Teachers come from many traditions

Last fall, leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church decided that tenured faculty and board members at all its educational institutions must be members of the denomination in “good and regular standing.”

The ELCA does not have such a policy for its 28 colleges and universities and eight seminaries. ELCA schools look for “competence and excellence in teaching ability” when hiring faculty, said Arne Selbyg, ELCA director for colleges and universities.

“We want people at our colleges who can subscribe to the Lutheran mission for colleges and universities—to educate people to serve the world—whether they are Buddhist, Jewish, Roman Catholic or Lutheran,” he said.