Call Day … by the numbers!!!

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167 CALLS AND VICARAGES ISSUED, 4 DEACONESS ASSIGNMENTS AND 10 DEACONESS INTERNSHIPS CELEBRATED AT CONCORDIA SEMINARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2011

ST. LOUIS—On May 4, calls to serve as pastors in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) were issued to 86 students at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, during a worship service in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus. These students join more than 12,000 who have been prepared to serve as pastors, missionaries and chaplains during the 172 years of Concordia Seminary’s existence.

In a separate service held earlier that day, 81 students received assignments to serve as vicars. Vicarage is a one-year internship that M.Div. and Alternate Route students preparing to serve in the pastoral ministry must complete.

Concordia Seminary also celebrated four deaconess students who were assigned calls and 10 deaconess students who were assigned internships.

The Missouri District received the most vicars from Concordia Seminary, with 17 vicars assigned, followed by the Florida-Georgia District with six. The Northwest District issued the most calls with 10, followed by the Pacific Southwest District with eight.

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. Russell Sommerfeld, president of the Nebraska District of the LCMS, served as preacher.

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. Matthew Harrison, president of the LCMS, served as preacher. Officiants for the services included Dr. Dale A. Meyer and Rev. Robert P. Hoehner, the Seminary’s director of placement. The calls were presented to the students by Dr. Larry A. Stoterau, chairman of the Council of Presidents of the LCMS and president of the Pacific Southwest District.

More than 6,000 people from all 50 states and 27 foreign countries – spread over six continents – participated in one or both of the services via the video feeds provided on callday.csl.edu. Several calling congregations were able to celebrate and participate in the services with Concordia Seminary by connecting a projector and speakers in their church so the services were able to be seen and heard. Many also browsed the call lists and explored the interactive maps, contributing to a day with more than seven times the typical web traffic for the evening.

A complete listing of the calls and vicarages issued is available on the Seminary’s special Call Day website at callday.csl.edu.

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Resolution 4-17 To Address Student Indebtedness from LCMS Convention2010

http://www.lcms.org/includes/convention/resolutions/todbiz.pdf#437

Page 124

Resolution 4-17: To Address Student Indebtedness

Overtures 4-05 (CW, p.180)

WHEREAS, THE LCMS colleges, universities, and seminaries have taken significant and responsible steps to reduce operating costs to maintain fiscal viability; and

WHEREAS, 74 percent (the average between the two seminaries) of the pastoral ministry students who graduated from the LCMS seminaries in May 2009 and 75 percent of the Concordia University System students who graduated in May 2009, did so with educational debt; and

WHEREAS, Carrying large amounts of educational debt while receiving a modest salary results in stress for the church worker, which negatively impacts his/her family, health, and service; therefor be it

RESOLVED, That individuals, groups, and congregations in the LCMS  be encouraged to increase their support for our Synod’s colleges, universities, and seminaries with prayers, referrals of prospective students, and financial gifts; and be it further

RESOLVED, The Concordia University System schools and the seminaries require all students enrolled in church work programs to receive instruction in biblical stewardship designed to increase their ability to manage their personal finances wisely.

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What does this mean for future and current seminarians? Easy answer is that you are now required to attend that optional stewardship class both seminaries offered last year. Same goes for anyone enrolled in the Concordia University System. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is not realistic. The resolution already mentioned the numbers of coming out of the CUS and couple that with enrolling into seminary your debt only grows. So, for current seminarians you will be subjected to learn how to manage money that 1. you don’t have and 2. you won’t have any time soon… unless you play the lotto. Now, if this program is geared to seminarians where they are at NOW, this could be helpful. Minus loop holes, I see students from all of the above raising issue with this mandate. However, it isn’t up for discussion it is now mandatory.

As I continue looking through resolutions and how they were voted on… I hope to see one that mentions increased support for church workers attending the above mentioned institutions. Correction: I hope to see some sort of follow through with this and one of those groups needs to be the LCMS. Take the lead and others will follow from the example from above. This a subtle hint to Synod: The idea and its application are wonderful. Will it fix the overall problem? No

I recall hearing someone has some ideas on how to improve this situation. I’ve heard “Its Time”.