After more than 120 years in St. Paul, Minnesota, Luther Seminary, the largest seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will sell its 10-acre upper campus in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood and relocate to a smaller facility, its board announced.
The announcement follows the recent sale of its lower campus announced in February.
In a statement released Tuesday, Luther Seminary said the board’s decision to divest from their physical campus was unanimous. The move is also in line with the graduate school’s efforts to adopt “a more nimble model” to serve some 370 graduate students who mainly study online.
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“The way students learn and prepare for ministry has changed. Now is the right time to align our resources with that reality and evolve how we deliver on our mission,” Luther Seminary President Robin Steinke said. “While this is an ending, it is also a beginning rooted in God’s promise toward a future full of hope and promise.”
Luther Seminary has been in operation for 150 years and has moved 14 times in its first several decades of existence, the school said. While most current students engage with the seminary online, the school said they are also learning in the church communities and ministries they serve.
“Our mission to educate leaders for Christian communities remains as vital and necessary as ever,” Steinke said. “To remain sustainable over the long term, how we fulfill this mission will be transformed going forward. Seeking new space and shifting to a more nimble model will allow us to steward our resources more effectively and serve students and learners from all walks of life.”
The upper campus at 2481 Como Ave., estimated to have a market value of $8.7 million, has not yet been listed for sale. School officials also plan on continuing to operate at the campus through the 2026-2027 school year until they find a new campus more suitable for their needs.
“Led by our core values of being gospel-centered, student-focused, innovative, and community-oriented, we are leaning into our mission in new, exciting ways,” Carlos Peña, chair of the Luther Seminary Board of Directors, said in a statement. “We are taking bold, faithful steps to meet the needs of the global church and our students while continuing our dedication to theological depth and academic rigor. We will continue to deliver faithful and high-quality online education experiences alongside strategic in-person learning, all in service to Christian communities around the world.”
The sale of the seminary’s 16-acre lower campus included parcels of land in Lauderdale and St. Paul. It also included Northwestern Hall, Stub Hall and Breck Woods.
Luther Seminary sold the lower campus to Edina-based developer and multi-family housing experts Lifestyle Communities.
“The team at Lifestyle Communities has enjoyed an exceptional 30-year track record in refining what is our cooperative living model for active adults,” the firm says on their website. “While many think active adult living can simply be delivered in a rental housing option, we know that ownership is important to so many individuals and we’ve leaned into this philosophy of perfecting cooperative living.”
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