The 2024 PLTS Founders' Day Lecture featured Mark Yaconelli - a writer, retreat leader, community builder, spiritual director, storycatcher, husband, and father. You can hear his incredible words of wisdom at the link inside!

PLTS has for the past several years been adapting to the changing landscape of theological education and the church by developing a robust Distributed Learning version of our degree programs and creating programs for a broader audience. The Graduate Theological Union has also been changing. As the seminary continues to implement its strategic vision for the future, we have made the difficult decision to leave the Graduate Theological Union in two years.

PLTS was immensely fortunate to welcome Dr. Arvin Gouw for our 2023 Mohrenweiser Lecture. Dr. Gouw clearly described the mechanism and uses of CRISPR for a lay audience, and then dug deeper into the ethical and religious implications of this powerful gene-editing tool. Afterward, Dr. Ted Peters offered a response that pushed religious leaders, particularly pastors, to think through how the existence and increasing prominence of this technology might affect their congregants.

PLTS welcomed Dr. Larry Rasmussen to give the 2022 Founders' Day Lecture to our gathered community in-person and online. Watch Dr. Rasmussen's lecture below.

California Lutheran University’s Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) is offering new programs to prepare religious leaders and laypeople to work for social and environmental change with online options.

Seven California Lutheran University faculty members with a combined total of more than 160 years of service are retiring with emeritus status. 

Given that health officials have indicated that the COVID-19 health crisis will be with us through the fall, we have decided to deliver the courses that had been scheduled face-to-face for the fall 2020 semester virtually.