Women in Concordia Ministry

Created by Linden Jensen, Jessica Epple, and Alex Benson, this women's walk highlights Old Main, Memorial Auditorium, and the Knutson Campus Center Centrum.

Concordia Campus Ministry has been very important to the college ever since its foundation. Daily chapel and other campus ministry organizations have always been an instrumental part of life at Concordia.  Currently, Concordia is affiliated with the ELCA, which allows females to participate fully in the life of the Church. However, this was not always the case. The roles women have been allowed to play in the Church have shifted over time, and the participation of females in ministry on Concordia’s campus has largely reflected these changes.

     Women at Concordia have always been encouraged to participate within the life of worship at the college.  Before the ELCA was formed, Concordia was affiliated with the Norwegian Synod, the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and then the American Lutheran Church.[1] Female pastors were permitted in the American Lutheran Church beginning in 1970. Long before women were allowed to be pastors, women formed service-oriented ministry groups as an expression of their faith.[2] Women in Concordia Ministry will take participants to the various locations of chapel and ministry throughout Concordia’s history. We will explore how women were participating in the life of worship both in chapel and within student ministry organizations.

Women in Concordia Ministry