May 03, 2018 Print This Article
from SA国际传媒 magazine

Dear future students

Four students share letters to prospective students

Edited by Travis Scholl

Dear future pastoral student,

Due in no small part to the encouragement of my parents and my pastor, I鈥檝e known since middle school that I would attend the Seminary. In my mind it was always a matter of when and not if. In retrospect, my Seminary education began both later and earlier than I expected, since I didn鈥檛 apply to SA国际传媒, St. Louis for another 17 years. My first steps after high school took me through the military academy, several deployments and a contracting job with the government 鈥� getting some prior real-world experience, at my father鈥檚 recommendation 鈥� rather than following the more 鈥渢raditional鈥� path to Seminary right after college. But even during that circuitous journey, God sustained me and provided me with invaluable connections to SA国际传媒鈥檚 educational opportunities.

During the journey, I found the draw to the Seminary steadily increasing. The first connection was a visit I made at the beginning of my Army career. A buddy and I stopped at the campus for a few classes, and I was so inspired by the quality and impact of the teaching here that I promptly bought a copy of one of the course texts 鈥� not light reading! SA国际传媒 the same time, my friend and I began studying Greek at a local church where the pastor was using Seminary Professor Dr. James W. Voelz鈥檚 textbook and class videos. Though my duty assignment ended and I had to move, I found videos of the class 鈥� and to my delight numerous others 鈥� online at one of SA国际传媒鈥檚 resource sites (then iTunes U, now ).

Over the next several years, these resources filled many knowledge gaps I had, and they essentially allowed me to audit several graduate-level courses for free. They also gave me the opportunity to learn from current professors and anticipate being in their classes. In my opinion, the Seminary鈥檚 desire to be on the forefront of making the truths of our Lutheran Confession accessible to everyone cannot be overvalued. When I arrived I met those same professors, who have never ceased to pour into the students here and help shape my classmates and me for ministry. Even if you are coming to the Seminary later in life or with educational gaps like me, the Seminary excels at providing opportunities to learn, grow and begin to prepare for service in God鈥檚 church, many of which you can access right now. God has blessed us with a community of faculty and staff that will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that students are well-equipped to answer His call.

Ahren Reiter

In His grip,

Ahren Reiter

Fourth-year Master of Divinity student

Dear future deaconess student,

I don鈥檛 know your name, but I know your title: 鈥渇uture deaconess student鈥�! It has a nice ring to it 鈥� even if you don鈥檛 know yet what it actually means. Or perhaps, you do know what a deaconess is and what she does, but there is still some uncertainty as to what that means for you as a future deaconess. Either way, God shapes us and forms us in ways beyond our imagination!

This title carries another type of uncertainty with it 鈥� the word future. How long will you bear the title 鈥渇uture deaconess student鈥�? When will you become a 鈥渄eaconess student鈥�? These questions circled around in my mind for years. It鈥檚 OK to not know yet when 鈥渇uture鈥� will change to 鈥渃urrent.鈥� In my six years of being a 鈥渇uture deaconess student,鈥� I had decided several times I was going to give up the title and become 鈥渘ot a deaconess student.鈥� And in those times, God blessed me with the tasks He gave me to do and the people He gave me to serve. But I struggled with the 鈥渨hen.鈥� When was the time right? When did God want me to start this journey? Did God even want me to start this journey?

And that鈥檚 when I discovered that the following two things were so important:

Prayer 鈥� My prayer journal from this time is very dear to me. Write down your prayers. Find a time each day to communicate with your Father. Express to Him why you鈥檝e taken the title 鈥渇uture deaconess student鈥� or why someone else has given it to you or why you鈥檙e thinking of setting it aside. Discuss your feelings, your questions and your concerns with Him. Over time, you鈥檒l be able to look back at your prayers and see where God has brought you and how He has answered those prayers.

Counsel 鈥� Just as my conversation with God was so important, so was my conversation with other people. I talked to family, friends, mentors, pastors, teachers. People who knew me and could listen to me, who followed God and could give me godly counsel. Not only would they talk with me, but they also were praying for me 鈥� and continue to do so! They can help you see things that you might not be able to point out to yourself.

In this season of your life, 鈥渇uture deaconess student,鈥� I encourage you to take heart. Even in the midst of uncertainty, preparation and deliberation, our God is faithful and He will reveal to you in His time when it is your time to take up a new title!

Rebekah Karolus

With His joy,

Rebekah Karolus

First-year Deaconess Studies student

Dear future graduate student,

My dad always takes a detour to get home from church. I don鈥檛 know why. As I kid, I hated those detours. I didn鈥檛 understand the point of taking extra time to get to one鈥檚 destination. Your path to and through Seminary may be filled with many detours. Detours happen. Don鈥檛 be discouraged by them. You learn a lot from detours. During Epiphany 2003 鈥� my freshman year of college 鈥� God orchestrated numerous events so that I began to consider the pastoral office as a possible calling. Fifteen years later, I鈥檓 in the final months of Seminary preparation. I will receive a call into the pastoral office on April 24, 2018.

For me, the detours involved serving in campus ministry at my alma mater (Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.), getting married, teaching English in Turkey and serving as a missionary in Germany. After seven years of detours, I began my studies at SA国际传媒 in 2013. Of course, seven years of detours wasn鈥檛 enough. I decided to take a victory lap, a detour year, and earn my Master of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.M.) after earning my Master of Divinity.

If you are wondering whether God is tugging at your sleeve to attend Seminary, I recommend asking other people. Ask them what they would think if you took the road to Seminary. Ask your parents, spouse, friends, pastors. Ask a few elderly couples in your church who have seen numerous pastors come and go and know what sort of character to look for in a pastor. Truth be told, if you don鈥檛 ask these people, they鈥檒l tell you anyway. At least that鈥檚 how it worked for me.

Of course, after a long detour, I needed more people to encourage and support me. God provided such people in Epiphany 2012. I sent in my application a few months later. It鈥檚 hard to understand the purpose of detours. They may seem like a new direction that will never get you to your destination. But you get to see things along the way that you didn鈥檛 know you needed to see. Perhaps you feel like your detour is ending and it鈥檚 time to turn onto the road to the Seminary, or even the road back to Seminary for advanced study. Ask a few people what they think. Then, turn boldly.

Andrew Jones

In Christ,

Andrew Jones

2017 Master of Divinity graduate and Master of Sacred Theology student

Dear future SMP student,

One of the very first things God showed me as I entered the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Program seems so obvious, but it needed to be hammered home for me: He works through means. In this case, God鈥檚 means are the saints in your congregation. God speaks through His lambs, and when at least two of them encourage you to consider the Office of Public Ministry, then it ought to be given serious thought.

However, God鈥檚 call need not be a matter of confusion or fear. Remember that every Lord鈥檚 day begins with God鈥檚 clear call to gather and behold the wondrous gifts He gives His saints. As I look back upon the path God led me on, I see His gracious hand at every turn. Despite my unworthiness and even my unwillingness, God used the congregation in this place to call me to the Office of Public Ministry.

God is a gracious and giving God who is the very essence of love. God鈥檚 calling cannot to be avoided. When God has begun to call you, remember that where He calls, He also provides. You are God鈥檚 child and He will sustain the work He has started in and through you.

However, lest you come to God in pride, thinking that you are a wonderful addition to His leadership staff, remember that He spoke through a donkey鈥檚 mouth and that His idea of leadership is freely offering His life in service to sinners.

You have been called by God, not because you have anything He needs, but because He wishes to shape both you and your congregation in love. When Jesus commanded Peter to feed His sheep (John 21), He was pouring out grace upon the one who had denied Him. This tension of being the chief of sinners begging for mercy, and the mouthpiece of God blessed to proclaim His goodness and deliver His gifts, is the vocation I am called to as an SMP pastor.

William Pierce

God’s Peace,

William Pierce

SMP Program student