December 8, 2025

January 12, 2026

In December, 25 students completed their programs of study. MLC awarded 20 bachelor’s degrees, three master’s, one associate’s, and one staff ministry certification. Students who complete their degrees in December are invited to walk in the May commencement ceremony.

Four of the mid-year graduates received assignments and are beginning their ministries around the country. Join us in thanking God for these workers entering the harvest field!

• Emma Pufahl (Phoenix) to Michigan Lutheran Seminary-Saginaw MI: grade 9 band and choir
• Morgan Ritter (Jordan MN) to God’s Treasures-Winthrop MN: ECE teacher
• Carter Seltz (Columbia TN) to Christ the King Academy-Palm Coast FL: grade 7
• Abigail Winkel (Milwaukee) to St. Paul LS-Columbus OH: grades 7-8

On December 13-14, the combined MLC choirs, Wind Symphony, and Hosanna Ringers presented a musical celebration of the birth of Christ.

Under the theme For Us and For Our Salvation, the program reflected on the profound mystery that the Savior, God from all eternity, took on flesh and became truly human for the redemption of the world.

The Christmas concert is archived on our YouTube channel, so you can listen again and again.

BINGO Night is Tuesday, February 10!

This is one of the MLC Auxiliary’s main events of the year, and we are all excited to make it the best one yet. To do that, we need your help.

Make a Donation: Please consider donating a quilt or blanket, gift cards, baked goods, or even a monetary gift.

Bring all donations to the Mission Advancement Office by February 6. (To assure freshness of baked goods, please drop those off on Monday, February 9.)

Cash and checks can be dropped off or mailed. Include 'Auxiliary BINGO' in the memo line on your check.

Martin Luther College

1995 Luther Court

New Ulm MN 56073

Or click here to do an online cash donation — select MLC Auxiliary Bingo Night from the dropdown menu.

Donation deadline is February 6!

Daylight trips often include canvassing, but a December trip to Atonement-Parkville MD put a festive twist on an outreach staple.

"I’d never heard of a caroling Daylight trip,” said Carson Mattek (The Mission-Willis TX).

And that unique trip taught Carson’s team a valuable ministry skill — perseverance.

“While caroling, we knocked at 34 houses. Not a single one of the first 13 answered the door,” said Carson.

"We were pretty discouraged after that, but then we got to the fourteenth house. A very nice lady answered, we sang and invited her to church, and it was awesome. We kept going, and people kept answering. If we had stopped after those first 13 houses, dozens of people wouldn’t have heard the gospel that night.”

Visit our website to find out how your congregation can host a mission team from MLC to support your ministry.

Pictured: Carson Mattek, Silas Hillmer (St. Matthew-Oconomowoc WI), Abraham Schlomer (St. Matthew-Oconomowoc WI), and Isaiah Scharf (St. Paul-New Ulm MN) take in the skyline at night.

Even with a busy end to the semester, our campus family found ways to relax and share the joy of Christmas. Check out a few highlights below, and see even more in our photo gallery.

The Christmas concert is a beloved tradition — one that students enjoy preparing and presenting just as much as audiences enjoy hearing!

The Student Events team (pictured) hosted its annual Christmas party for the entire student body, featuring Elf movie Bingo, games, a raffle, Christmas snacks, and awkward family Christmas photos.

What better way to take a study break during exams than with hot cocoa? MLC Auxiliary supports our students’ with a hot cocoa bar during final exams every December.

Local businesses showed their support for our students too! The Coffee Keller held special evening hours just for MLC students during exam week.

Professor Benjamin Schaefer (Hebrew) is a graduate of St. Croix Lutheran Academy, MLC ’05, and WLS ’09 MDiv, ’20 STM.

Born in Arizona, where his dad was a mission pastor, Professor Schaefer moved to Minneapolis at a young age. That’s when he first learned that you never know where God will call you.

Professor Schaefer’s two callings before coming to MLC only deepened that conviction. In 2009, he was assigned as pastor to First German-Manitowoc WI, which was the church that his immigrant relatives joined in the 1880s when they came to America.

In 2018, he accepted a call to serve as pastor at Mount Calvary-Redding CA. From 2021 to 2025, he also served a second site in Anderson CA.

“I couldn’t imagine more different settings, and the lessons were just as profound,” he said. "In both places I saw God’s people with a hunger for the Word and for sharing that Word, no matter the challenges. I hope to bring that same joy and confidence into the classroom every day.”

Now Professor Schaefer and his family — his wife Anna MLC ’09 and their five daughters — are experiencing God’s blessings in more new ways. For Professor Schaefer, that’s teaching Hebrew at MLC, and for Anna, it’s teaching grades 3 and 4 at St. Paul LES-New Ulm MN, starting next year.

What does Professor Schaefer love about his new calling? “The best part has been watching students handle the Old Testament Scriptures with reverence and awe as they learn Hebrew,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how God uses them to proclaim his gospel.”

The MLC men’s basketball team earned its first win over Bethel University in school history on December 13, as the Knights defeated the Royals 88-83 in overtime!

The Knights received the extra five minutes when Benjamin Pearson (St. Paul-New Ulm MN) sent the game to overtime on a layup — driving to the basket with just over five seconds left on the clock to make it 77-77 at the buzzer.

“I’m really proud of the effort and resiliency that our team showed tonight,” said Head Coach Greg Holzhueter. “We could’ve easily given up, especially after a few tough losses earlier this season. The guys made big plays at the right time. They worked hard in practice and were rewarded with a well-earned win.”

Read more highlights at MLC athletics.

Could one of our professors visit your congregation for an MLC Sunday?

Our profs love to join parish pastors for a special Sunday where we focus on the gospel of Jesus and how MLC is training future pastors, teachers, and staff ministers to share that gospel. We can preach and give presentations on what’s new at the college.

Interested? Please contact info@mlc-wels.edu to request a visit from us!

Join us February 27-28, 7:30 pm, and March 1, 2:00 pm, in the MLC Auditorium as we bring to life Murder on the Orient Express, “the most highly produced comedy mystery in the world.”

It's the winter of 1934, and a fierce storm halts the Orient Express dead in its tracks. When the passengers discover a guest murdered onboard, it falls to the brilliant Hercule Poirot to solve the case before time runs out.

This new adaptation by Ken Ludwig, one of the world’s premier playwrights, remains true to Christie’s beloved novel while staging a transporting tale featuring memorable characters, thrilling pacing, and an ending that leaves you wanting more.

Visit our website for ticketing information.

Worldwide MLC Day Is May 6!

On this special day, we invite all the friends of Martin Luther College to celebrate and support the Knights — the men and women training to become your pastors, teachers, and staff ministers!

Your gifts that day support the matching fund of the Congregational Partner Grant Program — an incredibly successful program that will contribute $1.9 million to student tuition accounts in 2025-2026.

We’re so thankful for your support, which is helping ensure the blessings of ministerial training this year and for generations to come.

Calls Extended:

• Mrs. Holly Dannecker (Mt. Olive-Appleton WI) accepted a call to MLC to serve as a professor of special education.

Calls Received:

• Professor Kathryn Gut (early childhood education) received a call to serve as the director of early childhood education at Bethlehem-North Germantown WI.
• Martín Santos (admissions counselor) returned a call to serve as teacher at Manitowoc LHS.
• Professor Luke Thompson (theology) returned a call from the Western Wisconsin Mission Board to start a church in downtown/urban Madison WI.
• Professor David Scharf (theology) returned a call to serve as 1LA (One Latin America) Church Planting Director to help plant 1,000 churches in Latin America in 10 years.
• Professor Tim Grundmeier (history) returned a call to serve as pastor at Peace Lutheran Church (ELS) in North Mankato, Minnesota.