{"id":56765,"date":"2026-02-12T18:27:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/?page_id=56765"},"modified":"2026-03-11T16:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:46:15","slug":"vocation-of-lutheran-higher-education-conference","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/vocation-of-lutheran-higher-education-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Vocation of Lutheran Higher Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beyond Walls, For the Common Good:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lutheran Higher Education and Civic Responsibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n

July 13-15, 2026 | Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN<\/h3>\n

Each year, members of the National Network of ELCA Colleges & Universities (NECU)<\/a> gather to explore the distinctive roles we play in higher education.The theme of the 2026 conference is \u201cBeyond Walls, For the Common Good: Lutheran Higher Education and Civic Responsibility.”<\/b><\/p>\n

In an age marked by polarization, inequality, and public distrust, Lutheran higher education is uniquely called to witness to faith active in love through its contributions to the civic and common good. The 2026 Vocation of Lutheran Higher Education Conference invites participants to step \u201cbeyond walls\u201d \u2014 of campus, culture, and comfort \u2014 to rediscover how core values of faith and sharing \u201cgood news\u201d shapes our shared responsibility for the world.<\/p>\n

Rooted in the Lutheran tradition of two kin-doms and vocation as service to neighbor, this gathering explores how our institutions embody public faith: nurturing civic imagination, moral discernment, and courageous leadership. Together, we will examine how Lutheran colleges and universities can help heal the social fabric, cultivate democratic engagement, and advance justice for all people through education that integrates faith, reason, and the call to serve.<\/p>\n

Keynote Speakers
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

Anthony Bateza<\/b>, <\/span>Associate Professor of Religion; Department Chair of Race, Ethnic, Gender and Sexuality Studies. <\/span>Anthony Bateza is a specialist in Martin Luther, moral theology, and Christian ethics. Luther\u2019s political theology is his primary area of research, focusing on the reformer’s understanding of human agency and his relationship with the virtue tradition and Augustinian thought. He has written on Black liberation theology and connections between Lutheran teaching and confronting racism in the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jon Pahl<\/b>, The Peter Paul and Elizabeth Hagan Chair and Professor of the History of Christianity, United Lutheran Seminary. <\/span>Jon Pahl is a historian, author, teacher, preacher, researcher, business-planner, community activist and musician. He has taught at Valparaiso, Temple, and Princeton Universities, and since 2000 at the Lutheran Seminary.Dr. Pahl\u2019s current research continues to focus on religions, violence, and peace-growing, along with research on trees in the history of Christianity. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin<\/b>, President of Augustana University in Sioux Falls.Stephanie Herseth Sandlin serves as the 24th president of Augustana University in Sioux Falls,South Dakota \u2014 the first woman to lead the university since it was established in 1860.Called to public service, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, serving four terms. She was the first woman elected to the U.S. House from South Dakota and the youngest woman serving in Congress during that time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Register for the 2026 Vocation of Lutheran Higher Education Conference<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For more information and registration details, contact <\/span>grace.marcus@elca.org<\/span><\/a>. The conference begins with registration at 3:00 pm on Monday and finishes at 12:00 pm on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

previous conferences<\/h2>\n

2025: \u201cEthical Leadership in a Changing World\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

2024: \u201cEducational Access: Lutheran Roots, Contemporary Practices\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

2023: \u201cSo that we (faculty, staff, and administrators), too, may flourish\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

2022: “Why All This Talk about Understanding the Mission of NECU Member Institutions as a Vocation?”<\/a><\/p>\n

2021: “Called to Place: Community Responsive Education”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beyond Walls, For the Common Good: Lutheran Higher Education and Civic Responsibility July 13-15, 2026 | Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-56765","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56765"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56781,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56765\/revisions\/56781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}