The Concordia Theological Seminary, Nagercoil inaugurated its Ninety Sixth academic year on Sunday the 12th July 2020 via video conferencing. The opening worship was led by the seminary faculty and Rev. Dr. D. Christu Das (Principal) delivered the inaugural speech. In his speech, the Principal reiterated the Seminary’s determination to move forward with its call to train pastors for God’s mission during this crisis period. The faculty, staff, students, families, and the well-wishers of the seminary joined the inaugural worship online from different parts of India and abroad. During this occasion, Rev. Dr. Edward Nauman (Theological educator, LCMS), brought greetings from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The opening worship service was organised by Rev. P.H.S Nandakumar (Seminary Chaplain).
The inaugural function also featured a book release of Rev. Dr. R. John Vijaya Raj’s (Faculty, New Testament) book “Subversion of Class Hierarchy in Lucan Theology: A Socio-Scientific Redaction Reading” published by Christian World Imprints.
This year, the seminary welcomed twenty new students to the Bachelor of Divinity Program with a total enrolment of one hundred, including thirteen students in the distance education BCS program for lay people. This year we also have an international student from Srilanka auditing courses and Rev. Dr. Edward Naumann teaches online as a visiting Professor.
The academic sessions began on Wednesday, the 15th July 2020 with a worship service, followed by an orientation session. The BD classes are conducted 9 am to 12 pm, Monday to Friday every week. The classes are powered with the help of Zoom video conferencing with five live virtual classrooms. The course work including readings, assignments, tests are managed with the help of Google G-Suite for education. The BCS classes are also conducted online every Sunday from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. Every Wednesday at 8:30 am, students, faculty and the community members join for a common worship service. The worship is followed by a general assembly led by the principal to communicate and discuss common concerns. The seminary conducted several orientation sessions for the students and the faculty members to familiarize with the new way of online learning. The Academic Dean, Rev. P.R Selvaraj and Rev. Dr. Sam Thompson (Media and Communications) lead the orientation workshops.
We praise God for His strength and guidance during this unprecedented global pandemic not to panic but to successfully launch this year’s academic sessions. We are thankful towards the continuing support we receive from the LCMS leadership, especially Rev. James Kirkava and his team towards smooth functioning of the seminary. We also acknowledge the support we receive from the IELC leadership towards the seminary. Soli Deo Gloria!