Commencement

The Distinguished Alumnus Award

Awarded to a graduate of Concordia Seminary who has rendered exceptional service in at least one of the following areas: parish ministry, mission field, preparation of church workers or Synod service.

Dr. Gregory Seltz serves as executive director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (LCRL) in Washington, D.C. In this role, he provides input, education, advocacy and resources in support of religious liberty, life and marriage. He works to build partnerships in the nation’s capital on behalf of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) congregations, schools, universities and seminaries.

Seltz earned a bachelor’s degree in New Testament–biblical languages from Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA), Ann Arbor, Mich. He holds both a Master of Divinity and a Master of Sacred Theology in Systematic Theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, where he later earned a Ph.D. in theology and culture. He also received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Concordia University Irvine (CUI), Irvine, Calif., in recognition of his work
in urban ministry.

Seltz received his first call to serve as a mission pastor in Dallas, Texas. He later served a large congregation in Tampa, Fla., and was the founding pastor of Church For All Nations, the first new Lutheran mission start in New York City in more than 40 years. He also served as executive director of Life’s Journey Ministries, an urban evangelism nonprofit in Manhattan. From 2000-11, Seltz was a professor of theology and director of the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center at CUI, where he oversaw the master’s program in theology and culture. During his tenure, more than 75 pastors prepared for ministry in multicultural urban contexts, including Vietnamese, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian, Indian and African American communities.

In 2011, Seltz became Speaker of “The Lutheran Hour,” Lutheran Hour Ministries’ flagship radio program which reaches more than one million listeners on more than 1,800 stations in North America and through the American Forces Network. He served as the organization’s spiritual leader, evangelist and ministry emissary with the LCMS and Lutheran Church– Canada (LCC).

An influential voice in church and society, Seltz is a frequent speaker on topics such as church and state, the public mission of the church, the two kingdoms, evangelism, cross-cultural ministry and pastoral leadership in an urban post-modern world.

He and his wife, Dr. Marie Yvette Seltz, have one daughter, Devin.

Doctor of Letters, honoris causa

Awarded to a qualified person within the LCMS or one of its partner churches who demonstrates creativity, courage and excellence in the literary articulation of the Christian faith.

Dr. Christopher Mitchell serves as the general editor of the Concordia Commentary series at Concordia Publishing House (CPH), the publishing arm of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Since the series’ inception in 1992, he has overseen the publication of 48 volumes totaling 33,894 pages. The scholarly series emphasizes close attention to the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts in their historical contexts, offering theological exposition in accord with the whole of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions to support the church’s faithful proclamation of the Gospel.

A transplant from California to Wisconsin, Mitchell earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics in 1978 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Encouraged by his campus pastor to consider the pastoral ministry, he went on to complete a Master of Arts (1980) and a Ph.D. (1983) in Hebrew and Semitic Studies, with a minor in classical Greek, there.

Mitchell received his first call to serve as a parish pastor in Minnesota. After two years in congregational ministry he was called in 1989 to join CPH, where he has remained for more than three decades.

Among his many contributions to theological scholarship, Mitchell authored the Song of Songs volume in the Concordia Commentary series. He has worked closely with faculty from Concordia Seminary throughout the series’ development. Contributors have included Dr. Louis Brighton (†), Dr. Horace Hummel (†), Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, Dr. R. Reed Lessing, Dr. Bruce Schuchard, Dr. James Voelz, Dr. Timothy Saleska, Dr. Paul Raabe, and Dr. Andrew Bartelt. Forthcoming volumes are being prepared by Dr. Thomas J. Egger, Dr. Ronald Mudge, Dr. Kevin Golden, Dr. Adam Hensley, Dr. Jeffrey Oschwald, Dr. Philip Penhallegon and Dr. Vilson Scholz.

Mitchell and his wife, Carol, married in 1977. They are blessed with two sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandsons.

Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa

Awarded to clergy who have rendered outstanding service in church life.

Rev. Matthew Anker currently serves as president of Lutheran Mission–Australia (LM-A), a new confessional church body operating with the support and aid of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). He previously served as assistant to the bishop for International Mission for the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) from 2018–24, serving also as chairman of the Lutheran Overseas Partner Churches—Papua New Guinea and in numerous other capacities. Anker served as a pastor of the LCA for 22 years before resigning in 2024 due to the theological direction of the synod. He has been and continues to be a clear voice for Scriptural, confessional Lutheranism in Southeast Asia and Melanesia.

A native of Australia, Anker’s academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University, Melbourne (1992), and a Bachelor of Theology (2000) and Graduate Diploma of Ministry (2002) from Luther Seminary, Adelaide, Australia.

Anker served as pastor to two parishes, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Mildura, Victoria (2003–07); and the Goulburn Murray Lutheran Parish, Victoria (2007–18) — a congregation that welcomed many refugee families from Africa. Anker ensured their spiritual, emotional and physical needs were met and was instrumental in the building of a new church to accommodate the congregation’s growing needs as God blessed its mission and evangelism. Over the years, Anker has championed faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions as a sessional lecturer at Luther Seminary (2004–06), as assistant bishop of the Victorian-Tasmanian District and member of the District Church Council, by providing leadership and consultation for the Committee for International Mission and the Committee for Cross-Cultural Ministry, and in many other ways.

Prior to the LCA’s 2023 synodical convention, Anker met with several pastors and laypeople to plan a response to the ongoing and increasing pressure to introduce female pastors into the LCA. As the LCA continued down this path, Anker has consistently called fellow pastors and laity to the biblical and confessional truth, while promoting the important service women contribute to the church in many ways, himself having worked alongside the LCA’s only deaconess. Together with this group of confessional pastors and laity, Anker helped establish LM–A to secure a future for confessional Lutheranism in Australia. Under Anker’s tireless and selfless leadership, LM–A has seen numerous new congregations established and an increasing number of existing congregations, confessional pastors and faithful laypeople across Australia join LM–A in the promotion of the Gospel according to the Lutheran Confessions.

Anker and his wife, Laryssa, are adult converts to the church. They have four adult children and four grandchildren.