Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary exists to provide pastors for the congregations and mission fields of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. As such it is a professional school: it produces pastors. The seminary was not established and is not maintained to serve as a general school of religion for anyone who desires to take courses in theology. Those who enroll at the seminary must as a rule be members of congregations of the WELS or of churches in fellowship with the WELS, and it must be their intention to serve as pastors in the WELS or churches in fellowship with the WELS.
Why are the seminary enrollment and graduation policies so tightly defined? For one thing, restricting enrollment to those who are members of the WELS or of sister churches of the WELS serves to maintain the seminary’s confessional character. The WELS is a confessional church body, and its seminary must reflect this. Making Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary a school of religion open to anyone who is interested in specialized study in various fields of theology could jeopardize the seminary’s confessional character. In a setting where the bond of unity among brothers united in the faith exists, a strong loyalty to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions can be assumed. Conversely, if students were enrolled who did not hold to such convictions, a basic understanding of Lutheran doctrine could no longer be assumed. Elementary scriptural truths would have to be explained and perhaps also defended. Extensive defense of Lutheran doctrine would not only impart an apologetic atmosphere on the campus but could also tend to polarize students into groups and factions, which would be harmful to the confessional unity which, under the Holy Spirit, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary has enjoyed over the years.
Secondly, restricting enrollment to those who desire to be trained for the pastoral ministry is in keeping with the purpose for which the WELS established its seminary. In its role of training pastors for the WELS, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary enjoys continuing synodical loyalty and support, because the synod looks to the seminary as its principal source of men for the pastoral ministry. This includes not only men for the parish ministry but for almost all other synodical positions as well, exclusive of teachers in the elementary schools, many secondary education posts, and staff ministry positions. If the seminary should lose sight of its express purpose and become something else, this could undermine the synodical loyalty and support which the seminary has enjoyed and would be working at cross-purposes with the synod’s intention in founding the seminary.
