Doctor of Philosophy
Emory University
Master of Divinity
Wartburg Theological Seminary
Bachelor of Science
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Rev. Dr. Ann L. Fritschel
The Rev. Dr. Frank L. & Joyce S. Benz Professor in Scripture
Director of the Center for Theology and Land
Faculty Biography
Professor Ann Fritschel, a Wartburg Seminary graduate, celebrated her 30th anniversary of ordination in 2016 and served as President of the Midwest Region of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2012-13. After serving churches in Dickinson, Mohall and Hamerly N.D., she got her Ph.D from Emory University and joined the Wartburg Faculty in 1996. With a strong interest and passion in rural ministry, she also serves as the Director of the Center for Theology and Land. Ann has presented numerous workshops on the psalms, Islam and stewardship, as well as leading several synod assembly bible studies. Her passions as an instructor is to help students gain their own voices and biblical interpreters and discover ways to created proclaim the Gospel in today’s challenging and changing contexts. She enjoys traveling (as long as people drive on the right side of the road), reading and needlepoint. She is owned by two cats, both of whom like her sister better. She is a descendant of Gottfried Fritschel, one of the founders of Wartburg Seminary.
2018 “Prayer Changes Things,” Gather July/August 2018, 7-9.
2018 “Beyond the Mission Trip: Millennials, Financial Stewardship and the Congregation,” Currents in Theology and Mission, April 2018.
2018 “Re-envisioning Luther’s Christological Hermeneutic,” Currents in Theology and Mission January, 2018.
2017 “Wartburg’s Savvy Stewards,” Currents in Theology and Mission July, 2017
2017 “Pondering eternity, heaven and hell” with Winston Persaud, Living Lutheran 1:12, March 2017, 44-5
Material from the Fall 2016 Presentation on Islam at First Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids. 1) PowerPoint Slides 2) Lecture Notes (PDF Document) 3) Recommended Reading List (PDF Document)
2014 “Financial Stewardship” in The Lutheran, August 2014, 14-15.
2014 “The Quest for Identity: Evolutionary Roots of Consumerism and Stewardship” in Currents in Theology and Mission 41:2 April 2014, 96-101.
2014 “The Daughter’s Sacrifice,” in Gather 27:2 March 2014, 34-37.
2014 “Exodus 16 as an Alternative Social Paradigm,” in Currents in Theology and Mission 41:1 February 2014, 35-38.
2012 “The Church: Why ‘the holy, catholic church’ is confessed in the Apostles Creed,” in The Lutheran December, 2012, 20-21.
2012 Stewardship in Challenging Times. Luther Academy of the Rockies, 2012 – power point slides: 1. Stewardship Context 2. Justification and Consumerism 3. Stewardship as Reformation 4. Stewardship as Spiritual Practice 5. Stewardship for the Next Generation 6. Bibliography (one-page PDF document)
2011 “The Pastoral Practice of Complex Analysis” in Currents in Theology and Mission. October 2011, pp. 337-341.
2008 The Hidden Hand of God: Wisdom Tales from Ruth, Daniel and Esther. Women of the ELCA Bible Study, 2008-2009. (Co-authored with Gwen Sayler).
2009 Song of Songs, Introduction and Commentary in the Lutheran Study Bible. Augsburg Fortress 2009.
2005 “Armbands, Magic”, “Augury”, and “Bar-Jesus” entries in New Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary. Abingdon Press, 2005.
2002. “Individual Laments as Communal Hymns” in The Difficult but Indispensable Church. Augsburg Fortress 2002.
Dr. Fritschel has extensive knowledge in the following categories and is able to serve as a resource on:
- History, literature, and theology of the Hebrew Bible
- Islam
- Methods of biblical interpretation
- Spirituality and theology of the psalms
- Stewardship