Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is pleased to announce that 14 students received calls to be pastors and missionaries, three students received vicarage assignments and one student received an internship assignment in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). In addition to the 18 calls and vicarage and internship assignments, six Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT) students are awaiting calls. In each of these cases, the details of calls to specific sites are being finalized and should be completed soon. Great care is exercised in both the candidate call and the vicarage placement processes to ensure that the best possible match is realized between the seminarian and the ministry site. The assignments were given during the Seminary’s morning chapel service on Jan. 24.

Calls into the Pastoral Ministry

Master of Divinity Degree Program

• Ryan Barnes, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Amery, Wis.
• Adam Clark, St. Peter Lutheran Church, Mishawaka, Ind.
• Adam Kuder, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Louisville, Ky.
• Jeremy Lucke, Grace Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Fla.
• James Mueller, Lutheran Senior Services, Jefferson City, Mo.

Center for Hispanic Studies

• Jesus Jimenez, Grace Lutheran Church, El Centro, Calif.

Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology

• Mekru Bekele, Emmanuel Ethiopian Lutheran Church, Dallas, Texas
• Jacob Harris, Lamb of God Lutheran Church, Landover Hills, Md.
• Brian Henderson, Trinity Lutheran Church, San Diego, Calif.
• Bernard Julmiste, Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Elias Kao, Bethany Lutheran Church, Baltimore, Md.
• Oslet Maccenat, Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Josue Vilsaint, Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Larry Wong, Family of Faith Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas

Vicarage Assignments

Certificate (Alternate Route) Program

• Gregory Pavelski, St. John, Kilkenny and Trinity Lutheran Churches, Morristown, Minn.

Center for Hispanic Studies

• Felix Renteria, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Tracy, Calif.
• Martin Urena, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Stockton, Calif.

Internship Assignment

Deaconess Studies Program, Center for Hispanic Studies

• Ligia Borges, Prince of Peace/Principe de Paz Lutheran Church, Orlando, Fla.

Calls Pending

Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology

• Maxwell Anokwute
• Haileselassie Gebrewold
• Michel Ovil
• Jean Parent
• James Ruey
• Hyun-Pyo Shin

The master of divinity degree (M.Div.) program is the academic degree program in which most students who desire to be pastors, missionaries or chaplains in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) enroll. It is a four-year program, including a one-year vicarage (internship). The certificate (alternate route) program closely parallels the M.Div. program. Although certificate students do not receive a degree, they study alongside those in the M.Div. program, including the study of the New Testament in Greek.

The deaconess studies program is designed for Christian women who seek to further their knowledge of theology and its ministry and diaconal applications so they can serve in a congregation or institution of the LCMS as a deaconess. It is a three-year program, including a one-year internship.

The Center for Hispanic Studies offers theological education and leadership in the Lutheran tradition from and for U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities. In the area of ministerial formation, the Center provides a linguistically and culturally contextual route to certification for ordination of qualified men in Hispanic contexts and a comparable alternate route for deaconess certification. Instruction is carried out in Spanish and considers the rich diversity of Hispanic cultural contexts in its theological and pastoral reflection. The Center delivers instruction through theological education by extension, part-time residential opportunities and computer-based systems.

Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT) is a specialized program leading to ordination for men engaged in pastoral missionary contexts in ethnic immigrant and urban cultures. Students are preferably first-generation immigrants leading immigrant-based churches. The program consists of distance education, contextual mentoring and regular on-campus (Seminary) modules.

These students join more than 12,000 graduates from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who have been prepared to serve as pastors, missionaries, chaplains and deaconesses in the LCMS. The Seminary’s spring placement is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, 2008.

For more information, contact Communications, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-505-7374; [email protected].