he accepted a
position with the United Evangelists Missions in Germany as director of
the continuing education program for pastors and evangelists in Zaire and
Rwanda.
From 1986 to 1990, he led a small urban congregation in Bukavu,
Zaire, and focused on directing continuing education programs at the
Centre D'Accueil Protestante Ecumenical Center, School for Evangelists in
Zaire and Rwanda. There he established the center’s schools of music,
evangelism and language, and co-founded a regional development office for
research and technical assistance.
After 10 years overseas, Bliese returned to the United States and
earned a master of theology in 1992 and a doctorate in confessional
theology from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 1995.
In addition to his teaching and pastoral career, Bliese has led
mission and evangelism seminars and workshops as an independent
consultant, administered the Hein-Fry Lecture Series, and served as
president of the Center for World Christian Interaction. He has published
articles throughout the world and co-edited “The Dictionary of Mission:
Theology, History, Perspectives” (1997) and was co-editor of “The
Evangelizing Church: A Lutheran Contribution (2005).”