The Office of Pastoral Education (PED), supervised by the Chief Mission Officer (CMO), assists the President in executing responsibilities related to pastoral formation and care that are assigned to him: “The [CMO] shall, on behalf of the President, provide leadership, coordination, and oversight for pre-seminary education programs, seminary education, and post-seminary continuing education, and by providing advocacy for pastoral education and health within the Synod” (). The PED Executive Director is responsible for facilitating the prior-approval process for initial appointments to seminary faculties ([a]) and is a nonvoting advisory member of the Synod’s Pastoral Formation Committee ().
A. Set Apart to Serve (SAS)
The 2019 Convention adopted Resolution 6-01, “To Support and Participate in the Comprehensive Church Worker Recruitment Initiative.” This resolution resolved “that all constituents of the LCMS be encouraged to commend, financially support, and directly participate in this comprehensive, multi year church worker recruitment initiative with . . . the following objectives: 1.
identifying, catechizing, encouraging, and supporting young boys and girls for church worker vocations;
2. instilling church worker vocations as sacred and joyful, a ‘calling from God,’ vocations of integrity and fulfillment, grounded in Christ and baptismal salvation;
3. developing the ‘whole person’ throughout this formation process: spiritually, in character, confession ally, physically, emotionally, synodically, and intellectually;
4. supporting, encouraging, and caring for existing church workers, for the welfare of the workers, for the proclamation and witness of the Gospel, and for workers to be healthy advocates of next-generation workers.”
SAS Team and Goals. Following the 2019 convention, SAS expanded our relationship with Standing Partnership, a St. Louis-based marketing and communications firm. Five experts from Standing Partnership dedicate their time to Set Apart to Serve, along with three persons from the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education (Dr. James Baneck, Mr. Glenn Rollins, and Ms. Robyn Armbrust), and the LCMS Communications team (Dr. Kevin Armbrust, Ms. Jennifer Duffy, Ms. Stacey Egger). These individuals make up the core SAS leadership team, while incorporating collaborators and subject-matter experts from across the Synod, including congregations, schools, universities, camps, RSOs, and other Synod institutions.
Giving this initiative a name was also a first priority. LCMS youth, church workers, and laity were polled to provide input for naming and messaging this initiative. Set Apart to Serve was the clear choice. Messaging and Branding. Key messaging was also developed that would be used in SAS materials, communications, presentations, and more. The goal is for all Synod stakeholders to hear consistent language as we talk to our youth about opportunities to become church workers. Hearing this same messaging from our seminaries and universities, congregations and schools, RSOs and corporate entities, LCMS Communications and auxiliaries, congregations and schools, and pastors and all church workers reduces confusion and makes it more likely for young people to understand the opportunities to become future church workers. SAS branding, logo, and messaging is currently used in seminary and Concordia University literature, promotional materials, videos, and websites. It is also used in district materials and websites, congregations, schools, and more. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). SMEs provided unique expertise that informed the launch of SAS. Their experiences in the LCMS and insights as church workers and leaders in the Synod guided the initial direction of SAS. SMEs were assigned to our three core audiences: pre Catechism (infant Baptism–6th grade), Catechism (7th–8th grade), and post-Catechism (9th–12th grade). They gave us direction in two fundamental areas: (1) how to identify potential for a vocation in church work, and (2) guides to creating critical experiences of youth. SMEs are named in the SAS 2022 annual report (files.lcms.org/file/preview/sas-annual-report). Pilot Program. In January of this year, we launched the SAS pilot program. There is a pilot program congregation and/ or school in every district, plus one NLOMA camp. Special thanks to all 35 district presidents for nominating and helping secure these pilot sites. The pilot program supports and equips congregation leaders so they can identify, nurture, and encourage youth in their congregation who aspire to humble, selfless service to others, honoring Christ and the Church above all else. The pilot program establishes an intentional structure, tools, and training for congregations around the essential experiences that youth need to successfully pursue church work. Pilot sites will serve the Synod in three significant ways: 1.
They will evaluate SAS resources, such as conversation guides and experience-building toolkits, as they use them to develop an intentional structure of formation and recruitment of their youth.
2. They will provide feedback on what works, what does not work, and what is missing.
3. They will provide feedback as to improve SAS.
After this strategy and resources are tested and refined, they will be shared with the whole Synod. Target date for availability of these resources is fall of 2023. CPH Curriculum. In 2022, SAS collaborated with CPH in plans to develop a full SAS curriculum, preschool through adult. This curriculum is being developed for congregations and Lutheran schools. Age-appropriate materials will cover these topics: 1.
What is the Church?
2. What are the various church work vocations in the LCMS (ordained and commissioned)?
3. How do we care for our church workers?
4. How to develop a culture of church work formation and recruitment in our congregations and schools.
Through a major gift from LCEF and gifts from each of our Concordia universities, every preschool through high school in the LCMS will receive this curriculum free of charge, with the resources needed for every student. SAS and CPH are hoping to have this resource available by Lutheran Schools week in January 2024. KFUO Coffee Hour. Andy Bates and Sarah Gulseth host KFUO Coffee Hour, which is a program that brings stories of the intersection of Lutheran life and a secular world. Coffee Hour has teamed up with SAS every Friday morning since August 2022, featuring church work formation, church workers, parents of church workers, pastors and professors, leaders and administrators in the LCMS, laypersons and key collaborators, and stakeholders. Go to kfuo.org/tag/set-apart-to-serve/ to view the lineup of guests and listen to these informative conversations. This is an excellent resource for personal or family use, Bible classes, youth groups, classroom use, or to share with someone you know who might be considering church work. Synodwide Collaboration. To execute and sustain this work of the Church until the Lord returns, synodwide collaboration is absolutely necessary. From its inception, SAS has been collaborating, partnering, soliciting input, and teaming up with stakeholders throughout the Synod. These stakeholders provide significant expertise and contribution to SAS, helping build this initiative throughout its development. These include our seminaries, Concordia universities, all 35 district presidents, LCEF, Concordia Publishing House, LCMS schools, LCMS Youth Ministry, LCMS Mission Advancement, Concordia Plans, National Lutheran Outdoors Ministry Association (NLOMA), Higher Things, LCMS Foundation, Schwan Charitable Foundation, LWML, LCMS Board of Directors, 36 pilot project congregations and schools, several donors, Lutheran Education Association (LEA), Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools (ALSS), subject-matter experts, and more. The collaboration is reciprocal. SAS is strengthened by learning from and working with each of these significant partners. Second-Career Phase. Phase 1 of SAS focuses on raising up a new generation of church workers as we strive to increase fruitful engagement between youth influence rs and youth. The second phase of SAS started in December 2022, with an alignment meeting of critical stakeholders from the seminaries, Concordia
universities, Schwan Foundation, colloquy committees, and LCMS schools. Goals for this second phase include (1) increasing awareness of potential second-career opportunities to serve as a pastor, Lutheran school teacher, or other church work vocation, (2) increasing awareness of paths to church work vocations, (3) understanding the drivers, barriers, and influence rs to a second career church worker vocation, and (4) developing strategies to engage influence rs and activate the drivers that increase the number of second-career pastors, Lutheran teachers, and other church workers. Next steps will include research, building short and long-term plans, and integrating this second-career phase with the larger SAS initiative. Research and Dashboard. SAS is multi-faceted, with several layers. It involves collaboration and research concerning CUS and seminary church worker enrollments and placements; worker well-being; church worker compensation; attention and readership of SAS articles, resources, and websites (e.g., Reporter, The Lutheran Witness, and Lutherans Engage the World); youth and adults enrolling in church work programs; congregations encouraging and supporting their members toward church work and Sunday School and VBS participation; participation at the LCMS Youth Gathering, Higher Things, and camps; routes to the pastoral ministry; colloquy requirements and completions; formation and recruitment of all ethnicities; missionary and international reach and impact; congregation closings and mergers; new mission and church plants; and more. SAS is continuously researching and analyzing important aspects of church worker formation and recruitment. SAS is currently developing dashboards that will provide metrics around each part of the initiative. This will not only provide the Synod with transparent, useful information, but will also help the SAS team continue to refine strategies and resources. Concordia University Church Worker Program Comparison Guide. During 2022, the SAS team made several presentations (NLOMA, district conventions, Higher Things, LCMS Youth Gathering, Vocatio at CSL, Christ Academy at CTSFW, Best Practices, Council of Presidents, Theology Professors Conference, LEA, CONFEDEX, and Wittenberg, Germany) where attendees expressed that it was difficult to compare church work programs, tuition and costs, and discounts and grants for the Concordia universities. SAS is teaming up with the Concordia universities to develop a one-stop Concordia university church worker program comparison guide. This resource will help the viewer know what church work programs are offered at each of the Concordias, the academic path for each, and basic financial information. It will also direct the viewer back to the individual Concordias, providing direct contact information for each of the schools to obtain further information. Information and Resources. SAS has been widely communicated throughout the Synod since 2019. Information, stories, and events have been communicated in several issues of The Lutheran Witness, Reporter, Lutherans Engage the World, and LCEF Interest Time magazine; on the LCMS Facebook page; via direct emails to church workers and congregations; and at district conventions. Delegates, church workers, and laity are encouraged to stay informed about SAS by watching for continued information and stories on SAS in the future. The SAS website at lcms.org/set-apart-to-serve is also a valuable resource. It is populated with a library of videos that explain SAS and shares stories from current church workers and students pursuing church work. These videos are a great resource for personal use, youth meetings, Bible class, and congregation and school meetings. The website also houses a SAS FAQ, a description of all LCMS ordained and commissioned church vocations, bulletin inserts, easy access to the KFUO Coffee Hour episodes, and resources for Church Worker Appreciation Month. This website will continue to be refreshed and populated with useful resources in developing a church work recruitment culture in your congregation and school. Pray the Lord of the Harvest. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (). The number of church workers will always be few. Jesus said it. Luther said it. Walther said it. We say it today. At the same time, we don’t ask how many workers we will need in three or five or 10 years from now. There always will be sinners and there always will be millions of people who do not know Jesus Christ and are therefore without eternal life in Christ. There is a Synod focus on planting new churches. Neighbors of all ethnicities are in our very own communities, many of whom do not know Jesus Christ. The Office of International Mission is desiring to send at least 80 additional missionaries overseas just this year. Praying the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest includes actively and intentionally talking to our children about considering a church work vocation and supporting them through the journey. Praying the Lord of the harvest includes treating our church workers with love and respect for the sacred and joyful office they fill. Praying the Lord of the harvest includes believing that Jesus is the one thing needful and therefore encouraging our children to consider full-time church work and also supporting all those in your congregation and school who are pursuing church work. Praying the Lord of the harvest is forming and recruiting pastors and all church workers so that our children and grandchildren, family and friends, and all God’s people know Jesus Christ for life and salvation. Praying the Lord of the harvest is believing that this is what baptized children of God in Christ Jesus do until the day of His return.
B. Post-Seminary Applied Learning and Support (PALS) PALS was created by the Council of Presidents and LCMS Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support (CMGS) in 1998. The purpose of PALS is to assist new seminary graduates and their wives transition into the first three years of his call. After restructuring in 2010, PALS is now under the LCMS Office of Pastoral Education. PALS utilizes geographic cohorts. Each cohort is facilitated by an experienced pastor and his wife. The pastor facilitates the men and the pastor’s wife facilitates the women. Ideally, PALS cohorts meet six days per year. Pastors can self-report up to six PALS CEUs each year on their district Self Evaluation Tool (SET). PALS also serves the purpose of the pastor’s first years of continuing education. Each time a PALS cohort meets, they participate in worship, a study topic, support and casuistry, and fellowship. Cohorts are free to use either curriculum developed by the PALS office or a study topic of the group’s choice. Courses written by the PALS office are always developed in response to the request of PALS pastors, wives, and facilitators. PALS is designed for the transition and care of the pastor’s wife and children as much as for the pastor. Specific courses, books,
and topics are written for the pastor’s wife, dealing with issues of boundaries, vocation and expectations, loneliness and isolation, parenting, spiritual life, and more. The LCMS PALS office pays for all childcare during PALS gatherings, if so desired. Often, during a PALS gathering, the men and women meet separately for study topics that most pertain to each. PALS is a rich partnership of the LCMS, districts, congregations, and pastors. The annual PALS budget is approximately $145,000. This includes PALS administration, fac il it at or contracts and expenses, seminary presentation dinners to concluding-year seminarians entering PALS, conference expenses, and books and materials. Participating districts contribute $500 per participating pastor per year. LCMS PALS more than matches that amount. It could be said that the Synod invests more than $1,000 per year per pastor to facilitate a successful transition into his first call. In the last four years, there has been an average of 28 active PALS groups across the Synod. Approximately 123 pastors and 81 wives have been active in PALS over this past quadrennium. We encourage congregations calling candidates from the seminary to support and expect their pastors to participate in PALS. Such participation is of great benefit to both the pastor and the congregation for many years to come. There are 27 of the 35 LCMS districts who currently participate in the PALS program. The LCMS Executive Director of Pastoral Education and the new full-time Director of PALS, Rev. Jonathan Manor, strongly encourage all 35 districts to participate in PALS for the benefit of the pastor, his wife and family, the congregation he serves, and the district and Synod at large. Some districts transition and train their new pastors in their particular context apart from PALS. PALS encourages our districts to integrate this training with PALS and to see the rich benefits of transitioning our new LCMS pastors in our life together. PALS is grateful to the delegates of previous Synod conventions who have strongly advocated and supported PALS. To learn more about PALS, including PALS courses, annual report, and Facebook page, go to lcms.org/PALS.
C. Theology Professors Conference
The Theology Professors Conference is a biennial event. It is directed toward our Synod’s valued theology professors engaged in service at the LCMS colleges, universities, and seminaries. The Missouri Synod, the formation of pastors, and the teaching of theology in the Synod’s higher education institutions have all been strengthened because of these conferences. This conference brings together the Synod’s theology professors to think carefully about God’s Word, the Lutheran Confessions, the Church, and society. This is the only event that gathers all those teaching theology to future church workers and students preparing for various God-given vocations at the Synod’s universities and seminaries. This conference is a prized opportunity for our Synod’s theology professors to examine Scripture, the ecumenical creeds and Confessions of the LCMS, church history, and worldview to address life in both of God’s kingdoms—the left-hand of society and the right-hand of the Church. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 conference was canceled. The conference resumed in May 2022 at Concordia University Chicago. The conference theme each year is focused on a portion of the Lutheran Confessions. The 2022 conference focused on AC XI and XII, Confession and Repentance. Four plenary speakers presented on “The Natural Basis of Repentance,” “Repenting in an Age of Violence,” “AC XII, Clergy Sexual Misconduct, Clergy Discipline,
and Pastoral Care of Victims,” and “The Formation of Father Confessor and the Penitent.” Other features of the conference included sectionals, the two seminary faculties meeting together, CUS faculties meeting together, and professors meeting by theological discipline: exegetical, historical, practical, and systematics.
D. Life Together as Synod “Life Together as Synod” is an informational video series on our mutual commitment to confession, mission, and good order in the LCMS. These short videos review LCMS history; the church’s structure and governing documents; its boards, entities and institutions; how a roster ed worker is called; and everything in between. This series is written and produced by the Office of Pastoral Education. Each module includes a 5-minute video and talk sheet. Each talk sheet includes Scripture study, practical application, and suggested resources for further study. Intended audiences include church-work students, current church workers, and laity. This is an excellent resource for the classroom, pastor’s conferences, Bible studies, church meetings, PALS groups, and personal learning. The purpose of the LCMS is to join with one another to support one another and to work together in carrying out our commonly adopted objectives (Article III). We do this as a church body that is committed to a common confession and mission. To accomplish this, it is good to know who we are as a Synod and how we promise to live together as we seek to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, the members of His body, and the world which stands in need of the Word and the impact of His redeeming love (). There are currently ten completed modules located at resources .lcms.org/life-together-as-synod-video-series/.
E. Preach the Word St. Paul writes, “And how are they to hear without someone preaching.… So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (, 17). The Holy Spirit creates and sustains saving faith through the preaching of the Word. Preaching is the primary task of the pastor. Therefore, Preach the Word (PTW) was developed to help pastors work together to hone the craft of preaching through video modules and accompanying resources. PTW also enables pastors to interact with seminary professors and fellow preachers, the authors of these modules. PTW is designed for pastors to gather with brother pastors to watch and discuss the modules and to learn with and from one another. Since 2017, 10 modules have been completed. There have been several hundred plays and downloads. During the pandemic, downloads and plays decreased significantly. In 2022, the PTW steering committee decided to pause the production of any new modules and to reevaluate the project in 2024. During this pause, we encourage pastors to make use of the ten excellent completed modules, which are available online at resources.lcms.org/preach-the-word/. While PTW was developed for pastors, the videos can certainly be viewed by anyone, including seminarians, laity, Bible class, and individuals. Everyone can benefit through these excellent resources—what to listen for in a sermon, understanding the craft of writing and preaching a sermon, or to gain new insights or fresh approaches to preaching.
F. Support of Our Seminaries through the Synod The people of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod cherish our two seminaries, which supply the LCMS with faithful pastors. Many of these people support the seminaries through their prayers and gifts. Often, this support is given directly to the seminaries. Significant support is also given to the seminaries through corporate Synod, or LCMS, Inc., which is headquartered at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis. One means of seminary support through the Synod is called “Synod Subsidies.” This is that portion of congregational worship offering passed on by districts to support national-level work, then granted by the budgeting process as unrestricted support for seminary operations. Computed by an agreed-upon formula, based on student graduations, Synod subsidies to the seminaries has consistently been $326,504 to CSL and $267,223 to CTSFW each year for the last four years. Donations and bequests restricted by contributors to support the operation of both LCMS seminaries is given through the LCMS Joint Seminary Fund (JSF). Over the past four years, these annual amounts have averaged $1,236,364 to CSL and $1,052,068 to CTSFW. The Synod’s total JSF distributions to the seminaries overall have been increasing since 2014. In FY22, JSF distributions totaled $1,448,324 to CSL and $1,294,714 to CTSFW. Donations and bequests restricted to a specific seminary identified by the contributor (not included in the JSF) annually averaged $30,717 to CSL and $153,575 to CTSFW over the past four years. The Global Seminary Initiative (GSI) provides donations voluntarily restricted for disbursement to both LCMS seminaries. It is also used to bolster assistance to qualifying international students and to send LCMS seminary faculty to teach overseas. An annual average of $139,175 in GSI funds was given to each seminary over the past four years. Income earned on the investment of certain donations (endowment) given to the historic Forward in Remembrance fundraising campaign were restricted by the contributors to the support of qualified international students studying at either of the Synod’s seminaries. In addition to GSI dollars, an annual average of $64,376 from FIR was given to each seminary over the past four years. Certain donations were voluntarily given to the Synod that carried a donor-imposed restriction to be given as financial assistance to students enrolled at either of the Synod’s seminaries. Over the past four years, these annually averaged $245,676 to CSL and $273,063 to CTSFW. Over the past four years, other special and donor-funded grants disbursed from the Synod to the seminaries annually averaged $5,047 to CSL and $7,135 to CTSFW. Seminary faculty services are un designated or designated funds paid to seminaries in return for services provided by seminary faculty members (e.g., presentations, seminars, and short-term intensive teaching assignments). These amounts annually averaged $40,685 to CSL and $75,802 to CTSFW over the past four years. Taking into account the aforementioned funding categories, total national Synod support to our seminaries over the past four fiscal years is thus: