On April 22, calls to serve as pastors in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) were issued to 134 students at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. In addition, 147 students received assignments to serve as vicars. Vicarage is a one-year internship that students preparing to serve in the pastoral ministry must complete.
Of the 134 Concordia Seminary students called to serve as pastors in the LCMS, one is from the Seminary’s Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS), and one is from the Seminary’s Deaf Institute of Theology (DIT).
Of the 147 students who received vicarage assignments, nine are from the CHS. The vicarage assignments included one to serve in a mission field outside the continental United States in Kampala, Uganda, in East Africa, which was arranged through the LCMS Board for Mission Services.
In addition to the 281 calls and vicarage assignments, 17 residential students, one Distance Education Leading To Ordination (DELTO) student and two Cross-Cultural Ministry Center (CCMC) students are awaiting calls; and two residential students are awaiting vicarage placements. In each of these cases, the Seminary is awaiting calls in order that these candidates may be assigned their first calls. 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.
Concordia Seminary also celebrated the presentation of nine deaconess students who were assigned internships, and five deaconess candidates who await calls. Of the nine deaconess students who received internship assignments, two are from the CHS. The deaconess program at Concordia Seminary began in the fall of 2002.
The Missouri District received the most vicars from Concordia Seminary, with 15 vicars assigned, followed by the Florida-Georgia District with nine. The Missouri District issued the most calls with 13, followed by the Nebraska District and Southeastern District each with 10.
The Office of Vespers and Assignment of Vicarages took place at 3:00 p.m. in the Seminary’s Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. Rev. Randall L. Golter, president of the Rocky Mountain District of the LCMS, served as preacher. Officiates for the service included Dr. Dale A. Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary; Dr. Glenn A. Nielsen, director of the Seminary’s vicarage and deaconess internship programs; and Dr. William G. Utech, director of the Seminary’s resident field education program.
The Service of Praise and Assignment of Calls, also held in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus, took place at 7:00 p.m. Rev. C. William Hoesman, president of the Michigan District of the LCMS and chairman of the Council of Presidents, served as preacher. Officiates for the services included Dr. Dale A. Meyer and Rev. Robert Hoehner, the Seminary’s director of placement. LCMS President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick greeted the candidates immediately after they received their calls. The calls were presented to the students by Rev. C. William Hoesman.
A complete listing of the calls and vicarages issued is available on the Seminary’s Web site at www.csl.edu [1].