Lumpe heads CHI staff

Larry Lumpe of St. Louis began work Feb. 12 as executive director of Concordia Historical Institute (CHI), which is the Synod’s Department of Archives and History.  A CHI news release notes that he is serving in the position “on a volunteer basis.”

Rev. Marvin A. Huggins, the institute’s long-time archivist and interim executive director since 2008, had announced that he will retire June 30.  Huggins, who is 65, continues as CHI’s full-time archivist until after that date, when he will serve part time.

Lumpe, 81, has been a member of the institute’s Board of Governors for the past 12 years. A retired banker, he was executive director of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League from 1986-96 and from late 2007 until July 2009.

As CHI’s executive director, Lumpe “will work primarily to develop increased financial support for the institute and to increase awareness of the services that [it] provides for the church,” according to the news release.

At its building on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, the institute maintains offices, archives, and changing exhibits related to church anniversaries and work. 

CHI last summer opened its new state-of-the-art museum at the Synod’s International Center in Kirkwood, Mo.  The release explains that it “offers a glimpse of the life of Martin Luther and our Reformation heritage, and continues the story of how Luther’s spiritual heirs came to America and banded together to support one another through Word and Sacrament, bearing witness to the boundless love of God in communities throughout the world.”

For more information, including hours of operation and group reservations, call CHI at 314-505-7900, or visit its Web site at www.lutheranhistory.org.

Posted Mar. 3, 2010