Mitzi Jarrett Budde, D.Min.

Mitzi Budde joined the VTS faculty in 1991. Before coming to VTS, she was the library director at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Dr. Budde completed her D.Min. in Ecumenism and Reconciliation at Wesley Theological Seminary where she focused on ecumenical formation in denominational theological seminaries. She previously earned a Master of Librarianship from the University of South Carolina, an M.A. in Religion from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, and a B.A.from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, North Carolina.

Prof. Budde co-authored Daring to Share: Multi-Denominational Congregations in the U.S. and Canada (2018) with Sandra Beardsall and William McDonald. She was one of the writers for the National Council of Churches publication, United Against Racism: Churches for Change (2018), and she co-edited and contributed an essay to the National Council of Churches publication Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration, Paulist Press, 2017 (co-edited with Tony Kireopoulos and Matthew Lundberg). She also co-edited and contributed two essays to the book, Unity in Mission: Theological Reflections on the Pilgrimage of Mission (2013) published by Paulist Press in the National Council of Churches Faith & Order Commission Theological Series (co-edited with Don Thorsen). She has also published journal articles in The Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Worship, Ecumenical Trends, and Congregations.

Dr. Budde is President of the North American Academy of Ecumenists (2013-2015) and serves on the national Lutheran Episcopal Coordinating Committee. She has served as a mentor in the American Theological Library Association’s “Creating Leaders for Tomorrow” program and has served on accreditation visiting teams for the Association of Theological Schools. She is a deacon of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving under the call of the ELCA to ecumenical ministry at VTS.

“As a theological librarian, I love building and stewarding a cohesive library collection of print and electronic resources and teaching students to evaluate and engage those resources effectively into their own research, teaching, and preaching.

My own theological specialty is ecumenism. In John 17, Jesus calls us to give a coherent and unified Christian witness to the world. Transcending denominationalism and tribalism by exploring ecumenical rapprochement is a teaching focus and passion. As a deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America under call to Virginia Seminary, I’m literally living the full communion agreement between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church.”

Mitzi Budde, D.Min.