Theological questions are being asked about the possible next Luther College President

When the Luther College Board of Regents met in Decorah on February 22nd and 23rd, they were expected to name a new Luther College President to succeed Rick Torgerson, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

They did not.  The Board of Regents identified one of the two finalists for the position--Dr. Mark Hagerott--as their preferred candidate for President.  But their statement also noted that the board "requested more information and additional engagement in order to make a decision regarding his candidacy."

The Presidential Search Committee was told "to design the additional process, gather information, and to make its report available to the Regents as soon as possible, but no later than April 30th, so that the Regents can make their final decision with respect to Dr. Hagerott's candidacy."

It appears that some of the additional information the committee will be gathering will be theological in nature and will lead to an interesting discussion of what kind of a college the Regents see Luther College as being.,

Dr. Hagerott has not responded to a request for information by decorahnews.com, but several other sources tell us he is a member of a church in Maryland that is affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  Luther College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

For non-Lutherans, that might not sound like a big deal.  But the two denominations of Lutheranism have developed sharply different world views since nearly merging in the early 1970s.  For instance, LCMS is opposed to ordaining women, opposed to abortion in all cases, considers homosexuality sinful and believes in a literal translation of the Bible (http://www.lcms.org/belief-and-practice     

Those beliefs are seen by some as inappropriate for a Luther College president.  A Letter to the Editor in Friday's Luther Chips by a Luther student sets forth that reasoning.

Of course, just because a denomination has an official position on an issue doesn't mean that all of its congregation members share that opinion.  Think of the Catholic Church's teachings about contraception, for instance.

So it appears one of the jobs of the Luther Presidential Search Committee between now and April 30th will be to go back to Dr. Hagerott and discuss theology with him.