" Preparing Seminary Students for a Ministry of Inclusiveness"
Columbia has been the home of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) since 1911. Today, LTSS students are not only Lutherans, but Methodists, Baptists and other denominations as well. The school was designated a Reconciling in Christ seminary in 2017, reflecting its commitment to welcoming students regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. How does LTSS prepare women and men from diverse backgrounds for a ministry of inclusiveness? Find out on September 22 when our guests will be the Reverend Dr. Mary Hinkle Shore, LTSS Rector and Dean, and Mac Mullins, a student at LTSS.
Where: Via Zoom from the comfort of your OWN Home.
When: Tuesday, September 22. Zoom Room will open at 6pm for socializing. Program will start at 6:30pm.
6:30 PM Program: Mary Hinkle Shore & Mac Mullins, Speakers
Mary Hinkle Shore became Rector and Dean of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University in February of 2019. For sixteen years, she was a New Testament professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, where she also served as an associate academic dean. She is a minister of Word and Sacrament in the ELCA and has served parishes in North Dakota and North Carolina. Her journey toward advocacy for the full participation in the life and leadership of the church by those who identify with the LGBT community began in 1982 when, in her first year of seminary in Minnesota, she was assigned St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, for field education. There, Mary was introduced to the congregation’s newly founded Wingspan ministry “with and on behalf of gay and lesbian people” as it was known then. Mary and her husband, Hank, split their time between the LTSS campus and the mountains of western North Carolina where they own a home.
Mac Mullins is a second-year Master of Divinity student at LTSS. A native North Carolinian, Mac grew up in Concord, NC before moving to Chicago for seven years. While there, he received a bachelor degree from DePaul University in Religious Studies and LGBTQ Studies. Raised an Episcopalian, Mac joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America while in college in part because of their affirming, though complicated, relationship with the LGBTQ community. He is a candidate for the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the NC Synod of the ELCA, a member of Proclaim, a ministry of out LGBTQ+ pastors and seminarians in the ELCA, and the chair of LTSS’s Reconciling in Christ student committee.