Alum elected to Board of Regents

Concordia University, Nebraska’s Board of Regents welcomes alum Rev. Brad Birtell of Columbus as the newest member of the Board of Regents. Birtell’s term will expire Aug. 31, 2019.

Birtell was appointed by the Concordia University System Board of Directors to fill the vacancy in the ordained minister position that is elected by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) in convention. Rev. Keith Grimm, who had been elected in 2016, resigned in November 2018 in accordance with the Synod’s rules when he was elected to another synodical position. Birtell will be eligible for election to a full three-year term at the LCMS convention in Tampa, Florida in July.

Birtell serves as the sole pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, having previously served in Young America, Minnesota. A 1988 graduate of the then-Concordia Teachers College in Seward, he received his Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1992. He is currently the co-chair of the Intersect Committee for the LCMS Nebraska District and vice president of the Mission Central Foundation in Mapleton, Iowa. In 2015, Birtell received the Mission and Ministry Alumni Award from his alma mater. He and his wife Christie have three adult children, all of whom are Concordia graduates, and one granddaughter.