April 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I was able to listen to the Candidate Call service from Concordia Theological Seminary — Fort Wayne. It was a beautiful Matins service even though it started at 6:40pm Eastern time.
There was an important statistic mentioned. Eighteen candidates from St. Louis and thirteen candidates from Fort Wayne, though they completed their M. Div. degrees, did not receive a call. The explanation given for these 31 candidates was that there was not a church for them just yet. Their calls will come later.
As I was completing my degree over eleven years ago, there was some doubt as to whether there would be a job for me when I graduated. It was a scary time, and it is an uncertain time for these men. Please pray for them.
Such a surplus can also be scary for men considering the ministry, as they wonder whether there will be a professional call at the end of their $40,000+ education.
I understand how there can be some situations where a candidate might not fit: someone who doesn’t know Spanish and a Hispanic mission, for example. But 31 candidates? I have no perspective here; I don’t know if that’s a lot.
The LCMS has been previously asked to approve of ministerial positions that do not have the training of a Masters of Divinity degree: lay ministers and specific ministry pastors, for example. It has been asked to approve of these positions because of a shortage of pastors in the ministry. As our seminaries produce these fully trained men, may we use them before we settle for those with less training.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
31 is a lot. Ten years ago there were as many, if not significantly more congregations that were told, “Sorry, not enough men to go around.” This was fairly typical, in my understanding.
But the reason that there are “less trained” men serving congregations is $$$. Scale in my district, plus housing (or loss of rental income for parsonage) and health care amounts to a $70,000 tab easily.
There are the political and theological aspects to this as well, but in this case, most of it is all about the Benjamins.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Well, congregations also want experienced men that they can interview first, and are not always willing to trust the placement process… There are many vacant congregations which COULD call a candidate from sem but choose not to.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I was about to object to your describing the service as “Matins,” but then I thought a little more about the liturgy. The distinguishing factor seems to be the canticles. We sang the Te Deum, which is the Matins canticle. I suppose we could have sung the Magnificat. I guess it’s just an example of form following freedom.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Precisely, Rev. Zielinski. I didn’t download the worship folder, but the Te Deum Laudemus hinted to me that Matins must have been followed. I found myself singing along to the Te Deum as the service progressed. Thank you.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I believe the perspective you are looking for would be this statistic:
29 SMPP “vicars” placed from St. Louis.
I’ll let you do the math and the interpretation.