The Association of Lutheran College Faculties primarily exists to provide opportunities for sharing research, pedagogy, and fellowship among the faculty and staff of colleges affiliated with Lutheran denominations and for Lutherans teaching in colleges and universities not associated with the church. Persons of any religious orientation are welcome to participate. In fact, anyone is welcome who is willing to register for the annual conference. Other than those registrants, there is no formal membership requirement.

The ALCF was founded in 1935. Its first conference was held at St. Olaf College. The first conference with a theme, “The Peculiar Responsibilities of the Teacher in a Christian College,” was held in 1937 at Luther College, IA. In 1945 no conference was held, but in 1947 the organization first began electing a president. The first president was Arthur Paulson of St. Olaf. Since then, conferences organized at least in part around particular themes have been held every year.

The current practice is that service as president is a three-year obligation: one year as president-elect, one as president (the conference year), and one as past-president. This gives helpful continuity to the organization. The five-person executive committee also includes the secretary, treasurer, and anyone else invited to serve. The latter serve without vote.

Interested in getting more involved with ALCF? Would your institution like to host a future meeting? We’d love to hear from you!

The ALCF has three sources of income: registration fees from the annual conference, the earnings from an endowment fund (the creation of which was inspired by LECNA), and annual voluntary contributions of $200 from Lutheran colleges. These sources help pay for the annual conferences, planning meetings leading up the conference, publicity, and other occasional expenses. The willingness of colleges to help cover the expenses of faculty attending the annual conference is an important indirect source of support for the organization and deserves recognition, as well.

We thank the following Lutheran Colleges and Universities who support the ALCF with their annual contributions, financial gifts, and support. Thank you.