Luther Classical College, scheduled to open for classes in August 2025, is resolutely a college of the church. The college was founded by a local Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregation, receives ongoing encouragement and ecclesiastical supervision from the Wyoming District of the LCMS, and is supported financially by over 170 LCMS congregations nationwide.
LCC also is pursuing collaborations with other Lutheran institutions, including Concordia University Nebraska, Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.
LCC’s academic catalog, published in January, announces that the college “maintains active communication with administrators at Concordia University Nebraska (CUNE) in order to facilitate transfer of credit for graduates from LCC’s A.A. General Track who wish to pursue a specialized major at CUNE.” As Dr. Ryan MacPherson, LCC’s academic dean, explains, “We realize that some students will desire a specialized major that Luther Classical College cannot provide. For those students, we are pleased to provide the option of attending LCC for two years, followed by the completion of a baccalaureate program at Concordia University Nebraska.”
With twenty-two prospective students currently expressing strong interest in pre-seminary studies, Luther Classical College has designed a B.A. Pre-Seminary/Biblical Languages Track to prepare students to meet or exceed the entry requirements in Greek, Hebrew, and the liberal arts at selected seminaries. To ensure that LCC can serve the needs of the LCMS in training future ministers of the Gospel, MacPherson has laid the groundwork for ongoing communication with seminary personnel in both Saint Louis and Fort Wayne.
LCC was founded in 2020 by a Board of Regents under the sponsorship of Mount Hope Lutheran Church of Casper, Wyoming. Mount Hope belongs to the Wyoming District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. LCC’s board consists of two classes of regents: permanent members and term members. Both classes are selected from members in good standing of LCMS congregations. Permanent members are elected to the Board of Regents from a list of nominees adopted by the Board of Elders of Mount Hope. Both the Senior Pastor of Mount Hope Lutheran Church and the District President of the Wyoming District serve as ex officio members of the Board of Regents.
The District President of the Wyoming District, with the assistance of members of the Board of Directors of the Wyoming District, will conduct an annual visitation at LCC to ensure doctrinal integrity and to guide and encourage the LCC president in exercising spiritual oversight over the affairs of the college. “We are deeply honored to have LCC located in the Wyoming District,” says District President John Hill. “The college is an answer to many needs and many prayers for our Lutheran families and congregations. I look forward to my regular visitations at the college to encourage and strengthen them in faithfulness and zeal for their mission.”
As a safeguard for the theological integrity of the college, all professors must be members in good standing of LCMS congregations. While students are not required to be members of LCMS congregations, they are required to be members in good standing of confessional Lutheran congregations. Each applicant for admission must submit a theological essay and also request a letter of reference from a pastor. Daily chapel, theological instruction, and teaching across all disciplines will be conducted in a manner consistent with LCC’s theological confession, which steadfastly preserves the confessional Lutheran heritage and firm biblical commitment of its sponsoring congregation.
“Luther Classical College is Lutheran first, classical second, and everything else third,” explains MacPherson.