Phyllis Anderson Named President of ELCA Seminary

The Pacific Luterhan Theological Seminary board of directors unanimaously elected Rev. Phyllis B. Anderson as the seventh president on Nov. 5, 2004.

"I am excited about the opportunity to lead this excellent seminary as it shapes Lutheran leaders for our time and place, marked by rapid change, diversity, secularity, spiritual longing, and great human need," Anderson said.

PLTS is on of the eight Evangelical Lutheran Church in America seminaries. Andereson will be the first woman to head a Luterhan seminary in the United States.

"We are delighted to find a leader of Dr. Anderson's vision and experience for this important time in the life of both the seminary and the church at large," said the Rev. Steven L. McKinley, House of Prayer Lutheran Church, Richfield, Minn., chair of the seminary's board.

"The PLTS commitment to ecumenism, to diversity, to the spiritual experience of people in the American West, and to the mission of ELCA seminaries and congregations across the country will be truly enhanced by her leadership," McKinley said.

Born June 7, 1943, in Baltimore, Anderson attended Concordia Teachers' College, Seward, Neb., and graduated from California State University, Sacramento, and Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. She earned her doctorate from Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis. Wartburg is a seminary of the ELCA.

Anderson is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and director of the Institute for Ecumenical Theological Studies, Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry.

Dr. Martha Ellen Stortz, PLTS professor of historical theology and ethics, noted that, in Seattle, Anderson prepared students from various denominational affiliations for ministry. "This experience gives her unique insight into the GTU and its interfaith and interreligious communions," she said. "I am delighted that she can bring her own vibrant blend of theological vision and institutional savvy to our seminary. We are richly blessed," Stortz said.

"I'm thrilled PLTS will have a president whose very unique personal and professional skills so seamlessly meet the particular needs of the seminary community at this time," said Derek Nelson, a member of the search committee and a doctoral student at PLTS.

Anderson said, "I pray God will continue to bless this institution with outstanding faculty, staff and students, with good friends and partners, and with all that we need to fulfill our part in God's mission."