Concordia College Selma

Mission Statement:  

The mission of Concordia College, Selma is to prepare its students through a Christ-centered education for lives of responsible service in the church, the community, and the world.

History:

Concordia College, formerly known as Alabama Lutheran Academy and Junior College, is the direct result of the pioneer Lutheran missionaries in Alabama. In 1916 Miss Rosa Young, supremely concerned about the spiritual and educational welfare of the Black people in her native area, directed a plea for help to the Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. The conference responded favorably and sent the Rev. Nils Jules Bakke, who on Palm Sunday in 1916 performed 58 Baptisms and 70 confirmations in Rosebud, Alabama. Within a few years, more than 20 congregations were founded.

In 1919 at a conference held in Midway, near Miller's Ferry, a resolution was adopted to petition the Synodical Conference for funds to build a school for the special purpose of training professional church workers.

The location selected for the new school was Selma. The first classes were conducted in a rented cottage at 521 First Avenue, November 13, 1922. The Rev. R. O. Lynn was the first president. The first buildings on the present campus were dedicated by the Director of Missions, C. F. Drewes on September 20, 1925. One year later four females made up the school's first graduating class. God continued to bless this new Alabama school with capable leaders like Pres. Edward Wescott, who, in a long period of dedicated service to the school, made survival possible during the Great Depression. 

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