FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: CTSFW Communications, communications@ctsfw.edu
Rast Accepts Leadership Role with Schwan Charitable Foundation
FORT WAYNE, July 8, 2025—Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr., professor of history and president emeritus at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW), has accepted an offer to serve as associate executive director of the Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation. The Foundation, based in Earth City, Missouri, was established by the late Marvin M. Schwan in 1992 to provide support for entities named in its governing documents, including Bethany Lutheran College, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, International Lutheran Layman's League, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, WELS Kingdom Workers, Wisconsin Lutheran College, and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
"The Foundation has been a tremendous blessing to confessional Lutheranism in the United States and the world," said Rast. "Rev. Keith Boheim has provided outstanding leadership as executive director over the past eleven years. I am excited to work with him and the trustees as we move the Foundation forward into this new chapter."
Rast, who started his new position July 1, will serve alongside Boheim until the end of this calendar year, at which point Boheim will retire. Rast will assume the position of executive director on January 1, 2026.
"I look forward to working with Dr. Rast during this six-month transition, knowing that the Foundation under his leadership going forward will continue to provide significant support to its beneficiaries and confessional Lutheranism as they witness to the saving Gospel of the Savior Jesus Christ," said Boheim.
Rast will continue to teach at CTSFW while serving in his new role, though in a reduced capacity. "Dr. Rast is a foremost historian of American Lutheranism and a valued colleague," said CTSFW President Dr. Jon S. Bruss, who succeeded Rast as president in 2024. "We’re very happy that he’ll continue to share his expertise at CTSFW, and we wish him God’s richest blessings in his work with the Schwan Charitable Foundation."
About Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Founded in 1846, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, forms servants of Jesus Christ in a vibrant, Christ-centered theological community that engages and resources the church and the world, domestically and internationally, with distinctively Lutheran teaching, practice, and worship. To learn more, visit ctsfw.edu.