On January 6, 2026, the day on which many Christians celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, Professor Emeritus James P. Tiefel was called home to heaven. He was 76. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Rev 14:13).
Professor Tiefel served on the seminary faculty from 1985 to 2020. Only two professors in the seminary’s history served longer. Most of the members of the current seminary faculty sat at Professor Tiefel’s feet as students. He had a profound impact on the pastors of our church body and on our entire synod, including his contributions to the last two hymnals produced by WELS.
All of us at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary thank God for the blessings he graciously bestowed on Professor Tiefel in bringing him to faith in Christ, granting him the privilege of serving in the public ministry, allowing him to form men for pastoral ministry during the many years he served on the seminary faculty, preserving him in faith until the end, and granting him life that will never end in Paradise!
A Christian funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 24, at Morning Star Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jackson, WI. The service begins at 1:30 p.m. The obituary can be found at dahlkefh.com. We keep the Tiefel family in our prayers, that they find Christ’s comfort even in the midst of tears in the days ahead.
“Lord, when your glory I shall see and taste your kingdom’s pleasure, your blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure! When I appear before your throne, your righteousness shall be my crown; with these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought, as your own bride I shall be brought, to stand in joy beside you.”
Professor Tiefel began the tradition of having the Seminary Chorus end each appearance with the singing of that hymn in the early 1990s.