Calls to six students to serve congregations and ministries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) were recognized Thursday during chapel at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

From left, Director of Master of Divinity andResidential Alternate Route Programs Dr. Richard Marrs, Director of Placement Dr. Glenn Nielsen, Alec Fisher, Provost Dr. Jeff Kloha and Director of Certification Rev. David Lewis. Not pictured: Adam Carnehl, Ejaz Abid, Gem Gabriel, Timothy Norton and Juan Benito

Those recognized include two Master of Divinity students:

Alexander (Alec) Fisher, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Odenton, Md.
Adam Carnehl, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Fairmont, Minn.

Two Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT) students:

Ejaz Abid, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Albany, N.Y.
Gem Gabriel, called by the LCMS Atlantic District Board of Directors to serve The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, New London, Conn.

Also announced were Cross-Cultural Ministry (CMC) student Timothy Norton’s call to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Navajo, N.M., and Center of Hispanic Studies student Juan Benito’s call to El Buen Pastor Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Mo.

“Today we have the opportunity to celebrate and rejoice with these candidates, their family and friends, the calling congregations and ministries, and praise God,” said Dr. Glenn Nielsen, director of Placement, and Vicarage and Deaconess Internships.

“May God bless you as you serve Him and His ministries,” he told the students during the service.

Nielsen presented Fisher with a red Reformation 500 stole, a special gift for concluding students receiving calls this year, the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. The other five calls were celebrated in absentia.

The EIIT is a specialized program leading to ordination for men engaged in pastoral ministry contexts in ethnic immigrant and urban cultures in North America. EIIT also offers a program for women to become deaconesses.

The CMC was established by Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., in conjunction with Concordia Seminary and the LCMS Pacific Southwest District to provide directed preparation for ordained ministry to men who will serve in the socio-cultural contexts of specific ethnic populations and multicultural communities.

The Seminary celebrates assignment services throughout the year for students enrolled in special programs such as EIIT and CMC. The Seminary’s primary Call Day is held in the spring when students receive their first calls to ministry, and vicarage and deaconess internship assignments. The next Call Day is set for April 24, 2018.

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.