Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

With thanksgiving to God and prayers for His continued blessing, we rejoice to announce the appointment of Luther Classical College’s Academic Dean.

Dr. Ryan MacPherson has accepted the position of professor and Academic Dean at Luther Classical College. Dr. MacPherson has had a long and fruitful career as professor of history at Bethany Lutheran College. A beloved teacher, a frequent speaker, and a tireless advocate for Christian culture, Dr. MacPherson will be a blessing to both the faculty and students of Luther Classical College.

“Dr. MacPherson is the perfect man for this appointment,” writes President John Hill, the Chairman of the Curriculum Committee at LCC, “His experience teaching at the collegiate level, his work on LCC’s curriculum committee, and his zeal for classical education and Lutheran doctrine have already brought much joy to the founding of LCC. We thank God for leading Dr. MacPherson to accept this appointment as professor and Academic Dean.”

Ryan MacPherson earned his Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame in 2003. His career at Bethany Lutheran College has spanned twenty years. During this time Dr. MacPherson has developed curricula for several different majors, making him especially suited to lead academic affairs at LCC. His zeal for the truth has also led to his becoming the founding director of the ELS’ Center for Apologetics and Worldviews (els.org/apologetics). Always practical and concerned for the living out of the Christian faith, Dr. MacPherson also helped to found the Hausvater Project, which provides resources for fathers to lead home devotions (hausvater.org).

Ryan is very happily married to his beloved wife, Marie. God has blessed them with nine children, seven of whom live with them still on earth, each named for a Bible concept: Grace (17), Rose (15), Price (13), Newman (10), Joy (8), Steadfast (5), and Mercy (1). Ryan and Marie share a common passion for Lutheran theology, the liberal arts, and traditional hymnody.

Dr. MacPherson is well known across several Lutheran synods. He has appeared as a guest on Issues, Etc., spoken at a variety of congregations and conferences, and most recently delivered a series of lectures to the confessional Lutheran remnant in Denmark. His publications and presentations reveal a passion for theology: creation, natural law, vocation, marriage, catechesis, the two kingdoms, and the Lutheran theology of political resistance against tyranny. His books include Studying Luther’s Large Catechism: A Workbook for Christian Discipleship, The Culture of Life: Ten Essential Lessons for Christian Bioethics, and Rediscovering the American Republic: A People’s Quest for Ordered Liberty, plus Teaching Children Chastity, co-authored with his wife. For an archive of prior projects, visit ryancmacpherson.com.

Since the Fall of 2021, Dr. MacPherson has served on the Curriculum and Academic Affairs Committee for Luther Classical College. “It has been a joy working with the LCC team, envisioning a classical, Lutheran curriculum that will prepare students for godly service in their families, in their congregations, and in the broader society,” says MacPherson. The college’s plans for a trade partnership program interest Dr. MacPherson as much as the classical emphasis. “Many of my closest brothers in Christ are blue-collar workers who lead their families in prayer, serve on church council, and have been of great encouragement to me in difficult times.”

We are overjoyed to welcome Dr. MacPherson as our Academic Dean and the very first member of the faculty of Luther Classical College. May our gracious God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, bless Dr. MacPherson’s work among us as He has blessed it for so many years at Bethany Lutheran College.

Dr. MacPherson will commence his duties as Academic Dean on August 1. He requests your prayers as his family relocates to Mount Hope Lutheran in Casper, Wyoming, and as Bethany Lutheran College and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod seek successors for his current positions. “May God bless Lutheran higher education at LCC, at Bethany, and at the Concordias, for the sake of the rising generation and of generations yet to come,” he says, “that the saving truths summarized in the Small Catechism may be cherished and spread as we await Christ’s return.”

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Christian Preus, Chairman of the Board of Regents