Of the Spiritual Strivings of Black Lutherans: The Legacy of Dr. Albert "Pete" Pero‪.‬

In the mid-1970s, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago made one of the most important decisions ever in Lutheran theological education. It called the Rev. Dr. Albert "Pete" Pero to the faculty. I believe that this was a Spirit-led decision for the "flagship" seminary of the Lutheran Church in America, because this bold step removed a "middle wall of partition between" the African American community and Lutheranism. Pero's arrival on the faculty accomplished something else. It began a process of the institution's valuing the right of African American people, along with every other racial/ethnic community, to think critically about the nature of their faith in God and Jesus Christ. By calling Pero to the faculty, LSTC expanded the theological table within Lutheranism. Theological education would look and feel different because an important invisible voice was now visible.