• Return to Normal University Operations on Thursday, Feb. 20

    Lenoir-Rhyne University will return to normal university operations on Thursday, Feb. 20, at our all of our campus locations—Hickory, Columbia and Asheville. Classes will resume as scheduled, and all offices will be open.

    UPDATE: Feb. 20, 9:15 a.m. (from Academic Affairs)
    Due to the recent weather changes in Hickory, you may opt to move your classes to remote delivery today if you have concerns about safely traveling to campus. If you choose to hold classes remotely, please notify your students and your dean as soon as possible.

    For those holding in-person classes, we ask that you exercise flexibility with attendance policies, understanding that some students may face transportation challenges or safety concerns. Students should not feel compelled to risk unsafe travel conditions to attend class.

    Please communicate your teaching plans to your students and your dean.

    Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring everyone's safety while maintaining academic continuity.

Opening service set to welcome seminary to Hickory

  • Published November 12, 2024

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) will officially begin its new chapter in Hickory, North Carolina, with an opening service on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 10 a.m. The event will take place in Grace Chapel on the Lenoir-Rhyne University campus. 

The service will highlight both the arrival of LTSS and the beginning of a new semester for LR students and include Holy Communion. The Rev. Todd Cutter ’96, M.A. ’00, M.Div. ’04, university pastor, director of spiritual life and director of counseling services is a graduate of both Lenoir-Rhyne and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and will preach. 

"As the seminary completes its pilgrimage and arrives in Hickory, I am honored to be a part of this important moment," said Cutter. 

The Rev. Dr. Beverly Wallace, M.Div. ’96, director of lifelong learning at the seminary, will preside at Eucharist, and the Rev. Dr. Melanie Dobson, associate professor and the Lefler and Wohltmann Chair in Methodist Studies, will preside over portions of the liturgy. 

The Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer, dean and rector of LTSS, echoed Cutter's sentiment. “While many are saddened to leave our beloved Columbia campus, this move is an important part of our seminary's history, and the Lutheran tradition of higher education. By relocating to Hickory, we are helping to secure the future of LTSS as we look toward our 200th anniversary in 2030. We are grateful for the support of our alumni, friends, and the broader Lutheran community as we embark on this new chapter of educating and forming leaders for public ministry." 

A reception will be held in the lobby of Belk Centrum immediately after the service. To register, visit: https://engage.lr.edu/e/ltss-commissioning-ceremony/.

The service also will be live streamed at www.lr.edu/live.

A watercolor of home from the early 1900's
A history of pilgrimage and preservation

The story of LTSS is one of perseverance, of an institution so dedicated to its mission to prepare students for a life of service through ministry, that it has continually defied the odds to survive and continue that mission.

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A professor speaks in front of a class
A deep dive into the practice of pilgrimage

Pilgrimage figures prominently into the curriculum and instruction the Rev. Dr. Melanie Dobson shares with her students as they prepare for lives of spiritual leadership.

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