Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

As a Columbia student you live on campus or drive to campus. You benefit from the special in-person experience of learning and worshiping as part of a gathered community on our beautiful, historic campus. You also benefit from having immediate access to faculty, peers and library resources. 

LTSS offers quality, affordable apartments for residential students and families and comfortable overnight accommodations for long-distance commuters. For more information about residential housing, contact Kellie Medley, director of residential life, at kellie.medley@gabonmagazine.com or 828.328.7249. 

Students who attend online or hybrid participate online by livestreaming into classes or completing asynchronous work. You benefit from the flexibility of online learning while still having quick access to faculty, staff and certain library resources. All residential, online and hybrid students are required to attend the First Week Gathering on campus at the beginning of every semester, attending classes and special formation events with their student peers. 

The online or hybrid option accommodates students facing irresolvable obstacles to in-person learning. If you are following a call to professional ministry, be sure to consult the appropriate representatives of your denomination before committing to attending as an online or hybrid student. 

LTSS is one of seven seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the only ELCA seminary in the southeastern United States. The seminary’s majority Lutheran faculty provide world-class instruction in Lutheran theology, history and polity. Lutheran students and alumni benefit from the seminary’s regional, national and global networks within the ELCA and Lutheran World Federation. 

LTSS is proud to house the Region 9 archives, a ministry of the ELCA dedicated to preserving Lutheran history in the Southeast. 

Located just a mile away from the South Carolina Conference offices of the United Methodist Church, LTSS is proud to be the only seminary in South Carolina approved for training United Methodist clergy. 

Our Methodist faculty provide world-class instruction in Methodist theology, history and polity. Our Methodist students benefit from a supportive community of peers and a curriculum that accommodates their special requirements. 

Our Methodist alumni serve in various ministries across the state and continue to support the seminary in various ways.

LTSS boasts a diverse mix of Baptist students and alumni from across the Southeast. Many of our Baptist students are already established professional ministers, while others are just beginning to follow their call to ministry. 

Our Baptist students benefit from world-class instruction in Baptist history, theology and polity. We hold a special relationship with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which provides scholarship funding for qualified students. 

Our students and faculty enjoy volunteering their time and talents at Koinonia of Columbia, a Baptist-sponsored non-profit ministry next to the seminary campus.