Your MIF investments are at work every day as loans to more than 750 ELCA ministries throughout the United States, in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, supporting the church's mission of spreading the gospel.

Of the ELCA’s eight seminaries, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif., is one of only two west of the Mississippi River. And according to former Wartburg Seminary President Robert Fjeld, if PLTS disappeared, it would have to be reinvented.

That’s because ministry in the West faces unique challenges. Lutheran congregations in the West are smaller than their Midwestern and Eastern counterparts, and pastors must be as entrepreneurial as they are pastoral. There isn’t a strong base of Lutherans to draw from and build on, and church attendance in the West has always lagged behind the rest of the country. According to PLTS’s president, the Rev. Phyllis Anderson, “Congregations have to earn each new member.” PLTS was established in 1952 to train church leaders to operate successfully in this environment.

The seminary has recently faced some challenges of its own, including low enrollment and aging buildings. But, Pastor Anderson said, the school’s enrollment increased in each of the last three years and, thanks partially to help from the Mission Investment Fund, its financial position remains sound.

Most, if not all, of the seminary buildings need new roofs, and bathrooms need to be updated. The seminary sought an MIF loan for a massive renovation effort, but MIF suggested a more creative solution: sell one of the off-campus houses owned by PLTS, now worth more than $1 million, and use the proceeds to pay down debt and handle the most crucial maintenance needs. Pastor Anderson said that the cash and lower payments will help finance a $300,000 renovation project. With basic repairs in place and lower debt, PLTS will be in a better position to fund larger-scale renovations that will make the buildings viable for the next 50 years and beyond.

In addition to an on-campus dormitory, PLTS owns houses and apartments for students and faculty. PLTS also relied on MIF to refinance its debt on some of these properties, saving the seminary even more money.

PLTS is co-located with eight other seminaries of various denominations in a group known as the Graduate Theological Union. The seminaries share one of the top five theological libraries in the country and provide a range of resources to each other. PLTS students may also take classes at the nearby University of California-Berkeley. Because of these collaborations, PLTS can offer its students advanced degrees that otherwise would not be possible.

The location is also auspicious for the ELCA. California has large populations of people without church backgrounds, and many people of Asian, Hispanic, and African American backgrounds, not to mention people from many other countries and cultures. PLTS is an incubator for future ELCA ministry in the rest of the United States as this cultural diversity spreads east. “The future of ELCA ministry is happening in California today,” Pastor Anderson said.

As California evolves, PLTS evolves with it, updating its curriculum to keep pace. First-year seminary students take field trips to Lutheran and non-Lutheran churches to experience different worship styles and to see how traditional denominations can thrive in places that don’t have a traditional church culture with which to identify. Students also get exposure to the non-pastoral side of beginning and running a congregation, covering topics such as finance and real estate.

Pastor Anderson said that besides saving PLTS money on its real estate debt, MIF has been an effective consultant in planning for needed improvements. “We’ve found a friend in the Mission Investment Fund,” she said.