2025 September — 180th Academic Year Underway at CTSFW

180th Academic Year Underway at CTSFW

FORT WAYNE, Ind., Sept. 9, 2025 — Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), welcomed new and returning students Monday, September 8, at the Opening Service of the 180th Academic Year, held at 10 a.m. in Kramer Chapel. The service began with a procession of first-year students, new ordained and commissioned faculty and staff, and the CTSFW faculty singing “Thy Strong Word” (Lutheran Service Book 578) with gathered worshipers.

The Rev. Dr. Jon S. Bruss, president of CTSFW, preached at the service, basing his message on readings from Deuteronomy 30 and 1 Timothy 3 and 4. After describing the dangers of pharisaism—making the Law of God a means of grace and the mark of a true Christian—Bruss urged students to be on guard against this “affliction of the faithful.”

“What makes a real Christian a real Christian is Christ alone. What makes a man holy isn’t what he does, but whom he holds in the heart. And what makes a man pious and righteous and a Lutheran is grasping Christ where He may be found, in His holy Word and blessed Sacraments, and nothing else, nothing at all.”

“That’s the mystery of godliness that Paul wrote of in the epistle,” Bruss continued. “Jesus is the sum total of all godliness, of all holiness, of all righteousness. Let your hearts rest in Him, because otherwise you’re just chasing after deceitful spirits and the teaching of demons. Be satisfied with Him, because otherwise you can only be self-satisfied, or self-dissatisfied. And hold to Him only, because otherwise, no matter what else you grasp, you are grasping at straws.”

After the sermon, Bruss installed four new faculty and staff members, all rostered church workers in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Those installed include:

• Rev. Michael Salemink, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions. Salemink (CTSFW MDiv, 2003) accepted the call to CTSFW after serving for ten years as executive director of Lutherans For Life and twelve years as a parish pastor.
• Deaconess Susan Knowles, Director of Deaconess Formation. Knowles, who earned her deaconess certification from CTSFW in 2024, is a Certified Christian Conciliator and served as a team member with Ambassadors of Reconciliation from 2020–2025.
• Rev. Christian Schultz, Admission Counselor and Christ Academy Director. Schultz (CTSFW MDiv, 2020) comes to the Seminary after serving for four years as pastor of First Lutheran Church in Paola, Kansas.
• Susan Habegger, Communications and Social Media Specialist. A graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin, Habegger taught English at Lutheran High School in Parker, Colorado, before joining the staff at CTSFW.

To watch a recording of the opening service, visit our CTSFW Youtube Channel.