Shine Forth: Lighting the Way for the Next Generation
Story: Danielle Luebbe
Photos: Courtesty of Concordia Nebraska Marketing
Concordia University, Nebraska’s Shine Forth comprehensive campaign will secure the university’s future, sustain its mission and prepare students to serve a world that needs Christ-centered leaders.
One hundred and thirty-two years ago, Concordia University, Nebraska’s legacy started with a community of people who believed in a mission.
In those early days, support looked different than it does now. There were no formal appeals or polished marketing materials. Instead, there were simple, faithful gifts. Twenty acres of land were set aside. Offerings were gathered by congregations. Families gave what they could - chickens, livestock, grain - because they believed in what Concordia could become.
They gave what they had.
Not because they were certain of the outcome. But because they were certain of the mission.
They believed that a Christ-centered education mattered. That forming young men and women in faith and knowledge would shape not only individual lives, but the church and the world for generations to come.
And so, they built.
Over the years, that same spirit has carried Concordia forward.
Through seasons of growth and challenge, through changing times and new opportunities, from the Evangelische-Lutherische Schullehrer-Seminar to Concordia University, Nebraska, at every point in its history, Concordia has persisted because people believed in it enough to sustain it. They gave. They prayed. They encouraged students to attend. They entrusted their sons and daughters to its halls.
Concordia has always worked to sustain what was built by generations before.
And we continue to step forward with faithfulness into something new.
The Shine Forth campaign is part of the work of preparing for what comes next.
It is how Concordia is strengthening its foundation, supporting its mission and preparing for the future. It reflects the priorities outlined in the university’s strategic plan, but more importantly, it reflects a shared commitment to ensure that what has been built here continues to serve generations to come.
Sustain
Meeting today’s operational needs on the way to a bright future
Purpose: Sustain bridges the gap between tuition revenue and the true cost of a Christ-centered, excellent and affordable education.
Areas of Support
- Academic and Church Work scholarships
- Student access and affordability
- Co-curricular program support
- Campus operations and facilities
Every day, across campus, students are being formed in classrooms, in chapel, in conversations and in community. They are learning, growing and being prepared for lives of service.
Sustain supports that daily work. It helps keep a Concordia education excellent and accessible, so that students from every background can be known, nurtured and equipped.
It is the steady work that makes everything else possible.
As enrollment and endowments grow, Concordia envisions a future where core costs are reliably supported by sustainable revenue, freeing future Concordia Fund support for growth and mission-focused initiatives.
Spark
Supplying resources to launch and expand mission-aligned academic programs and communities
Purpose: Spark provides seed funding to develop and sustain academic communities and new opportunities for student formation.
Areas of Support
- Academic Excellence and Innovation Funds
- Academic communities
- Academic extracurriculars
Concordia Nebraska has never been a place that stands still.
Throughout its history, it has stepped forward, adding programs, creating new opportunities and responding to the needs of the church and world, always grounded in its mission.
Spark continues that tradition. It strengthens and grows academic communities where students learn not only what to do, but who they are called to be.
Spark creates distinctive, Christ-centered academic pathways that grow enrollment, strengthen formation and expand Concordia’s mission impact.
Shine
Investing in the people who enact and live out the mission
Purpose: Shine secures Concordia’s future through endowment growth.
Areas of Support
- Student scholarships
- Faculty and staff support
- Program sustainability
- Mission resilience
Some gifts meet needs in the moment. Others continue to give long after they are made.
Endowments are the foundation of longevity. They create generational stability, protect mission integrity and ensure that students years from now will experience the same kind of faith, character and vocational formation that happens at Concordia today.
Shine focuses on what will last.
Soar
Providing tools and spaces where students can rise
Purpose: Soar invests in the co-curricular and community-forming experiences that shape students beyond the classroom.
Areas of Support
- Capital needs supporting student life and wellness
- Ballfields and athletics infrastructure
- Music instruments and All-Steinway Piano Initiative
One of the best things about Concordia Nebraska is that formation doesn’t happen solely in the classroom.
It happens on athletic fields and performance stages, in residence halls, in the cafeteria, in the everyday rhythms of campus life where students build relationships, develop discipline and discover their God-given talents.
Soar invests in the equipment and spaces where powerful experiences shape Concordia students academically, personally and spiritually.
When you look at Concordia’s long and storied history, a pattern begins to emerge.
Each generation has received, by God’s grace, what others have faithfully made possible before them.
And each generation has been given the opportunity to carry it forward.
The call is not so different than it was 132 years ago: to believe in what Concordia is doing. To trust that God is at work here. To take part in something that extends far beyond our own time. To give “light to everyone in the house.”
God’s light has been shining here for generations, not because of any one person, but because of a community of people who have chosen, again and again, to support what God is doing at Concordia University, Nebraska.
And through His work in and through His people, Concordia will continue to shine forth for generations to come.
God is the source. You are the fuel.
“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matt. 5:15).