July 2017
Rev. Dr. Greg Seltz, known Synod-wide for his tenure as Lutheran Hour Speaker, has accepted the call to serve as executive director for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s new Center for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C.
The Synod created this new office to be a voice and resource for marriage, life issues and religious liberty, living and working among the nation’s leaders to educate and provide input on these key issues from a uniquely Lutheran perspective.
The Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty includes as board members Synod President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, Timothy Goeglein, vice president for external relations at Focus on the Family in Washington, D.C., and Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, Concordia University System President.
Before joining Lutheran Hour Ministries in 2011, Seltz served as director of the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center, training students at Concordia University in Irvine, California, to launch ministries in a variety of cultural settings. He also previously served as executive director of an urban, not-for-profit evangelism ministry in Manhattan, New York, he founded the first new Lutheran mission start in New York City in more than 40 years (Church For All Nations, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod), and planted a Lutheran mission church in Dallas.
A 1986 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Seltz was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Concordia Irvine and is nearing completion of the St. Louis seminary’s Ph.D. program.
With Lutheran Hour Ministries, Seltz traveled and spoke around the country on evangelism, leadership development and team ministry within the city. In the last six years as Lutheran Hour speaker, through its live broadcast and other media channels, his proclamation of the Word has been accessible to 1 million people each week. The Lutheran Hour airs on more than 1,700 radio stations across North America and is also available online, through a mobile app, and on the American Forces Network.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Walter A. Maier, Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, Dr. Dale Meyer, Dr. Ken Klaus, and all the other great speakers on The Lutheran Hour over the past 87 years,” Seltz said. “I do believe, though, there exists a great challenge before Christ’s church in the current milieu of the American culture. My new position will seek to ensure, maintain, and defend religious liberty protections for our churches, schools, universities, and fellow believers so that the Gospel may indeed have free course in our culture, calling all people to faith in Christ. I believe my work with the National Religious Broadcasters, my previous work with Concordia, Irvine, and my many years in urban ministry have indeed prepared me to engage such things by God’s grace and power.”
Dr. Seltz will wrap up his obligations with Lutheran Hour Ministries this summer and fulfill pre-scheduled engagements in the coming months. For more information about the LCRL, including ways to support it, visit lcms.org/lutheran-center-for-religious-liberty, email martha.mitkos@lcms.org or call 800-248-1930.