Longest-serving teacher in CLTS history honoured at retirement

Dr. John Stephenson Retirement Festivities (Photo: Rev Dr. Thomas Winger).

St. Catharines, Ont. – Rev. Dr. John Stephenson retired from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (CLTS) at the end of December 2022. Dr. Stephenson has served the seminary as a productive scholar, writer, and teaching theologian for 33 years, having joined the faculty as a young man in 1989—and making him the longest-serving teacher in the seminary’s history.

LCC President Timothy Teuscher speaks at Dr. Stephenson’s Retirement Festivities (Photo: Rev Dr. Thomas Winger).

The annual joint meeting of the two LCC seminary governing boards held on February 14, 2023 provided an opportunity to celebrate the ministry and teaching career of Dr. Stephenson alongside church leaders and old friends. A dinner was held in the professor’s honour involving presentations, tales and thanks from CLTS President, Rev. Dr. Thomas Winger; CLTS board chairman, Rev. Robert Krestick; Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) President, Rev. Dr. Timothy Teuscher; and LCC Past President, Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee.

In a release, CLTS stated: 

“The honouree was then caught entirely by surprise as his sons-in-law, Revs James and Stephen Preus, stepped to the lectern to unveil a Festschrift produced for Dr Stephenson’s 70th birthday and honouring his scholarly career. Containing 25 essays written by colleagues and former students, the 408-page volume is headed by a hymn written by Rev. Kurt Reinhardt and set to music by Michael Thomas.”

Dr. Stephenson’s Retirement honoured with Festschrift (Photo: Rev Dr. Thomas Winger).

The Festschrift, Servant of Christ’s Church, is available through the print-on-demand service lulu.com in hardcover and softcover. An e-book version is in the works.

Rev. Dr. John Raymond Stephenson, a native of Hartlepool, England, holds a BA and MA from Oxford University (1974, 1982), a Diploma in Theology from Cambridge University (1975), and a PhD from Durham University (1983). He was ordained in 1985 and served Escarpment Lutheran Church, Lewiston, NY, before joining the CLTS faculty. He is the author of The Lord’s Supper and Eschatology in the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, is the translator of Wilhelm Löhe’s Aphorisms Old and New, and has published more than 80 journal articles. He continues to teach at the seminary part time.

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