2025 October — New Munderloh Endowments Will Support Formation and Recruiting
https://www.ctsfw.edu/about/news/post/13865/
New Munderloh Endowments Will Support Formation and Recruiting
FORT WAYNE, Ind., October 23, 2025—Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), now has additional means to support seminary students and recruiting, thanks to a generous gift from the Munderloh Foundation. A new $4.2 million Munderloh Scholarship Endowment will provide forty-two challenge grants to students annually, and a $3 million Munderloh Recruitment Endowment will support Admission staffing and recruiting activities.
“The generosity of the Munderloh Foundation will help preserve the legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Munderloh through the efforts of our Admission team,” said the Rev. Matthew Wietfeldt, assistant vice president of Admission. “The Munderlohs were dedicated to encouraging and recruiting future pastors, which is exactly what we strive to achieve every day. This endowed gift will enable us to continue this essential and vital work for our institution and, more importantly, for the Church.”
Mark Wilson, president of the Munderloh Foundation, shakes hands with Renita Nahrwold, relocation coordinator in the CTSFW Admission Office, at a luncheon celebrating the new Munderloh endowments.
Alfred C. and Birdell Munderloh established the Munderloh Foundation in 1959 to support students pursuing pastoral ministry and teaching vocations in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). When Alfred Munderloh was growing up, he thought about studying for the ministry but couldn’t pursue that path due to economic circumstances. Later in life, Munderloh, who worked as a sales manager for Investors Diversified Services (now Ameriprise Financial), set up the foundation to provide much-needed financial support to future pastors and other church workers.
“I believe that the wishes of the Munderloh family are being honored through the gift to the Fort Wayne seminary,” said Dale Marshall, a trustee of the Munderloh Foundation. “When I joined the foundation, I was shocked at the financial situation of seminary students. I wanted to make sure that the prospective pastor receives additional revenue during his education. I’ve been pleased with the stewardship of the Munderloh gifts in the past, and I’m especially pleased with the number of applicants who have come from LCMS seminaries in the last few years.”
CTSFW gave the Munderloh Foundation a portrait of Concordia Theological Seminary to express their gratitude for the recent gift to the seminary. Foundation president Mark Wilson (left), pictured with trustee Dale Marshall (right), accepted the gift on behalf of the foundation.
Marshall joined Mark Wilson, president of the Munderloh Foundation, at a special luncheon at CTSFW in September to celebrate the new endowments. At the luncheon, they heard from several recipients of Munderloh Scholarships, including the Rev. Jeffrey Kazmierski, who now serves as an Admission counselor at CTSFW. In his remarks, Kazmierski highlighted the importance of working with pastors in the recruiting effort, which the Munderloh gift will help facilitate.
“When I was wrestling with the idea of seminary myself, it was my own pastor who pulled me aside and said, ‘You need to consider this,’” said Kazmierski. “He didn’t just leave me there; he connected me to the Admission Office, he prayed for me, and he walked with me. It was that partnership between my pastor and the seminary that made all the difference.”
The Rev. Jeffrey Kazmierski, a CTSFW Admission counselor and recipient of a Munderloh Scholarship, spoke about his path to the seminary at the Munderloh luncheon.
The sizable gift from the Munderloh Foundation comes in the wake of the foundation’s dissolution in July 2025. Over the course of its existence, the foundation awarded 7,861 scholarships totaling over $13 million.
You can read more about the Munderloh gift in the fall 2025 For the Life of the World.