Luther University

Overview

Luther University is a private university founded and operated by the Lutheran Church in Korea. It is named after the Reformer Martin Luther. It is one of the leading institutions in Korea offering Lutheran theology as a major field of study. Its graduate Department of Theology trains pastors for the denomination. In addition to theology, the university specializes in "human care services" fields such as social welfare and counseling. It is a small institution, reported to have 346 undergraduate and 54 graduate students as of 2023.

Founding and History

The university traces its origins to 1958, when the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in the United States sent missionaries to Korea and established the Lutheran mission in Korea. Subsequent developments were as follows:

• December 1964: The mission organized a Committee on Theological Education.
• 1965: An agreement was concluded with Yonsei University, and on December 21 Won Yong Ji was installed as the first director.
• March 5, 1966: Luther Theological Institute opened in affiliation with the College of Theology at Yonsei University. The first class consisted of four students.
• November 17, 1980: The school was renamed Luther Theological School, and a seminary program for training pastors was established within it.
• 1982 and 1983: The school received authorization to establish an educational foundation, followed by government approval to establish the school.
• March 1984: The school formally opened as an accredited institution. That same month, a new school building was constructed in Sanggal-ri, Yongin.
• January 18, 1986: The school was designated as an institution whose academic credentials are recognized as equivalent to those of a four-year university.
• December 5, 1997: The school was renamed Luther Theological University.
• June 19, 2003: The school adopted its current name, Luther University.

Principal Activities

The school motto, "Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio," is Latin for prayer, meditation, and trial, a triad Luther is known to have emphasized. The university interprets it as "a person of prayer, a person of learning, and a person of practice." It also sets forth the spirit of diakonia, or service, as an educational goal.

• Undergraduate: The university offers a theology major and a School of Human Care Services.
• Graduate: The Department of Theology offers a three-year Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program. A Department of Counseling Psychology was added in 2015.
• Research institutes: The Luther Institute publishes Luther Studies, a journal devoted to Luther and the Reformation, and hosts academic symposia. The university also operates the Luther Counseling Institute.

Denominational Affiliation and Organization

The university is operated by the Lutheran Educational Foundation (Luther Gyohakwon) with the support of the Lutheran Church in Korea. Its graduate Department of Theology is described as the body that trains pastors to serve in the denomination. The university is also a member of the Korea Association of Accredited Theological Schools (KAATS).

Controversies and Assessment

According to reporting by NewsNJoy in the early 2010s, the university became embroiled in 2011 in controversy as a so-called "underperforming university." It overcame its financial difficulties by abolishing two departments and merging another. However, conflict with students' parents over the elimination of departments persisted. There was also a dispute over the presidential selection process; the denomination's executive committee reportedly concluded that the foundation's board of trustees should repeat the selection procedure. More recently, in response to the declining school-age population, the university has been restructuring its undergraduate programs around human care services.