Lutheran Seminary to confer Honorary Degree on Pastor Ralph W. Bagger of Allentown

ALLENTOWN, PA (February 2001)- The Rev. Ralph W. Bagger of Allentown, PA, will be awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree by The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in special ceremonies at Luther Crest, the community where Pastor Bagger and his wife, Elizabeth, reside. The ceremonies will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, February 18.

Pastor Bagger has served on the Seminary's Board of Trustees since 1981 and participates on a Board subcommittee dealing with faculty concerns.

"Ralph Bagger has played a key role on our Board, offering much wisdom and guidance as our faculty has gone through considerable change during his term," said the Rev. Dr. Philip D. W. Krey, the Seminary's President. "He's always been concerned that the Seminary provides exemplary support for our teachers in the crucial role they play in shaping the church's professional leaders to be." Pastor Bagger's father, the Rev. Dr. Henry Horneman Bagger, taught in the area of Practical Theology at the Seminary and served as the school's President from 1952 to 1962.

Worship and editing have been key areas of interest for Pastor Ralph Bagger during his career. He served 17 years as a parish pastor in eastern Pennsylvania and 20 years as editor of worship materials for the Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor body of the current 5.2-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America denomination. During his national church service, he edited "Light for Today," a daily devotional guide familiar to thousands of churchgoers. Inspiring messages he edited were featured during those years on the worship bulletins provided to subscribers of the Sunday Lutheran Bulletin Service offered by the Lutheran Church in America.

Elizabeth Bagger has been a devoted and influential Seminary volunteer for many years, furnishing leadership to the Seminary Auxiliary, now known as the Seminary Friends organization. Her work has guided many special Seminary projects and financial aid efforts for seminarians. For many years Elizabeth Bagger taught at Norristown Area High School in the community where the couple lived. She has also been an active volunteer for 10 years in the Lutheran Historical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania. For the past 20 years the couple has written the summaries of the National Lutheran Conferences and Pastor Bagger has served on many committees connected with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Founded in 1864, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia is one of eight Seminaries affiliated with its denomination. Located on a 13-acre campus in Philadelphia's East Mt. Airy section, the Seminary currently enrolls more than 400 students and is about twice as large as it was 10 years ago. The retirement community Luther Crest, operated by Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, is located at 800 Hausman Road in Allentown and offers health and housing ministries, residential, chaplaincy and social services.