Creation, Justice, and Communio: Lutheran Insights Empowering Educational Access

Keynote address given July 8, 2024 at the Vocation of Lutheran Higher Education Conference

Introduction

Today I hope we can think together about the following question: What commitments in the Lutheran tradition empower and advance our work to improve access for all the students at our institutions? Or, to put this another way, I want us to think together about the why that drives the what. The what is improving access? The why refers to the reasons that inspire our work. Why do Lutheran colleges and universities care about access? Why do we want students to persist and graduate?

I invite you to explore three deep commitments in Lutheranism that form the why. Why do we want our students to succeed? Why do we struggle to improve equity? Why do we work so hard in our offices and departments? And why do we advocate for institutional changes to make our campuses more equitable? I suggest that these three Lutheran commitments can empower us as we pursue educational access: a Lutheran view of creation, of neighbor justice, and a Lutheran understanding of communio.

Continuing Creation: Lutherans celebrate that creation is ongoing, that God (in and through Jesus Christ) works through humans in creation, and that creation involves sustainability. As created co-creators, we humans co-create alongside God in our vocations at our institutions. When we pursue access for students, we do our small part co-creating alongside God.

Neighbor Justice: The Lutheran tradition teaches that a central purpose of every individual’s life is to serve the neighbor. More recently, the ELCA teaches that serving neighbors includes pursuing neighbor justice alongside, with, and for neighbors. We pursue neighbor justice when we advocate for equitable access.

Communio (or Fellowship): When Lutherans share the bread and wine during the communion meal, they share more than food. They share a deep communion with one another and with God. They share each other’s burdens and joys. Knowing that we are one in fellowship deepens the connection between us and students. Their struggles become ours, and their success connects to our own vocations in higher education.

These three Lutheran commitments—continuing creation, neighbor justice, and communio—significantly inform and undergird the why of our work and as we strive for educational access for all.¹

“These three Lutheran commitments—continuing creation, neighbor justice, and communio—significantly inform and undergird the why of our work and as we strive for educational access for all.”

Access and Persistence

As we talk about access as it relates to equity and inclusion in higher education, it will help if we have a shared understanding of some of the pertinent data. A great deal of data is available that captures and tracks admission rates, persistence, and graduation rates for college and university students.² The following data shows how long it takes students from different racial groups and cultural traditions to complete an undergraduate degree. These numbers reveal that much work needs to be done to better align the gap between access and persistence. A 2021/22 study shows the following.³

• 77% of Asian students graduate within six years.
• 67% of White students graduate within six years.
• 45% of Black students graduate within six years.
• 41% of Native American students graduate within six years.⁴

Obviously, these data demonstrate that many students are not getting the support (academic, student life, economic, advising, housing, etc.) that they need to graduate. Additionally, research shows that females graduate within six years at a higher rate than males in all racial groups. Increasing student support services, mentoring, and tutoring cannot close the gaps between the persistence of one racial group and another. The lived experiences of students and their access to college preparation in K-12 education are also important variables that institutions must consider as they pursue equity in higher learning outcomes.

It is very important that those of us who work alongside and with students confess and recognize that many students who enter our institutions face a variety of barriers and challenges that we create and we perpetuate. In a recent poll, twenty one percent of black students reported “feeling discriminated against frequently or occasionally at the college they are attending.”⁵ Another report shows that nearly “one-third of LGBTQ people (32.6%) experienced bullying, harassment, or assault at college, compared to 18.9% of non-LGBTQ people.”⁶

This graduation data focus primarily on racial identity, sex, and gender. As we all know, our student’s identities are much more nuanced and intersectional. We work with students from a wide range of economic, linguistic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Many of our students work 15-30 hours a week, and some are caregivers or parents. These dynamic students have demanding lives. Even after they are admitted, a significant number of them will never graduate. Improving access and persistence must be central to our vocations in Lutheran education.

Most institutions of higher learning are talking about access, especially as student enrollment fluctuates, and as the public perception of the economic value of a four-year degree comes under increasing scrutiny. Many colleges and universities need tuition dollars to continue operations. In my opinion, the economic reasons (another why) for improving access are the weakest reasons to advocate for equitable access.⁷

Lutheran colleges and universities have a unique call to empower students and advocate for equitable access. Our tradition takes call and vocation seriously.⁸ As it says on the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities’ web page, “At ELCA colleges and universities, students will discover through education in body, mind, and spirit that they are called and empowered to serve the neighbor so that all may flourish.”⁹ We strive for equitable educational access for students because we are Lutheran! And because some of the richest commitments in our theological heritage call us to empower students so that they succeed, graduate, and flourish. Let’s turn again to the three Lutheran commitments that drive our work to improve student access. Again, these include a Lutheran understanding of continuing creation, our concept of neighbor justice, and our understanding of the fellowship or communio that we experience in Holy Communion.

Ongoing Creation

Let’s begin at the beginning, with creation. Many people learn best by comparing one idea to another. We can explore a Lutheran view of continuing creation by clarifying how Lutherans do not and do understand creation and God’s continuing creation. Lutherans do not teach that creation was a one-time event. Rather, creation is ongoing, and God is still creating new things. Lutherans do not view creation as an idealized place or time in the past. Rather, creation is unfolding, and as Christians, we are called into the near-but-not-yet-realized kingdom of God.

Lutherans do not believe that creation is only for human creatures. Rather, God’s intention is that all creation and creatures experience flourishing. All creatures that swarm, swim, fly, jump, and crawl are included, along with the vast diversity of plant life. Creation surely involves the predator/prey relationship, but the biblical texts describe a rich abundance of plants and animals and even hint that God delights in this diversity and flourishing.

Lutherans do not teach that humans are passive beings in God’s ongoing creation. Rather, creation is accomplished by God, and God creates in and through us. This claim that we are created co-creators alongside God is very important for our vocations at our academic institutions. God’s creation and our creative work take place in our everyday lives and in the spaces where we teach, coach, administer, play, and mentor.

“Lutherans do not teach that humans are passive beings in God’s ongoing creation. Rather, creation is accomplished by God, and God creates in and through us.”

This commitment that God works in and through humans in creation was central to the teachings of Martin Luther. In the 16th century, he taught people that they could serve God and their neighbor on the farm, in the home, in the print shop, and even in the church. Luther rejected the common claim that only nuns, monks, priests, or bishops who devoted their lives to the Catholic church and who worked in sacred spaces were doing God’s work. Listen to Luther describe how humans co-create alongside God.

• “God no longer wants to act in accordance with God’s…absolute power but wants to act through God’s creatures, whom God does not want to be idle. Thus God gives food…through labor when we diligently perform the work of our calling.”¹⁰
• “What else is all our work to God—whether in the fields…or in government…by which God wants to give God’s gifts?...These are the masks of God, behind which God wants to remain concealed and do all things.”¹¹

Lutherans often ask, what does this teaching or text mean for me? So, let’s ask, what does the Lutheran commitment that God’s creation is ongoing and that we co-create alongside God mean for us as we work with young adults at ELCA colleges and universities? Allow me to suggest a two-part answer. First, this Lutheran view of ongoing creation means that we continue God’s creative activity through our vocations on our campuses. The work you do with students is a part of God’s ongoing creative activity. God is working alongside you as you engage students. We wear the masks of God when we advance flourishing and equity.

Your creative work might take the form of patient listening and thoughtful mentoring. Your co-creating activities might take the form of ensuring that your institution follows best practices for financial management. Your creative work might take the form of designing courses that engage students. Your co-creating vocation might take the form of helping students from historically marginalized communities name and resist the racism, ableism, and heterosexism that they experience.

All of these activities exemplify how your ongoing work co-creates alongside God. And these activities reflect your deep value that students should have equitable access to education and should be supported and challenged as they progress toward graduation.

Now to the second part of my answer. God’s intention for creation is that it flourish and be sustainable. What does this mean for us? Sustainability connects to educational access. Sustainability is about balance and wellness over time for the individual, for communities, and for the planet. One government report shows that earning a bachelor’s degree not only improves a person’s lifetime income. It also enhances sustainability and reduces a person’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, alcohol abuse, and depression.¹² Educational access and sustainability encompass the whole life of an individual. As we know, higher education is about much more than grades, jobs, and salaries. Your work with students—especially your efforts to help them form their own identities and flourish—is co-creating. It is important. And what you do resonates with the Lutheran commitment that God works in and through all of us—wearing various masks—in God’s ongoing creation.

Neighbor Justice

I now turn to the second Lutheran theme that empowers educational access: neighbor justice. Many of you may have heard of the parable of the Good Samaritan found in the Gospel of Luke in the Christian Scriptures (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus told this story: A man who was traveling was beaten and robbed and left by the side of the road. Several supposedly-virtuous individuals walked by and ignored the wounded man. But a passerby from Samaria—who was viewed as an outsider—did stop to help the wounded man. The Samaritan put the injured man on his donkey and took him to an inn. Among Christians, this story is often lifted up as an example of what it means to care for neighbor.

Caring for the neighbor is a central idea in Judaism and Christianity, and it was very important to Martin Luther. In fact, some Lutherans (like me) think this focus on care for neighbors is one of the most important teachings in our tradition. And it should be one of the main commitments of ELCA colleges and universities. The idea of serving neighbor is so important to Lutheranism that the most recent ELCA social statement, Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action (2019) pairs the words neighbor and justice together and employs the phrase neighbor justice. For many of us in this room, our work with students at ELCA institutions is an expression of neighbor justice. To understand this commitment, we must first ask, who is neighbor?

In the Lutheran tradition, the neighbor is not the person who is like you, or even the person who likes you. The neighbor may not share your political affiliation, neighborhood, playgroup, language, or background. The neighbor is anyone who needs your help. So, what do we mean by justice? For Lutherans, justice is not retributive. It is not an eye for an eye. Luther and Lutherans have historically taught that people should follow the laws of their ruler and country. This middle-of-the-road view of political justice has been a mixed bag for Lutherans. We have not been known for being on the forefront of fighting for social justice. But this has changed in recent decades. The ELCA and its leaders frequently cry out for justice for women and girls, historically marginalized communities, the poor, immigrants, and those unfairly incarcerated, and we even call for justice for the planet.¹³

This idea of neighbor justice is heard loudly in Luther’s teachings. He wrote the following.

• “Christian individuals do not live in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor….They live in Christ through faith and in the neighbor through love….through love they fall down beneath themselves into the neighbor.”¹⁴
• “I will give myself as a kind of Christ to my neighbor….I will do nothing in this life except what I see will be necessary, advantageous, and salutary for my neighbor.”¹⁵

The ELCA defines neighbor justice this way in its most recent social statement. Neighbor justice “expresses the idea that faith is active in love and love necessarily calls for justice in relationships and in the structures of society. Neighbor justice is meeting neighbors’ needs across the globe and in our local communities.”¹⁶ Neighbor justice is a powerful commitment of the ELCA, especially as we think about the why that fuels the what that we perform as staff, mentors, administrators, coaches, and faculty. We perform neighbor justice and improve access and persistence when we support students in the classroom when we help them succeed in athletics or arts, and when they find their first post-college, full-time job.

Think again about the problem of injustice in educational access and persistence. Reflect on the many systemic legal, economic, and academic hurdles that many of our students face. Neighbor justice is needed. Even when students enroll in our institutions, many obstacles, people, and policies prevent them from succeeding. Students need us to pursue neighbor justice alongside them both on campus and off campus.

“There are many actions—some big and some small—that you can take to advance neighbor justice on your campus.”

I know many of you are already pursuing neighbor justice. Think of all the times you helped a student resist and navigate an unjust institutional policy or structure. Remember when you went the extra mile to help a student complete a course or a program? Reflect on the time you connected a student with a staff person or administrator who helped them through a difficult situation. There are many actions—some big and some small—that you can take to advance neighbor justice on your campus.

Our Current Context

Before exploring the third Lutheran commitment of communio, let’s review where we’ve been. Educational access is not just nor sustainable. If we look at graduation rates, the situation is far from equitable for students who identify as students with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, and students from historically-minoritized communities. Our work to improve educational access and persistence is critical.

The co-creating engagement and neighbor justice work being done at ELCA colleges and universities is even more important now that many publicly-funded institutions have cut or reduced programs that support students. In Texas, Florida, and Utah, anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion laws have caused many publicly-funded institutions to drastically reduce, shut down, or mask their programs and scholarships for students from under-represented communities.¹⁷

Fortunately, as we’ve seen, ELCA schools have several deep and longstanding commitments that empower us as we work to advance access. When we celebrate our ongoing creative work with students, we advance equity. When we fight for neighbor justice alongside our students, we advance equity. And when we see one another as God’s creatures with whom we share deep communio, we advance equity.

Communio (Fellowship)

Some of you may know of the Christian sacrament that is sometimes called Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist. Christians believe that before Jesus was executed by the Romans, Jesus ate his last Passover meal with his close followers. And he instructed his followers to gather together after he left them to eat the meal and to anticipate the coming of God’s reign. Many Christians consider this meal a sacrament. For Lutherans, a sacrament is something that Jesus called his followers to do. It involves a physical element (bread and wine or water), and in the sacrament, God promises to show up in a special way.

During Martin Luther’s lifetime, Catholic Christians celebrated seven sacraments. In reforming the church Luther said, let’s just practice the sacraments that Jesus participated in. Jesus was baptized, and Jesus celebrated the Passover meal. So, most Lutherans practice baptism and communion. The Latin term communio is usually translated into English as fellowship or communion. But when Martin Luther used this term, he meant so much more than just a community of people who worship and eat together. Luther used the promise of communio to describe the deep and profound interconnection of Christians with one another and with God.

Today I suggest that the deep communio shared in the sacrament of Holy Communion can empower us as we think about the why of our vocations in higher education. Communio is part of the why that explains why we fight for equitable access. Deep communio, interdependence, and mutuality offers us a way to envision our connection to students and colleagues. Let’s listen to Luther again. Pay attention to the profound interconnection offered in and through the sacrament. Luther says that Christians are like grapes crushed together into wine. There is no distinction between individuals. He also says that this community is one loaf, that Christians eat and drink one another, and that they take on one another’s burdens.

• “We too are to give ourselves with might and main for our neighbor….just as a loaf is constituted by many kernels out of which one makes a single lump of dough....We who are many… are nevertheless all one loaf and one body.”¹⁸
• “Through this same love, we are to be transformed and to allow the infirmities of all other Christians to be our own….That is the real fellowship and the true significance of this sacrament.”¹⁹
• “And just as one member serves another in such an integrated body, so each one also eats and drinks the other; that is…we are simply food and drink to one another.”²⁰

In communio, Christians are so united that they not only become one—they eat and drink one another! The meal calls participants to give their might and main for neighbor and to regard the struggles and challenges of others as their own. Holy Communion also calls Christians to confess and recognize their own shortcomings and struggles. I realize that borrowing this Lutheran view of communio to talk about educational access may feel like a bit of a stretch. But this idea of deep co-constituting mutuality can help us as we work with students, staff, faculty, community members, and administrators at our colleges and universities.

So many students have experienced and do experience systemic racism, homophobia, ableism, anti-immigrant sentiment, Islamophobia, or anti-Semitism. For some, school has been a place of bullying, low expectations, and being stereotyped. Many of our students have been viewed as others—as members of “that group” or “those people”. A Lutheran view of communio and of interconnecting fellowship challenges us to reimagine the way we see one another, the way we see ourselves, and the way we understand our campus community. So many students struggle with loneliness and isolation. Communio helps us understand the connection that God promises and creates among and between us.

“If we truly enter into communio with our students, they are not others. Together we are one body. We are one campus community.”

If we truly enter into communio with our students, they are not others. Together we are one body. We are one campus community. The differences in our identities, backgrounds, and roles are real and important, but they should not divide us. As members of communio, we also share one another’s burdens. If inequity in higher education is oppressing our students, then this inequity is our burden as well. If students are suffering from the effects of institutionalized racism, ableism, sexism, or homophobia, we are called to resist these forms of marginalization. Each one of us has a vocation to help our campuses be communios of diversity and sustainability. We can and must use all of our co-creating main and might to pursue neighbor justice alongside our students so that each student can experience intellectual challenge, educational equity, and personal flourishing.

Concluding Thoughts

As we bring our conversation to a close, I ask you to think again about your why. Why do you work so hard to support the students at your ELCA institution? I know that many of you can think of more than just one reason why. I hope that our time together has given you three more whys that empower us as we pour our time, hearts, hands, and minds into helping our students succeed as whole people and as we encourage students to achieve their academic and personal goals. You are co-creating people. Your work with students reflects God’s ongoing creation. You are justice-seeking people. You see the injustices in our educational system, and in big and small ways, you pursue neighbor justice with and for the students on your campuses. And you are communio people. You value students as individuals and treasure the deep fellowship that exists in your campus community. I hope that these three Lutheran whys will sustain and empower you as you live out your vocations at your own ELCA institution.

Endnotes

1. Here I refer to the work of Martin Luther. I must acknowledge the negative effects of his teachings. Although many ideas in Luther’s theology have been life-giving for some, too often his words dehumanized others. Luther espoused many perspectives that today are justly regarded as anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, homophobic, and sexist. For too long the Lutheran community has failed to reject the hateful rhetoric in Luther’s legacy. I commit that my own work with Lutheran theology will repudiate dehumanization, foster interfaith mutuality, and advocate grace and inclusion for all.

2. This data does not include the fall 2024 admissions data that may have been significantly influenced by the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Student’s for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, (Harvard) and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (UNC), 2023.

3. Nicholas Zill, “The College Completion Gap and How to Close It,” Institute for Family Studies, August 2, 2023, accessed June 18, 2024, https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-college-completion-gap-and-how-to-close-it. Please note that the racial categories used here are those frequently employed when analyzing college enrollment and graduation data.

4. “Native American Students in Higher Education,” Postsecondary National Policy Institute, accessed September 4, 2024, https://pnpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2019_NativeAmericanFactsheet_Updated_FINAL.pdf.

5. Camille Lloyd and Courtney Brown, “One in Five Black Students Report Discrimination Experiences,” February 9, 2023, Gallup, accessed June 15, 2024, https://news.gallup.com/poll/469292/one-five-black-students-report-discrimination-experiences.aspx.

6. “Experiences of LGBTQ People in Four-Year Colleges and Graduate Programs (May 2022),” UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute, accessed September 1, 2024, https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbtq-colleges-grad-school.

7. My thanks to my colleague, Robert Gould who serves as Augsburg University’s Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management for his input on the graduation data and the issue of student support.

8. Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, “Rooted and Open: The Common Calling of the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities,” accessed September 1, 2024, https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Rooted_and_Open.pdf.

9. Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, accessed April 22, 2024, https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Leadership/Colleges-and-Universities.

10. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis Chapters 15-29,” trans. George V. Schick, in Luther’s Works American Edition, vol. 3, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (Concordia, Saint Louis: 1961), 274.

11. Martin Luther, “Psalm 147,” trans. Edward Sittler, in Luther’s Works American Edition, vol. 14, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (Concordia, Saint Louis: 1958), 114.

12. Enrollment in Higher Education—Healthy People 2030,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, accessed June 1, 2024, improhttps://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/enrollment-higher-education.

13. There are numerous ELCA social messages and social statements that advocate for justice for neighbors and creation, https://elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society.

14. Martin Luther, “The Freedom of a Christian 1520: The Annotated Study Edition,” translated by Timothy J. Wengert, (Fortress, 2016), 32, https://www.elca500.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Freedom-of-a-Christian_final-proof_3.17.20201.pdf.

15. Ibid., 29.

16. Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action (2019), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 78, accessed May 28, 2024, https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Faith_Sexism_Justice_Social_Statement_Adopted.pdf.

17. Erin Gretzinger, Maggie Hicks, Christa Dutton, and Jasper Smith, “Tracking Higher Ed’s Dismantling of DEI,” Chronicle of Higher Education, September 6, 2024, accessed September 7, 2024, https://www.chronicle.com/article/tracking-higher-eds-dismantling-of-dei.

18. Martin Luther, “The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ—Against the Fanatics, 1526,” trans. Frederick C. Ahrens, in Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 36, ed. Abdel Ross Wentz (Fortress, Philadelphia: 1959), 352-353.

19. Martin Luther, “The Blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body of Christ, and the Brotherhoods, 1519,” trans. Dirk G. Lange, in The Annotated Luther vol. 1 The Roots of Reform, ed. Timothy J. Wengert (Fortress, Minneapolis: 2015), 241.

20. Martin Luther, “The Adoration of the Sacrament 1523,” trans. Abdel Ross Wentz, in Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 36, ed. Abdel Ross Wentz (Fortress, Philadelphia, 1959), 287.