April 2022
The LCMS Northern Illinois District has the pleasure of announcing call placements. On Tuesday, April 26 and Wednesday, April 27, 2022 worship services for call placements took place at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. (CTSFW) respectively.
First placements in the LCMS Northern Illinois District from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis are: Michael Duffy Master of Divinity Pastor St. Paul Lutheran Church Melrose Park IL, Erik Hart Master of Divinity Assistant Pastor The Lutheran Church of St. Luke Itasca IL, Benjamin Hayter Master of Divinity Pastor Zion Lutheran Church Chebanse IL, Kevin Peterson Master of Divinity Pastor St. Paul Lutheran Church Addison IL, Donald Stein Master of Divinity Pastor St. Andrew Lutheran Church Rockton.
First placement in the LCMS Northern Illinois District from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne is: Emmett Bartens Master of Divinity Pastor Bethany Lutheran Church & School, Naperville IL.
Vicar placement in the LCMS Northern Illinois District from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne is: Aaron Coggins Vicar St. John Lutheran Church Wheaton.
The seminaries recognize and celebrate calls throughout the year although the campus’ primary Call Day celebrations are held in April. On Call Day, concluding students receive their first calls to ministry and second-year students receive their assignments for vicarages and deaconess internships. All calls and assignments for service are to churches or ministries within The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).
We are truly blessed by God for those serving our congregations.
This year in our Synod, there were over 120 requests for a seminary candidate and there are under 80 candidates graduating. We are all called to serve God, and to share our faith in Jesus. The body of Christ is made of many parts, with different gifts. Together as the body of Christ, through our Raising Up Workers of the Word Campaign, we can help to raise up future workers in the Church.
You can take steps to help clear away obstacles that stand in the way of someone becoming a church worker:
- You can “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:38).
- You can encourage people who have ministry gifts to consider professional church work.
- You can provide financial assistance to those who feel the Lord calling them to ministry. Your gift will provide tuition assistance to our professional church work students from the Northern Illinois District.
The goal of this campaign is simple: to serve God and proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection for the salvation our our children, our grandchildren and generations to come. Will you please send a gift to provide scholarships for our next generation of church workers as they receive their training from our Concordia Universities and LCMS Seminaries? You can GIVE NOW. The NID is currently supporting 19 students.
WELLNESS: Promoting and encouraging health and vitality in congregations, schools, ministries, professional workers and lay-leaders.