LCMS statement regarding the announced closure of Concordia University, Portland

The Board of Regents of Concordia University, Portland, Ore., has announced the closure of the school effective at the end of the current academic semester on April 30, 2020.

For 115 years, Concordia University, Portland (CUP), has had a profound effect not only on the Portland community but also on the ongoing mission and ministry of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). The school’s alumni continue to bless this world through the gifts gained and nurtured during their time at CUP.

The spate of recent closures of colleges and universities across America makes clear the difficult environment confronting small private universities, not least religiously affiliated ones. Colleges and universities nationwide continue to face challenges, even those whose contributions to their communities and the world are laudable.

The CUP Board of Regents made this painful and prayerful decision based on the university’s circumstances. While each school in the Concordia University System is an independent legal entity, their collective impact on the work of the Synod is felt by the entire LCMS community, and we thank God for the diligent efforts of those who labored to find ways for CUP to continue.

“These are trying times, and we ask for the prayers of all as we seek to move forward according to the will of God,” said the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the LCMS. “I thank the people of Concordia, Portland, who have worked tirelessly to fulfill their vocations of love to their Lord and their neighbor. God’s plans are not always our plans, and His ways are beyond our searching out. Yet we trust that He will guide us in the days ahead as we commend this situation to His gracious providence and direction.”

Statement from Concordia University, Portland, Ore.

A statement from the Concordia University System presidents on the closing of Concordia, Portland