Education

Jordan Cooper graduated cum laude from Geneva College in 2010 with a degree in Biblical Studies.

He then attended The Wittenberg Institute, where he received his Masters in Theological Studies in 2012. With a 4.0 GPA, he graduated with honors. He wrote his thesis on early patristic soteriology and the new perspective on Paul. 

After this, Jordan studied for his MTS (now an MDiv) at the American Lutheran Theological Seminary, where he completed his degree in 2015. 

Jordan then began his doctoral work at the South African Theological Seminary (SATS) under the Lutheran theologian Daniel Lioy. En route to his doctorate, Jordan earned another Masters degree, and completed his doctoral work at the end of 2019 with a dissertation on radical Lutheranism and the scholastic method. Along with the reception of his degree, Jordan also received the Frederick Beuchner Award for Excellence in Writing, awarded to one doctoral student per year.

Experience

After completing a vicarage in Western Massachusetts, Jordan Cooper was called to the Office of the Holy Ministry in the American Association of Lutheran Churches. He was pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in Brighton, IA, from 2012-2014. He then served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Watseka, IL from 2014-2018. In 2018, he moved to Ithaca, NY, where he was a ministry fellow with Christian Union at Cornell University until the Summer of 2020. 

Following this season of full-time campus ministry, Jordan Cooper devoted his time to the Lutheran educational organization that he founded in 2012 called Just and Sinner. His time is devoted to publishing, writing, teaching podcasting, marketing, and fundraising.

Along with Just and Sinner, Jordan Cooper was called by the AALC to serve as the President of the American Lutheran Theological Seminary in the Fall of 2020. Along with teaching systematic theology, he is leading the Seminary through the process of accreditation.