Albert Pero Jr., first African American professor at a U.S. Lutheran seminary, dies

​     CHICAGO (ELCA) – The Rev. Dr. Albert "Pete" Pero Jr., professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) died Nov. 18 in Chicago. He was 79. LSTC is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     Pero was the first African American professor at a U.S. Lutheran seminary when he joined the LSTC faculty in 1977.
     "I recall Pete's robust, ebullient, joyful, and sharp-witted witness to the gospel," said the Rev. James Nieman, LSTC president, in an LSTC press release. "He was a remarkable child of God whose courage and clarity left a strong impression. I feel blessed to have known him, both early in my teaching career and again in my coming to LSTC."
     In 1976 Pero organized the Multicultural Conference for a predecessor body of the ELCA. The conference led to the development of the ELCA's Multicultural Ministries.
     According to the LSTC press release, Pero was a role model and mentor to African American seminary students and theologians. He was instrumental in forming the Conference of International Black Lutherans, a gathering of African descent theologians from around the world.
     "He reminded us that Whites have a culture, too, alongside Blacks, Latinos, Asians, native people, and others," said Philip Hefner, professor emeritus of systematic theology at LSTC, in the press release. "Whites are a culture in company with the others. Too often – up to today –White culture is taken as the standard by which others are to be assessed.
     "One of Pete's fundamental beliefs touched on our identity. He said that ethnicity, social class, skin color and the like are our identifications, not our identity. We are children of God – that's our identity. This also describes how he related to other people. He had a great soul and was a man of enormous love. He lived as a child of God, among all the others of God's children," Hefner added.
     Pero earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Paul's College in Concordia, Mo., in 1957 and a Bachelor of Arts in theology from Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Ill., in 1962. He received a Master of Arts in sociology from University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit in 1967. Pero earned his Ph.D. from LSTC in 1977 and according to the LSTC press release, Pero was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in theology.
     The ELCA's Commission for Multicultural Ministries presented Pero with the Disciple for Justice Award and he also received the Achievement Award from the African American Lutheran Association. He was named the Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities, and he received the Distinguished Service award from the Milwaukee Theological Institute.
     Pero also served in leadership positions for a number of organizations, including the National Committee of Black Churchmen, the Lutheran Council in the USA, Association of Black Lutheran Churchmen, Theology of the Americas, and the Illinois Synod of the Lutheran Church in America. He was a member of the Lutheran Human Relations Association of America, the International Afro-American Museum/NAACP, the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change, and the American Academy of Religion.
     Pero is survived by his wife, the Rev. Dr. Cheryl Stewart Pero; his four children; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 3.7 million members in more than 9,300 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

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