PHILADELPHIA (April 10, 2000)-- Dr. Jon Pahl, Associate Professor of Theology at Valparaiso, IN, University, has been appointed Associate Professor of Church History at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). The decision was announced recently by the Seminary's Board of Trustees.

Pahl, a graduate of Valparaiso, received his Seminary Education (MTS, 1983) at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, OH. In 1990, he was awarded his Ph.D. (Religions in America, History of Christianity, Ethics) from the University of Chicago, where he studied with Dr. Martin Marty.

"I'm excited to be coming to Philadelphia," Pahl says. "The history of the Seminary is both impressive and imposing. I have especially appreciated the lively, intellectual conversations with the Seminary faculty during the interview process. The spiritual questions we discussed seem to be the right ones for the church and the culture at this time."

While statistics raise questions about the continuing viability of small Lutheran congregations across the country, Pahl says "I don't buy the model of decline or demise of congregational life. My sense of history has taught me a balanced perspective." He said that while many Lutherans are having "a difficult time, they've also experienced dramatic changes in our culture. I don't believe that uncertainty and fear are Christian virtues. I believe we need to go forward with hope and confidence that God will, through grace, find a way for the church of the future."

Pahl says he believes that Lutherans have played a strong ecumenical role in the nation's history, a role that has sometimes been under-reported and a profile that has not been "without contention."

He described this role as "neither cautious nor progressive. Lutherans have been part of a delicate and important task" in the unfolding of ecumenical history in the United States. "They've maintained the integrity of the Lutheran Confessions with an impulse for reform," a paradoxical role he defined as both "significant and deep." Lutheran religious history in America has also produced academic institutions that have not been the "biggest and the loudest," but he said they had produced a wide variety of leaders who have served "with distinction" throughout society. He said Lutheran Social Ministry Organizations enjoy a similarly distinctive history, while they have also maintained a low profile.

As an educator, Pahl said he decided on a teaching career because "I love the life of the mind and conversation. I don't subscribe to the notion of the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge. I believe in the dialogical process, the conversational model where the teacher both teaches and learns." He said that exchange model was one he learned at Valparaiso's Christ College.

The new LTSP professor has written considerably on youth and culture and says he has a major concern for how young people "are sold all kinds of 'gospels' serving as superficial versions of salvation." He said youth are raising a lot more questions than are being addressed by the church, but that the church has the capability to offer depth to young people "in the process of their becoming of age."

Pahl has written three books: Paradox Lost: Free Will and Political Liberty in American Culture, 1630-1760 (Johns Hopkins, 1992); Hopes and Dreams of All: The International Walther League and Lutheran Youth in American Culture, 1893-1993 (Wheat Ridge, 1993); and the forthcoming Modern American Youth Ministry: From Purity to Practices, 1930-1999 (Hendrickson Publishers, June 2000). His current research focuses on sacred places in American culture, violence and religion, and young people in America's religions.

Pahl is a native of Appleton, WI. His wife, Lisa, is a registered nurse with a Master of Science degreein Nursing who instructs health care professionals on the use of cardiac monitor machines. His family enjoys music, and Pahl describes children Justin, 14, as a tenor saxophone player; Nathan, 11, as a performer on trumpet; and daughter Rheanne, 7, as knowing "two chords on the guitar so far." The family enjoys sports as well as music.