Seminary students receive calls, learn placements

Pastoral candidate Thomas Batchelder and his wife, Hannah, pose for a photo with Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., President Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. after the April 25 service. Batchelder received a call to serve as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Evergreen, Minn. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

Students at the Synod’s two seminaries recently learned where they will serve their first calls and internships as pastors and deaconesses.

Two services were held April 24 in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis:

At the 7 p.m. “call day” service, 58 students received their first calls to serve as pastors, chaplains and missionaries, and four deaconess students received calls.
At a 3 p.m. service, 59 students learned where they will serve as vicars and three deaconess students received their internship assignments.

Another four pastoral students have calls or assignments pending.

Concordia Seminary President Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer shared words of wisdom with the students and encouraged them to keep the Word of God alive in their lives and hearts.

“Wear your heart for Jesus on your sleeve,” Meyer told them. “Keep it alive in your congregation” and “above all else, remember your heart for Jesus.”

To see a complete list of assignments and placements — including an interactive map and photos — visit callday.csl.edu.

Photo gallery from St. Louis

Two services also were held in Kramer Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., although on different days:

On April 25, 30 students received their first calls to serve as pastors, chaplains and missionaries. (Deaconesses at the seminary receive their calls year-round.)
The day before, April 24, 42 pastoral students received their vicarage assignments and three deaconess students learned where they will serve their internships.

“This night takes on a particular importance,” said seminary President Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr., addressing the candidates after they received their calls at the April 25 service.

“In all of this work, our focus is these men here and preparing them for this night, for them to receive, from God Himself working through humble vessels — our Council of Presidents, our seminaries — working through these means in order to put them into the harvest field. We see tonight God keeping His promises to sustain his church. And you, gentlemen, are the answer to that promise.”

To see a complete list of assignments and placements, videos and an interactive map, visit callday.ctsfw.edu.

Photo gallery from Fort Wayne

Although the seminaries placed a total of 88 pastoral students into their first calls, that number is far short of the number of candidates requested by Synod congregations this year.

For information about becoming a pastor or deaconess, visit ctsfw.edu/admission (Fort Wayne) or csl.edu/admissions (St. Louis).

María del Carmen Cabrales, a graduate of the Center for Hispanic Studies deaconess program at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, hugs President Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer during the April 24 “call day” service. Cabrales was called to serve at Apostles Lutheran Church in Peoria, Ariz. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

Posted April 27, 2018

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Paula Schlueter Ross

Paula Schlueter Ross (1953–2019), former managing editor of Reporter, was a magna cum laude graduate of Webster University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. During her nearly 35-year career with the LCMS, she wrote for both Reporter and The Lutheran Witness and often took photos to accompany her stories. Ross won 17 national writing awards from the Associated Church Press, including seven first-place “Awards of Excellence.”