BRANCHING OUT

Dr. Michael Chan advances campus ministry, interfaith work, and more in his role as executive director for Faith and Learning

BY ALI FROSLIE ’18

When asked about his favorite moments during his first months at Concordia, Dr. Michael Chan laughs. “Can I say the corn feed?” he says. “It’s such a unique event.”

As Concordia’s first executive director for Faith and Learning, Chan has spent the past six months in “scale-up mode.” When he’s not enjoying Concordia’s cornier traditions, he’s working to develop and expand the areas under his supervision, whether that’s leading them into the digital world with podcasts and online book clubs or delving into how Gen Z thinks about questions of ultimate meaning.

“We’re trying to really push something to its next level,” he says.

Chan began his work as executive director for Faith and Learning in June 2022. He previously served on the faculty at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. There, he spent his days teaching seminarians about the mysteries of the Old Testament. His faculty position also gave him a taste for the leadership work he’s currently undertaking.

“At my previous institution, I was given a lot of opportunities to grow as a leader among my faculty,” he says. “I started to catch a vision for wanting to do more of that work.”

That vision and desire, combined with wanting to work with undergraduate students, led him to accept the job at Concordia. Chan describes his work as executive director as a tree, rooted in the foundation of the reformation with four different branches stretching to encompass the different areas under his leadership – campus ministry, the Lorentzsen Center, the Dovre Center, and interfaith work.

Chan talks about the projects his “branches” are undertaking with a palpable excitement.

In the Lorentzsen Center for Faith and Work, Concordia’s public-facing community that forms at the intersections of faith, society, work, and economy, Chan has started a podcast, “Builders,” which features future leaders in the process of building organizations, movements, or nonprofits and talks about their vocational journeys.

This year’s rotation of Lorentzsen Center speakers is also in full swing. The events are inspired by the question, “How do we build a more trustworthy world?” In the fall, political philosopher Dr. Yuval Levin discussed his book, “A Time to Build,” and a panel of community leaders spoke on the criminal justice system in Fargo-Moorhead. In January 2023, author and entrepreneur Kathryn Finney is set to speak.

Chan is particularly excited about the opportunity to partner with Concordia’s Black Student Union for Finney’s visit.

“In the Lorentzsen Center, all of our events have been in partnership with student groups, and that was very intentional and important to me,” he says.

Integrating students wherever possible has been an essential facet of Chan’s work. While he did love the Cobber Corn Feed, his favorite moments so far have been when working closely with students on campus. Some of that collaboration happens through the Lorentzsen Center, but much of his work with students occurs in the interfaith spaces on campus.

Chan describes the interfaith relationships on campus as an “ecosystem.” He notes one of his predecessors, Dr. Jacqueline Bussie, as having completed remarkable work clarifying and developing interfaith programs and involvement at Concordia. Now, Chan is building on that work and determining directions for the future. That’s where the students come in.

“We’re taking a small team of students, staff, and faculty through a visioning process where we look back and see the remarkable strides we’ve come in the area of interfaith,” Chan says. “Now the question is, where do we need to go next? We’re right in the thick of that process. We will have some public announcements this year about the findings that we have made and the directions we’re going.”

Chan is also working on a major project coming from the Dovre Center for Faith and Learning. This project aims to investigate the religious and spiritual lives of Concordia students on a deeper level. Chan is working with two psychology professors, Dr. Mark Krejci and Dr. Lisa Sethre-Hofstad ’91, to develop a tool to help understand the ways in which current college students are engaging with questions of meaning and purpose.

“We know that Gen Z thinks about questions of ultimate meaning in ways that might be different from my generation or previous generations,” Chan says. “We need to understand that.”

Chan takes the work of caring for the souls of Cobber students seriously.

“On a daily basis, we see people experiencing the weight of the world in their bodies, in their spirits, and in their minds,” he says.

Much of his work helps people – students and otherwise – continue to investigate and understand the world around them. When Chan talks about his vision for his future work, he notes the particular way in which Lutheran higher education impacts students and the wider world.

“Lutheran education creates a broad space for learning and asking really difficult questions,” he says. “The language of faith and learning is important, and I understand that it really is about how we relate our rich Lutheran heritage with this call to educate thoughtful people who desire to impact the world. We need people who go fearlessly into this world to explore and investigate and ask questions that are deeply uncomfortable.”

As he looks toward the future, Chan is also excited to be in touch with alumni and to continue growing his own foundation in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Chan and his family have lived all over the country and the world – from Arizona to Finland – but he notes that Moorhead is one of two places they’ve lived that feels like home. Chan is also excited to be working with students in a place he finds value.

“I love college students and the college atmosphere. The work itself is fascinating, but what really sold me on Concordia is how special this place is,” Chan says. “There’s something quite unique about Concordia, and I think it has to do with this deep emphasis on working for a better world whether one comes from a Lutheran tradition or not.”