The Concordia Seminary, St. Louis community celebrated 18 students Thursday for major milestones along their path to becoming pastors and deaconesses in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).

Sixteen students in the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Program and Cross-cultural Ministry Center (CMC) received their vicarage assignments during a special service Feb. 9, in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. In addition, two Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS) students received their deaconess internship assignments.

Concordia Seminary’s SMP Program is a distance-education program in which men receive both academic and hands-on pastoral ministry training. Local pastor-mentors work alongside SMP students, providing them with opportunities to serve the various needs of the church. Students are assigned pastoral vicarages upon beginning the program, and are eligible to receive calls two years into the program.

“Those entering into the SMP Program as vicars will be adding course work and vicarage responsibilities to their already full and busy lives of work and family responsibilities and other life vocations God has given to them,” said SMP Program Director Dr. W. Mart Thompson. “While the program is demanding and requires significant sacrifice and commitment, their hard work will certainly bear fruit for the sake of the Gospel as they are formed for the Office of the Ministry to become pastors.”

The SMP students receiving vicarages included:

• Bradley Asmus, Eastern Heights Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., LCMS Minnesota South District
• Martin Banks, St. Michael Lutheran Church, Wayne, Mich., LCMS Michigan District
• Timothy Douglas, Living Savior Lutheran Church, Montgomery, Texas, LCMS Texas District
• Jacob Eisinger, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Elko, Nev., LCMS California-Nevada-Hawaii District
• Clayton Engel, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, Belvidere, Ill., LCMS Northern Illinois District
• Christopher Harding, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Trenton, Mich., LCMS Michigan District
• David Singer, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Clovis, Calif., LCMS California-Nevada-Hawaii District
• Joel Symmank, Woodbury Lutheran Church, Woodbury, Minn., LCMS Minnesota South District
• Aaron Tisdale, Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Green Bay, Wis., LCMS North Wisconsin District
• Phillip Twietmeyer, Hope Lutheran Church and School, Levittown, Penn., LCMS Eastern District
• William Ward, St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Bel Air, Md., LCMS Southeastern District
• Thaddeus Wielgos, Fellowship of Faith Lutheran Church, McHenry, Ill., LCMS Northern Illinois District

The Cross-cultural Ministry Center (CMC) has been established by Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., in conjunction with Concordia Seminary and with the LCMS Pacific Southwest District to provide directed preparation for ordained ministry to men who will serve in the sociocultural contexts of specific ethnic populations and multicultural communities. The CMC provides a comprehensive theological education leading to general pastoral certification with an emphasis on cross-cultural mission planting, with the goal of a new, sustainable, urban, cross-cultural plant and new mission starts developed within the program.

“Since its beginning in 1995, the CMC Program was intentionally modeled after the Master of Divinity Program to form fully trained pastors who would be as theologically astute and pastorally skilled as residential students and have the special skills necessary to serve as missionaries within their surrounding cross-cultural communities,” said Associate Dean of Urban and Cross-Cultural Ministry Dr. Ely Prieto. “We are happy to offer four more CMC vicars to the church and its mission.”

The CMC students receiving vicarages in absentia included:

• Ethan Berglund, St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Mesa, Ariz., LCMS Pacific Southwest District
• Ajilkumar Christopher Raj, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Whitestone, N.Y., LCMS Atlantic District
• Mengesha Gella, The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew, Silver Spring, Md., LCMS Southeastern District
• Cary Hoff, Our Savior Lutheran Church, Tacoma, Wash., LCMS Northwest District

The Center for Hispanic Studies (CHS) of Concordia Seminary offers theological education and leadership in the Lutheran tradition from and for U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities. CHS advances and carries out its mission through ministry formation programs, research and publication initiatives and various continuing education and advanced studies opportunities. Instruction is in Spanish and considers the rich diversity of Hispanic cultural contexts in its theological and pastoral reflection. CHS offers instruction through theological education by extension, mostly with online courses and some weeklong intensive courses.

“At Concordia Seminary, we rejoice in the formation of Hispanic pastors and deaconesses in the Spanish language for service in Lutheran churches in the United States, one of the largest Spanish-speaking countries in the world,” said CHS Director Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. “What a privilege and cause for celebration to see these two new CHS deaconess students begin their internships!”

The CHS students receiving deaconess internships in absentia included:

• Katherine Guarin Castro, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, Brandon, Fla., LCMS Florida-Georgia District
• Yolanda Hempe, Shepherd of the City Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Ind., LCMS Indiana District

The Seminary recognizes and celebrates calls throughout the year although the campus’ primary Call Day celebration typically is held in April. During call celebrations, students receive their first calls to ministry as well as assignments for vicarages and deaconess internships. The Seminary’s next primary Call Day is set for April 26, 2023.

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 csl.edu.