The students learned of their first calls to pastoral and diaconal ministry听补苍诲 second-year students learned their assignments as vicars and deaconess interns. The services also were live streamed at csl.edu/callday [1] and on [2] live.
First calls to serve as pastors, chaplains, deaconess and missionaries for聽The Lutheran Church鈥擬issouri Synod聽(LCMS) were announced at a 7 p.m. worship service in which President Dr. Thomas J. Egger [3] preached on the theme of 鈥淥ne Shepherd, Jesus Christ,鈥澛燽ased on John 10:11-18. It was Egger鈥檚 first Call Day sermon as the Seminary鈥檚 11th president, a position he began in March.
While the mood of the two services was particularly exciting as it was the first in-person Call Day celebration in two years, capacity restrictions limited the number of attendees. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Call Day services were held online-only.
鈥淭his year we are in person but we are under some rather significant restrictions by St. Louis County in terms of wearing masks, social distancing, limited occupancy in a building and making contact with other people,鈥� said Director of Placement Dr. Glenn Nielsen [4], who also serves as director of Vicarage and Deaconess Internships. 鈥淣ext year we hope, and we pray, we will be back to a full chapel 鈥� no masks, handshaking, hugs, smiling faces. But this year we want to acknowledge some of the disappointment that is here because not all family, children and friends are able to be here as each candidate was given just one guest to invite. We thank you for understanding.鈥�
The pastoral students receiving calls included 47 Master of Divinity students, seven Residential Alternate Route students, three Cross-cultural Ministry Center students, two Center for Hispanic Studies students and two students in the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology program. Three deaconess students, including two of whom have completed the Center for Hispanic Studies deaconess program, received calls. Two deaconess students have placements pending.
鈥淭onight is a night of joy and of confidence and of anticipation and of eternal significance because God has raised up one Shepherd 鈥� and the time of His humiliation and the time of His shame and suffering is finished,鈥� Egger said. 鈥淗e has done it! The remarkable saving work of Christ 鈥� is accomplished. Tonight is a night of joy because of Jesus, the one Shepherd, and He is calling you to feed His lambs. What a glorious ministry, the ministry of the Gospel of Christ.鈥�
Also Wednesday,聽39聽students who will serve as vicars (pastoral interns) and five deaconess interns received their assignments at a 3 p.m. worship service. The pastoral students included two Cross-cultural Ministry Center students and four Residential Alternate Route students. LCMS California-Nevada-Hawaii District President Rev. Michael Lange preached a sermon titled 鈥淓mbrace the Authority Adventure鈥� from 1 Peter 2:18-25.
鈥淒ear brothers, sisters: It鈥檚 not always going to be easy or fun to follow the example of Christ,鈥� Lange said. 鈥淵ou may have your foot stepped on. You may be yanked away. You may believe that you have the right works and yet we count ourselves blessed to be servants in the household, servants who are entrusted with the responsibility of giving an example of gracious action even during cruel treatment rather than ungracious. Christ is our example in this.鈥�
All calls and assignments will be served in LCMS congregations, organizations and districts. A complete list of assignments and placements, including an interactive map [5] and photos, can be found at csl.edu/callday [1] or at the links below:
- Assignment of calls in alphabetical order [6]
- Assignment of calls by district [7]
- Vicarage and deaconess internship assignments in alphabetical order [8]
- Vicarage and deaconess internship assignments by district [9]
Calls and assignments were shared on Twitter in real time during both services, and many people shared their celebratory comments and photos with the hashtags #CallDay2021, #LCMSCallDay听补苍诲 #CallDayWatchParty on social media.
Those who would like to refer a prospective student are encouraged to visit csl.edu/visit [10] or contact Enrollment at 800-822-9545 or [email protected] [11].
SA国际传媒 SA国际传媒
SA国际传媒, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of聽 [12]. To learn more, visit聽csl.edu [13].