ELCA News Blog
July 9, 2009  

ELCA seminary awarded $325,000 grant

by Carrie Draeger, ELCA News Service*

A $325,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, New York City, to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), will help the seminary continue its Asian initiative and the Asian Theological Summer Institute.  LTSP is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). 

The institute is part of LTSP's effort to promote cultural diversity in theological scholarship.  It began in 2007 with a $75,000 grant from the Luce Foundation to complement the Black Church Studies and Latino Ministry programs of the seminary.  The new grant will fund the institute for five more years.

Henry Luce, co-founder of Time Inc., established the foundation in 1936 to honor his parents, who were missionary educators in China.  The foundation's mission is to "foster innovation and leadership in academic, policy, religious and art communities," according to its Web site.

* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.