The Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer will be installed as the 10^th president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 3 p.m. during a worship service which includes the opening of the Seminary’s 167^th academic year. The service will be held in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the Seminary campus. Rev. Dr. Gerald B. Kieshnick, president of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), will serve as preacher.

Other installation service participants will include Revs. Dr. Andrew Bartelt, professor of exegetical theology, vice president for academic affairs and executive assistant to the president at Concordia Seminary; Dr. James L. Brauer, professor of practical theology and dean of the chapel at Concordia Seminary; Dr. L. Dean Hempelmann, director of pastoral education for the LCMS Board for Higher Education; Dr. James Kalthoff, president of the Missouri District of the LCMS, Dennis L. Schwab, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Harvester, Mo., and a member of the Seminary’s Board of Regents; and Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Special music for the service will be provided by the Concordia Seminary Chorus and instrumentalists, all under the direction of Rev. Henry V. Gerike, the Seminary’s director of choirs.

The service will be followed by a reception in the Seminary’s main quadrangle allowing all present to greet Dr. and Mrs. Meyer.

The inauguration of Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer as president will occur on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m., in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. The inauguration will be held in conjunction with the Seminary’s 16^th Annual Theological Symposium, allowing many pastors, Concordia University System faculty members and students, and other Symposium guests the opportunity to attend. The inauguration will include a special address by Dr. Meyer outlining his vision for the Seminary’s future. The inauguration celebration is offered free of charge, and no tickets are issued.

An additional component of the inaugural festivities will be a special Bach at the Sem sacred concert on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7:00 p.m. in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Special selections from Bach’s works are being chosen by Robert Bergt, director of the American Kantorei, to express the spirit of prayer and thanksgiving that accompanies the installation of a new Seminary president. There is no charge to attend this sacred concert, and no tickets are issued.

“We invite and encourage friends of Concordia Seminary to join us for the events accompanying Dr. Meyer’s installation and inauguration,” commented Rev. Glen Thomas, Concordia Seminary’s vice president for seminary relations. “There is a real sense of excitement on campus as we begin a new era at Concordia Seminary, and we want to begin this new era appropriately with guidance from God’s Word, prayer, praise and thanksgiving to God.”

Meyer was selected to receive the call to the presidency on May 11 and accepted the divine call to the position on May 20 at the Seminary’s 2005 Commencement exercises. He succeeds the Rev. Dr. John F. Johnson, who accepted a call to serve as president of Concordia University, River Forest, Ill., in November 2004. Meyer has served as the Seminary’s interim president during the vacancy.

For more information, contact the Office of Seminary Relations, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; 314.505.7370; [email protected].