The Department for Theological Education supports the work of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) eight seminaries, primarily in their mission to provide theological education for the training of clergy and lay leaders in the ELCA.

Along with our seminaries, the department also works with other providers of post-secondary education in religious and theological studies — including colleges and universities, continuing education centers, and non-ELCA schools of theology — to create a theological education network that can offer all the theological education resources required to achieve the mission of the ELCA.