First Week is the foundation for the semester at LTSS

Published August 21, 2025

For students at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS), First Week is more than a schedule. It’s the launchpad for the entire semester. A full week of face-to-face learning, discussion and connection, First Week is where a life-altering journey begins.

An LTSS student chats with a staff member over a table at a student services fair

“This is a time I have treasured, where we come from all over for the first week of the semester – to gather with each other, to attend class, to share stories, to laugh, to sometimes cry,” said Brooke Watson-Summerhour, MACM ’25. “It is the most formational part of the semester for me.”

Shared meals, classes and chapel services during First Week offer students the chance to connect not only with one another but also with local churches. Ample free time provides opportunities to explore the Lenoir-Rhyne University Campus and Hickory and form ties with other students and members of the community.

“I’m looking forward to our opportunities to worship together because I really enjoy when all our voices blend together as we praise God,” shared Stephen Schrader, M.Div. ’26.

Seminary students bow their heads in prayer together in Belk Centrum

The Rev. Dr. Melanie Dobson characterized First Week as an example of the foundational practice of Christian conferencing. “It describes the beauty and the joy and the love we feel as Christians when we gather together in holy fellowship, and we do experience the grace of God in one another, the means of grace when we gather for First Week.”

With the seeds of vibrant formation planted during First Week, students are prepared to cultivate their faith, character and community engagement as the connections that form their foundations sustain them through the semester.

“A week might not seem like a long time, but in this context, it’s really everything. First Week is where students become a community,” said Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer, rector and dean of LTSS. “These connections shape their learning, their growth and their experience of seminary life in ways that last far beyond the classroom.”