PHILADELPHIA (April 10, 2000)-- For scholar Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar, who teaches seminarians about theology, it may not get much better than this.

Tuesday morning, Rajashekar, a resident of Wyndmoor, PA, was awarded the Luther D. Reed Endowed Chair in festive campus ceremonies at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. At the same time he delivered an imposing address entitled "The Future of Scripture." That evening, the Seminary's Board of Trustees appointed him Dean.

"I am humbled and deeply honored," Rajashekar said, in reacting to the dual recognition. He described the timing as "a happy coincidence." While key Seminary administrators have held chairs before, never in the 136-year history of the Seminary has anyone had a "doubleheader" day quite like this one. The decision to award the Reed Endowed Chair to Rajashekar was made last year before the professor was made the Seminary's acting Dean. The acting appointment as Dean took place January 1 when that administrative post was vacated by the appointment of former Dean Philip D. W. Krey as the Seminary's eleventh President.

As Dean, Rajashekar will relate both to the faculty and to seminary students. He also welcomes the chance to continue in a limited teaching role. The Luther D. Reed Chair was originaly endowed in tribute to a one-time President of the Seminary acknowledged as one of the foremost specialists on worship of his day. Dr. Reed died in 1972.

"In order to be effective as a Dean, I think you need to understand students from a teaching standpoint," he said in an interview conducted as the two honors were announced. "That experience helps you to articulate a vision for theological education,

and it helps in relating to the faculty. We have a true community at the Seminary, not interest groups."

Rajashekar says the Seminary's position as a "major metropolitan school imposes cultural diversity and the urban reality of our context" as priorities important both for the Seminary and the wider church. He said the faculty is vitally concerned about expanding its support for diversity while also preserving the confessional and liturgical focus that has marked the Seminary's teaching over its history. "Maintaining this identity in an increasingly secularized society is a great challenge," he said.

Rajashekar also finds it "exciting" that the Seminary is strengthening ties with seminaries of other denominations with which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is either in partnership or potential partnership. For example, the Seminary has a covenant relationship with General Theological Seminary, an Episcopal school in New York's Manhattan. This summer, the Episcopal Church will decide on Called to Common Mission, a pivotal proposed agreement with the ELCA. (ELCA delegates approved the idea in churchwide assembly last summer.)

"As the influence of the church dwindles across society, such agreements pose opportunities for us to be in mission together in new ways," Rajashekar says. The challenge, he adds, is for different traditions to remain faithful to themselves and to their common mission "without trampling other faiths."

Rajashekar says a major challenge facing LTSP is to train leaders for challenging realities confronting many congregations nationally. "Many churches have 75 or fewer worshipers on a given Sunday and struggle to maintain viability," he said. "In our teaching today we can't assume that the leaders we are teaching will move into a congregation that's a healthy place. We need to prepare them to deal with present and future challenges, and how to present the mission of Christ in a new century." He said in some cases congregations are learning new forms of collaborations with either other Lutheran churches or via ecumenical partnerships. The diversity of the faculty and student body at LTSP is also helping seminarians learn how to relate to diverse cultures, a skill many churchgoers across the country have not had exposure to.

"Different cultures have opposing styles in the ways they exercise leadership," Rajashekar says. "The Seminary has had as a part of its vision for some time a determination to bridge that gap." Examples of diversity on campus include the 20-year-old Urban Theological Institute, which enables church leaders to expand their credentials as they study part-time. Most UTI students have African American backgrounds. The Seminary also sponsors a growing Latino Program.

Rajashekar expressed confidence in the survival of the church despite the aforementioned challenges. "For many, being part of a church establishment that was once more powerful in society is very frustrating," he says. "But throughout history, the church has always done well when it has become marginalized."

Rajashekar has authored or edited scores of publications and articles, frequently with a focus on Lutheran theology in a growing context of ecumenism and religious pluralism.

He has been Professor of Systematic Theology at the Seminary since 1994 and also Director of the LTSP Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. From 1991-94, he was the Seminary's Associate Professor of Systematic Theology with tenure. For seven years prior to beginning his seminary teaching, he was Executive Secretary for Dialogue with People of Other Faiths and Ideologies for the Lutheran World Federation's Department of Theology and Studies. He's also taught theology and ethics at United Theological College in Bangalore, India, and served as a parish pastor in Wellman, IA.

His spouse, Esther, is an ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor. The couple has two children, Christopher and Patricia.